The Chilliwack Progress from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada • Page 19

19 The Progress Dale CORY 702.5514 sports0theprogress.com THE CHILLIWACK PROGRESS, Tuesday, April 3, 2001 SPORTS REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Midweek TICKET Spring iliWiiii ever 1 fm KIM ,1 4 jf Track and field The Chilliwack Track and Field Club is ready to kick off another season. The club's first practice and parent meeting will go tonight at 6 p.m. at the Sardis Track Complex. Call Roberta at 858-7880. Senior slow pitch The Chilliwack senior slow pitch all-stars will begin their fifth season April 3.

The league is open to any seniors 55-years and older. Games are played every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. at the CFB Chilliwack ball fields. If you would like to join, call Max at 792-2997. Junior Grizzlies The Chilliwack Youth Basketball Association will host its wind-up Fun Day April 7 at the Canadian Basketball Academy.

For more info, call Mark at 824-7858 or Mike at 793-2443. Girls Soccer Tournament Chilliwack Senior Secondary School will host its 13th Annual Senior Girls High School Soccer Tourney April 6 to 8. Chilliwack Senior will have a pair of teams take part, and Sardis will also be in action. Soccer coaches clinic The Chilliwack Youth Soccer Association will hold a Community Youth Coaches Clinic April 6-7 at Townsend Park. The course is open to anybody who wishes to coach soccer for the CYSA in the upcoming season.

For more information, call Andrea at 'i I A .1 Mike Gieselman tosses out the opening pitch Sunday at Sardis Sportsfieid to kick off the season for Chilliwack's AA bantam squad, jenna hauck progress By Dale Cory Staff Writer I love this time of year. The outdoors are abuzz with both plant and human activity. And of course, it's the start of another ball season. For me, and especially my wife, that means for the next six or seven months, I go somewhat crazy. You see, I root only for one team in all of sports.

I channel all my cheering energies into the trials and tribulations of the New York Mets. Talk to me about the soon-to-be-out-of-the-playoffs" Canucks, or the long-ago-out-of-the-playoffs Grizzlies or the Lions but none of it really matters. That's because, the baseball season is underway and at this point, the Mets have as good a chance as anybody at winning the World Series. At least, that's what my psychic keeps telling this psycho fan. Look out everybody, Snafu is back on the warpath.

We begin defence of our Wildlife Slow Pitch League championship tomorrow night. Coach Ronnie 'Red Shoes' is predicting another banner season for the squad. Those of us the team, getting a little longer in the tooth every. year, are just hoping to avoid any major injuries. And by the Mad because Saturday's rain cancelled your golf game? My sister flew out from Saskatchewan last week to visit baby York (Joelle and I have become non-exis-tant new parents, as many of you have already experienced).

They still have five feet of snow on the ground! I asked my dad last week if there was much water sitting around. he replied in disbelief. "It's still' all white around here!" A little bit of rain isn't that bad, is it? A hockey Congratulations to Agassiz's Kris Wallis, who is wrapping up his fourth and final season of playing hockey at UMass Kris was awarded the Minuteman Award for dedication, spirit, committment to the program and what the program represents. Wallis will graduate in May with a degree in sports management OPENING DAY BASEBALL COVERAGE ID) Tuesday LAYBOO nay oaiiu There is only one place to look for Pat Kennedy on the baseball field. Kennedy's AA bantams kicked off their season Sunday.

players who don't give up," said Kennedy, who will be assisted in the dugout by Robert Lindsay and Trudy Hall. "Chilliwack has never been dominant but we always seem to be around. When crunch time comes, we seem to get the big hits, and pitching performance." Kennedy has an even mix of first and second year players making up his 14-man roster, with James Holland, Robert Kennedy, Brad Lindsay and Chad White all returning from last year's squad. "He dominated last year at AA, I'll asume he'll be one of the better pitchers at AAA this year," said the head coach of Lindsay, his top starter. "He'll certainly dominate in spring ball." With Lindsay as his ace on the mound, the Cougars will follow up with vets Matt Riediger and Robert Kennedy.

From there, Chilliwack will count on young arms to get the job done. See Bantam Baseball page 21 By Dale Cory Staff Writer Pat Kennedy takes his position in the coaching box nearest to third base and surveys the bright green field before him. The opposition players are tossing the ball around the infield. His Bantam AA Cougars are in the dugout, players signaling the return to their favourite summer sport by dinning on sunflower Ah, life is great. On this, the first Sunday in April, baseball season officially began, although Mother Nature played a nasty April Fool's joke on a group of 1 3- and 14-year-old boys who have been itching to get out to the field for months.

"It feels great (to get back playing baseball)," said Kennedy. "But I'm disappointed we didn't get a chance to finish the game. It started raining and the Abbotsford players and the umpires didn't want to hang around for 10 minutes until the sun came out. Bulldogs and Salsa in heated dogfight The Interior Conference champion Merritt Centennials may have a long wait on their hands before they can begin the BCHL championship series. The Centennials, who disposed of Penticton in four straight games and have won all eight playoff games so far, are awaiting the winner of the Coastall Conference final between Bumaby and Victoria.

The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the Best of 7 Series Thursday with a 5-4 victory in Victoria. But the Salsa evened the series Sunday in front of 2,437 fans. Curtis Fraser scored the winning goal 5:07 into the second overtime period to give Victoria a 5-4 triumph. Game 5 was played last night in Burnaby, with Game 6 set for tonight back in Victoria. Should the series go to a deciding game, it will be played Thursday at 7 p.m.

in Burnaby. Me, I want to play every chance get." Pat Kennedy takes his ball seriously. He figures he has spent the last 16 years coaching his children in either baseball or fastball. Kennedy's obsession with the sport rubs off on his players. The group Kennedy is coaching this year in bantam AA is basically the same group which lost the provincial final last year, and finished third each of the previous three years in the mosquito and peewee divisions.

"This age group has always done very well. It's a team of solid, team.