Texas A&M The Battalion Sports February 15, 1983 Page 7 Clint Heard making plays, not headlines DWI nt ihai nateei d haves as in 8 as. “hf :le on ft by John P. Lopez Battalion Staff When Clint Heard takes the field to play baseball, it doesn’t matter if he’s playing second- base on Olsen Field or on a sand- lot park back home in El Campo. Heard plays baseball to get good and dirty, hit the hide off the ball and generally have a great time. He doesn’t care about mak ing headlines, he doesn’t care about scraping an inch of skin off his knee on a slide and he doesn’t care about his shirt being untucked. Heard has been play ing baseball since he was six [years old and still has the flair [and excitement of a litlle- j leaguer. “It’s fun. I really have a good time just going out there and running around,” Heard said. “I guess I’m sort of a cheerleader- type because I get real excited, but that’s because I like it so much.” Heard’s attitude toward base ball has yielded him some im pressive numbers both on the field and at the plate. His batting average at Texas A&M has con sistently hovered in the .300 area and Heard’s defensive skills have improved every year. This summer, Heard’s tenac ity on the field paid big di- I vidends. He batted .391 in the I Central Illinois League and was second in the league in steals, second in runs scored, fourth in : hits and the Quincey, Illinois I team Heard played on was first in double plays. Most players with Heard’s ta- | lents have visions of playing in ; the big leagues, but Heard I knows exactly how far he wants i to take baseball. Infielder Clint Heard ready for 1983 season “If the opportunity is right, naturally I’d like to play pro,” he said, “every ball player would like to. But I’d just like to get a degree. Baseball has given me the opportunity to come to school and that’s what’s impor tant. “All of my goals are pretty much team-oriented. Naturally my goal right now is to get the ring (SWC championship). I just want to help the team out any way I can.” Heard’s leadership has earned him the title of co captain along with Rock King this year, but he takes the added pressure in stride. “I just try to lead the team through my actions,” he said. “I try to go out every day and play as hard as I can. I guess you could say I know what to expect when I’m on the field. I’ve been here for four years and I’ve seen a few good teams. “And I think this year’s team can be a good one. This group of guys has a great attitude and they really hustle and work hard on defense.” Defense, Heard said, should be a key to the Aggies’ successes. “Our pitching is going to be good,” he said. “But we’re going to have to play good defense if we want to win. I think pitching and defense go hand in hand because if a pitcher sees his de fense bouncing around and making plays, then he’s going to do better. And if the defense sees a pitcher working hard, then they’re going to make some big plays.” Heard has made his share of big plays for the Aggies, but he says there’s still room for im provement since second baSe is a relatively new position for Heard. “When I came out of high school, I was primarily a pitch er,” he said, “so I didn’t have real good hands at second. But so far I’ve been improving every day. I’m pretty happy with my play now. I definitely think that’s (second-base) the position that best suits me.” And Heard suits the Aggie baseball team fine. Sophomore shortstop Rusty Roberts said Heard is a good team leader. “He (Heard) plays real hard all the time,” Roberts said. “He’s been hurt a lot, but that doesn’t bother him. He goes out and does good every day, even if he’s hurting that day.” Heard admittedly isn’t a great defensive player, but his lethal bat and workaholic attitude on the field have gained him the respect of every player on the Aggie team. And by the end of the season, Heard might have the respect of every pitcher in the Southwest Conference. we go. Sophomore swimmer Susan Marks takes to the air in the 200-yard individual medley against the University of Houston on Saturday. Marks eventually landed, but the Aggie women’s swim team never got out of the blocks. Texas A&M lost to Houston 93-29. The men’s team, however, beat the Cougars 75-38 in their last dual meet of the season. Both teams will swim next in the SWC championships.; Rifle team takes first in match by Tracey Taylor Battalion Staff TH1BODAUX, La. — The Texas A&M rifle team took first place in the Mardi Gras Invita tional held at Nicholls State Uni versity this past weekend. The Aggie team, consisting of Todd Woodard, and cadets Kurt Nauck, John Berry and Glen Park, tied for first place with the Florida Institute of^ Technology with a team total of 2,219 points. The tiebreaker went to the Aggies. Rifle team cogeh Maj. Richard Pitts explained how a tiebreaker works: “When Texas A&M and FIT tied, the official scorers had to total the number of bulls-eyes, or 10s, shot. We won by four shots. So, out of 240 shots, the winning margin was only four 10s — one bulls-eye^ per shooter.” Bulls-eyes are about the size of typed periods and are shot at with .22 caliber rifles from 50 feet away. In a half-course match, such as this, each shooter on the four-man team shoots 20 shots in prone, standing and kneeling, or 60 shots total. It is the first time a Texas team has ever won the three position smallbore Mardi Gras match, the largest collegiate match in the nation with 35 uni versities from 15 states repre sented. Individually, Woodard finished in first place in the kneeling competition with a 193 out of 200. Park finished in second place overall —just one point behind Jonathan Blascoe of the University of Tennessee at Martin. Park also took third place kneeling, shooting 191 out of 200 points. Shooting as an unattached in dividual, Texas A&M’s Ben Pot- ! ter took second place with a 557 out of 600 total behind Alan Gil- [ mer of Rice. One of the teani’s coaches, Sgt. Maj. Manuel Soto, took fourth place overall in the coaches’ match. Other team members for the Aggies ip- cluded: Jerrold Scharning- hausen, Carter Stone, and cadets Taylor Neeley and Bob Crowe. Team captain Woodard was pleased with the match’s out come. Ifhree years ago ,§>ee RIFLE page 9 at this :ount| i ConsW e char? it ot ease the | distrid 7 F trictinl •e con lillion. ting ^ nation' IT c SCX)ty