Tuesday, MarchJ9,1985/The Battalion/Page 11
NOW €OMS BASEBALL l/HE /
In DEANSAITO
Ags look to break slump
in softball home-opener
' I dp 1985
Sambito hopes to make Astro-nomical impact
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Associated Press
I KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Houston As
tros pitcher Joe Sambito is at least
leased Manager Bob Lillis is consid-
:ring pitching him somewhere this
Last season, Sambito felt inacti' ity
ipsets oi Mifloi ;ausec i hi m to gain one day and then
m.i m w. ose lwo ( j a y S 0 f p r0 jj| ess ,
.m iSO-gamelm Sambito thought he was ready to
i ve last season uur ' ' ‘ - - ....
iat, my lriends,i
ng streak in the
no respect,
y, they have ytt
ked bv the NCAl
lennessee-CI
)nt is next. B«
ping to get Ta
play a dominant role of out the billi
on last season after recovering
fom elbow problems that led to two
surgeries and caused him to miss
Id accomplishst much of the 1982 season and all of
the 1983 season.
Lillis thought Sambito should go
I op 20. In It ^ a slower pace in his comeback at-
letiini last seas tempt last season. He allowed Sam-
l "'‘ pito to pitch only sparingly and in no
final result was on
mid rendezvoi games when the
the line.
“The only thing that I didn’t
agree with is the fact if I’d pitched a
doorbell, built: little bit more last year I think I’d
Mexico with tlitl have progressed a little quicker,”
■ad. Sambito said.
“For every day you miss, you
move back a day, so you actually miss
two days. You miss that day and you
move back a day in your progress.
That’s what happened to me last sea
son.”
But this season is going to be dif
ferent, Sambito says. “I’m definitely
better now than I was during the
season last year,” he said. “Last sea
son I was experimenting on a whole
lot of things, choice of pitches, when
to throw them, how I was going to
feel after the game and how I’d feel
the next day.
“Everything was ‘let’s do it and see
what happens.’ Now I think I’ve
been through that and I know what
to expect.”
Sambito expects more this year
than appearing in 32 games for 47 2-
3 innings.
“I’ve got good pop on the ball but
it’s not enough to throw it by guys,”
Sambito said. “I can throw by a guy
if I fool him and he’s looking for (
something off-speed.
“I feel I have command of all
pitches. I can hit spots and I have a
f reater variety of pitches now. What
may loose in velocity, I’ll make up
for with other things.
Sambito, a 1979 National League
All-Star, is second on the Astros’ all-
time save list although he has not re
corded a save since April 27, 1982
and hasn’t won a game since Sept.
28, 1981.
Now he says he’s rested and ready
to pitch.
“When the season was over I went
home and didn’t touch a baseball for
two months,” Sambito said. “When I
did start throwing again in Decem
ber I felt a lot of difference in my
arm, it was a lot stronger.”
Sambito says he never doubted
he’d get a chance to pitch again in
the major leagues.
“I never counted myself out,” he
said. “I knew I was down but I wasn’t
out. In my mind it was just a matter
of being given enough time, that I
would be able to compete on this
level.”
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Assistant Sports Editor
After 23 straight road games to
open the spring softball season, the
Texas A&M women will finally play
in the comfort of their own back
yard.
The Aggies started the season
with the Mardi Gras Tournament in
Houma, La. A&M didn’t allow a sin
gle run to win seven games and the
tournament championship by a com
bined score of 38-0. That was fol
lowed with 10 days on the road over
spring break.
The team traveled all over Cali
fornia, facing some of the best com
petition in the nation last week.
From there the Ags didn’t even re
turn home but instead headed to
Norman, Okla. for the Oklahoma
Tournament.
Unfortunately, the Aggies didn’t
find as much success this road trip.
The Aggies returned home at 1
a.m. Sunday morning with a 17-6 re
cord, including losses to teams they
were expected to defeat.
“We nave played a lot of road
games,” said A&M Head Coach Bob
Brock. “Our lack of hitting at times
cost us. Four of our six losses were
one run games. I didn’t anticipate
losing any one run games. But, even
the one run games didn’t have any
thing to do with our defense or our
pitching.”
A&M hitters had problems knock
ing in base runners. The Aggies left
17 base runners stranded in a 1-0
loss to Missouri and 13 in a loss to
Oklahoma.
“We need to do something about
that,” Brock said. “We’re not moving
the runners around. It seems like we
either all hit or nobody hits. That’s
been our characteristic since I’ve
been here. To their credit though,
they haven’t had much opportunity
to swing the bat except in games.
“We will keep working on our hit
ting. If you can’t get them on, you
can’t hit them in.”
Brock said the hard part of the
Aggies’ schedule is over and the ben
efits of such a strong schedule will
soon began to show.
“We played an outstanding sched
ule,” Brock said. “It was a very
strong schedule. The hard part
home to play. A&M gets a rematch
with Missouri in a doubleheader
Tuesday at 4 and 6 p.m.
“They have a pretty good ball
club,” Brock said. “If we hit the ball
well, we’ll be tough on them. If we
don’t, we’ll allow them in our park.
They have a good pitching staff and
they’re winning games. They’ve also
gotten a chance to look at our pitch
ing staff.
“We beat them 7-0 in the Mardi
Cras Tournament and then they
beat us 1-0 last week.”
Brock said he was just happy to be
home — and get to stay home for
awhile.
at
S* .•»' .<•>’ ••»* x-yxv’ x*
A&M Softball Coach Bob
Brock (above) — “We’re not
moving the runners around.
It seems like we either all hit
or nobody hits. That’s been
the characteristic since I’ve
been here. We will keep
working on our hitting. If
you can’t get them on, you
can’t hit them in. ”
came early. This is going to make us
a tough team. It really only made us
stronger.
“We’re 17-6. I know a lot of clubs
would like to trade with us.”
Finally, the Aggies get to stay
“We’re real excited to be playing
home,” he said. “We are still tired
though. We’re just trying to recover
from the trip.
“One thing that bothers me is that
it’s been a long time since we had a
long, hard working practice.”
The Aggies will have a lot of time
to try to free Brock from his worries.
The rest of March finds the Aggies
at home. On March 26, they play
Sam Houston in a double header.
Then on March 29-31, A&M hosts
the Aggie Invitational at South wood
Athletic Complex.
Brock saia the toughest oppo
nents left on the Aggies’ schedule
are the teams entered in the Aggie
Invitational.
“Our tournament with Utah State,
Lousiana Tech, New Mexico, Mis
souri will be the toughest,” Brock
said. “Florida State is a ranked team.
And, I would have to include Baylor
in that group. They’re having a good
year.”
Still, the Aggies biggest opponent
this season is themselves.
“We have to worry about oursel
ves,” Brock said. “Sometimes, we let
other teams in the park with us.
“The team has a good attitude
though. They believe they are the
team to beat. They know everybody
plays their best against the Aggies.”
Today, the Aggies will just he tak
ing care of their business — only
they will be doing it at home.
ACTIVITIES:
Panel Discussions
Art Shows
Dealers’ Room
Banquet
Auction
Masquerade
Readings
Open Gaming
Sock Hop
Parties
Book Signing
Parties Gr Fun!
★★★★★★★★
Get A Free Con Pass-
Work 15 Hours At Con.
For Info, Be At Mandatory
Workers’ Meeting.
Aggie Con 16
It's coming for you•• •
March 21-24 .
Buy your pass in box office
$6.50 before March 8
$7.50 after March 8
with TAMU student ID
FEATURING:
John Varley
Patricia McKillip
Jim Christensen
Ed Bryant
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Plus
Buckaroo Banzai
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
A Clockwork Orange
Terminator
And Many More!
NS*
;-y.
•>X‘
Si
&
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NgF
JW:
Sponsored by:
Workers’ Meeting
March 19th, Tues.
7:30 p.m. in
Rudder301
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