Minnesota pitchers best
Defending champions retain title in Team
World
By Jim Franz
Sports Editor
Mark Bauman felt like the new kid on the block a year ago. Sunday, he believed his team's fate was in his hands.
Not that Bauman considers himself the best player on Minnesota's six-time Team World champions. Not with three-time men's champion Dale Lipovsky and reigning women's champion Bev Nathe on the roster.
In the four-on-four format of the Team World finals, Bauman just figured that his match could swing the whole match with Kentucky in the finals.
``I had to settle down because I knew I had to win my game for us to win,'' he said at the Edwards Activity and Sports Center.
Win, or at least stay close, anyway. Had his team split 2-2 in the four games, the match would have been decided by total points. Instead, Minnesota won three of four. Bauman defeated Lois Webster, 21-16; Lipovsky topped Ron Powell, 39-19 and Nathe downed Charles Meredith, 31-10.
Kentucky, the 1995 Team World champion, got its victory from three-time women's world champion Sue Snyder, 51-5 over Lu Cave.
Bauman knew he faced a challenge from Webster, a six-time Kentucky state champion who had a ringer percentage of 77.83 throughout the preliminary games. Bauman was hitting ringers 75.54 percent of the time heading into the finals.
``She's tough,'' he said. ``She threw 37 ringers in a match with Dale.''
Bauman couldn't quite match that, but he threw 34 out of a possible 40 in the finals and that was enough.
``I didn't think we could do it,'' Bauman said of defending the title. ``Everyone was gunning for us. We had to have another good game at the end against Kentucky.
``It helped having been there before. It was only the second time around for me, but I wasn't as nervous out there.''
Bauman is assured another try next season. The Minnesota team remains intact to defend its title. Two years ago, when the squad lost to Kentucky, the top four pitchers automatically were placed on the '96 team. That enabled Bauman to secure his spot.
The winning team received $2,000. Kentucky received $1,000. There were 24 teams involved in all. Third went to Ontario, followed by Missouri, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.
The highest average for the tourney was held by men's World champion Alan Francis at 82.5. The Ohio native also was tied for the highest game with a 92.5 (37 ringers in 40 tries).
Meredith of Kentucky had back-to-back 92.5 games. Webster and Nathe also had games of 92.5.