4B
Wednesday, October 11. 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kinder coach takes the field
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall steps into the batting cage at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium not to just tell but to show the right way to hit to the opposite field.
A bucket full of baseballs litters right field as the right-hand hitting Randall puts on a clinic, clearly showing why he has been involved in baseball at the collegiate and professional level for 26 years.
This hands-on instruction is just one of the differences between Randall and his predecessor, Dave Bingham.
"I do like to get involved," Randall said. "I think the players appreciate it when they see a coach who's willing to get in there and work with them."
It has been a time of transition for everyone involved with the baseball program since Bingham's
sudden resignation in August. Randall was hired on Sept. 8 after 11 years of coaching at Iowa State, and has dealt with the responsibilities that go along with a successful program. He also has had to deal with the personal aspect of the job, including moving his family from Iowa.
"We've never moved before, so it's been tough emotionally." Randall said. "We've got everything in cardboard boxes. I don't know where anything is."
But he does know that he has a team that has been successful since 1990, and he is being careful not to tamper with it.
"I'm not here to throw everything out and totally revamp the team," Randall said. "A lot of things will remain the same, but I'm going to put my stamp on the team. You should be able to tell that this is a Bobby Randall-coached team."
Kansas senior outfielder Justin Headley said that has been a plus to the team.
Randall has already loosened up the team.
"Bingham was a little intimidating, he said. "He would really get on us. The play now is a little more loose. We're enjoying the game more, especially in practice."
Kansas senior catcher Ted Meadows said the team should improve because of better communication between the players and Randall.
"He's a little more open to things," Meadows said. "He wants to hear our ideas and see what we have to say. We're working real hard, but we're having a lot of fun."
Kansas players expressed shock and disappointment from Bingham's resignation but said that they were willing to give Randall a chance.
"He's a highly respected coach who knows the game of baseball," said senior second baseman Josh Kliner. "He's known for getting a lot out of the talent he had, and we
wanted to see what he had to say. There's not really a major difference between the two."
Randall said the players had made it easy for him with their willingness to accept him and the program he is trying to install.
He said there were two things he was making sure the team did everyday — play hard and be fundamentally sound.
Much of Randall's managerial philosophy has been shaped from the various managers he played for in professional baseball. He played in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins for six seasons and credits former coaches and managers Roger Craig, Gene Mauch and Dixie Walker with shaping his beliefs.
"I came here because it's a better opportunity and a great place," Randall said. "We've got some good young players here and as long as we work hard and be prepared, everybody's going to accomplish something positive."
Rookie saves the Mariners
The Associated Press
Meanwhile, Luis Sojo's tie-breaking double off Indian Dennis Martinez in the seventh inning whipped the Kingdome crowd further into a frenzy, and stopped the Indians' march through the postseason.
SEATTLE — All the Seattle Mariners asked Bob Wolcott to give them was a few good innings. Instead, the 22-year-old rookie gave them a game to remember forever.
Wolcott, pitching because the Mariners had no one else, pulled one of baseball's greatest escapes, wriggling free from a bases-loaded, noout jam in the first inning and defeating the Cleveland Indians 3-2 last night in their American League playoff opener.
Showing poise that belied his baby face, Wolcott — added to the postseason roster Monday and making only his eighth major-league appearance — spent the whole evening putting himself in trouble and then getting out.
Cleveland, coming off a three-game sweep of Boston in the open
ing round, will try to get even in the best-of-7 series tonight when Orel Hershiser starts Game 2 against Tim Belcher.
At the outset, it looked as if the Indians might run away with this game. Wolcott, who began the season at Double-A Port City, walked the bases loaded by throwing balls on 12 of his first 13 pitches to Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel and Carlos Baerga.
By then, the weary bullpen, which the Mariners hoped Wolcott would give a break, was already warming up.
Somehow. Wolcott found a wav.
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
First, he struck out Albert Belle, getting the slugger who hit 50 home runs to swing through a high, 2-2 fastball.
After that, the bullpen did its job after being worn out by the Yankees. Jeff Nelson and Norm Charlton preserved the win for Wolcott, with Charlton going 1 1/3 innings for a save.
Inconsistency plagues women's golf team
SCORES: Statistics from both playoffs. Page 2B.
By Spencer Duncan
Kansan sportswriter
As the fall season opened, there were questions as to how well the team would perform. With only one senior on the roster, a lack of experience could lead the team down a dismal path or could null itself up and win.
For members of the Kansas women's golf team, it's time to jump off of the roller coaster.
In three tournaments, the answers to the questions are unclear and the team has seen two different sides of itself one side is consistent and one side fails to play to its potential.
"Consistency," Kansas women's golf coach Jerry Waugh said before the season began. "This team has to be consistent."
Failing to find that consistency has created a back-and-forth battle for the team.
"We just keep hanging in there
and hoping to improve," Kansas freshman Mandy Munsch said. "We believe we can play much better."
Playing well has not been a problem for Munsch. As a freshman, Munsch is stepping into the leadership role the team was not sure it had filled.
Munsch's early success does not surprise her. She said she was glad to be able to play well for her team and be a leader at the same time.
Munsch has cracked the top 25 in three tournaments. One of those finishes was eighth in the Lady Buckeye Fall Invitational earlier this week in Ohio. She also carries the team's lowest scoring average at 79.38.
"She is a good model for the team," Kansas senior Lynn Williamson said. "She gets us excited and makes us work harder."
Munsch still needs to work on
the same thing the rest of the Jayhawks are struggling with — inconsistency.
At their first tournament in Minnesota, the Jayhaws shot 33 stokes off of first-place Indiana's pace and captured fifth. Kansas sophomore Lori Lauritsen and junior Missy Russell both finished in the top 12.
"We all need to work on consistency as a team and as individuals," Waugh said.
During its second tournament of the season, which was in Oregon, Kansas lost a step and its inconsistency showed. The team mustered only a 12th-place finish. 64 strokes out of first place.
"I was pleased," Waugh said after the tournament. "We had a chance to capitalize on some mistakes, but overall we did well."
On Saturday and Sunday, the team recaptured some of its form in Ohio where it got its second fifth-place finish of the season.
"We would like to finish higher then fifth and play much better," Munsch said.
After Lauritsen and Russell's top 12 finishes during the first week, they have yet to repeat the accomplishment. Lauritsen has not placed in the top 25 of a tournament since then. Russell struggled in Oregon to finish in 37th place before bouncing back and finishing in 24th place in Ohio.
Kansas junior Anne Clark also has begun the season slowly. After failing to finish in the top 30 in Minnesota and Oregon, Clark seemed to find her swing and finished in a tie for 20th place in Ohio.
The team knows that to reach its ultimate goal — playing well enough to win consistently — it must stop its erratic style of play.
"We are trying to reach a goal of staying consistent," Williamson said. "If we do that, we know we will play better."
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Jayhawks to duel Jayhawks in pool
Kansan sportswriter
Jeanne Poggio is preparing for an internal conflict.
Joining Poggio to lead the Crimson Squad are fellow captains Andee Greves and Andrew King.
One of the swimming kind, not the literary kind. Poggio will lead the Crimson Squad against the Blue Squad in the Kansas swimming and diving teams' intrasquid meet Friday at Robinson Natatorium.
Leading the Blue Squad are senior captains B.J. Walker, Rob Putnam and Jennifer Peltier.
"It's a different format this year." Poggio, Lawrence senior, said. "The coaches have lengthened the events."
"We tried to split them as evenly as we could," Soderling said. "We took the two most talented and put them on opposite teams, and just kept on doing that on down the line."
The annual intrasquad meet usually acts as a good preview of the season to come. Although no great laurels await the victors, the swimmers will be competing for pride. However, this will not prevent the swimmers from having fun.
"We're trying to keep the variety up," said Kansas assistant swimming coach Mike Soderling. "We have a lot of dual meets this season, which are all the same format, so we don't want to burn them out."
Friday's order will differ significantly from a normal dual meet schedule. To ensure maximum conditioning, the distances the swimmers will travel have been stretched.
And to make sure that the events are competitive, the teams have been selected carefully.
"We're not really competing against each other that much," Poggio said. "We just want to have a good time."
The meet will begin at 7 p.m., and admission is free.
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