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ttv i eonomistsuhnyibune sports ruesdufyastaobo facl i as sss sports digest -1- sj men stage the markham soccer chib mens team extended r its ontario soccer league unbeaten streak to- six games with a 53 comefrombehihd win over visiting gs united orifriday trailing 32 at the half the markham team came to lifeih the second haif as darhisz ostaszewski ignited the comeback with two markers including an insurance goal on a penalty kick neillmair j scored the eventual gamewinning goal larry martin and bart ostaszewski staked markham to a 20 lead early in the first half befqregs united rallied with three unanswered goals now 72 on the season andin first placed markham will play in guelph and against magic ac- at north yorks esther shiner stadium on saturday raiders tame grizzlies geoff- dyer scored three touch downs andaddedtwo converts to pro pel the markham raiders bantams to a- 3432 win over the host northyork grizzlies in central ontariovminbr football league action sunday at york university l tosh johnson added two majors for the raiders now 42i on the season and occupants of second place ian gabel added a twopoint convert the raiders will take to the road sunday to face the pickering dolphins cougars advance to provincials the markham cougars under- 14 girls fastpitch team advanced to the provincial grand champiofrships after finishing sec- ond in a provincial qualifier they hosted last week- end the cougars opened diet tournament- with- wins over halton hills 91 andthe ajax raidefs92 before suffering a 54 loss to brampton thecougars then reversed their fortunes- with an 111 pasting of oakville s advancing to the final the cougars handed brampton its first loss of the double knockout tournament 138 in extra innings but the cougars fan out of gas in the second -game- v as brampton prevailed 111 to finish first the provincial grand championships will be held in palmerston from aug 1113 on a separate note the cougars saw- their chance to advance to the inaugural national 14ahdunder championships in summerside pei come to an end when they suffered a 43 loss to scarborough in aresched- juled provincial qualifying tourria- ment contest last week- at milliken park with the win scarborough advanced to the nationals along with brampton who went undefeated staff photomike barrett baseball coadilarry giangrosso walk a trio of boys through leadoff exercises during the grand slam and teamioritarid baseball camp at green acres summer camp in markham thursday baseball in canada progressing through team ontario academy bymikehayakawa sports editor larry giangrosso feels players learning the game of baseball in canada can be equally as good as their counterparts south of theborder where the game reviewed as a traditional pastime v athletes are athletes said the head baseball coach at the university of alabama at birmingham as a guest instructor at the recent inaugural team ontario baseball academy at the markham- based green acres day camp centre giangrosso points out the biggest difference between baseball programs in canada and the us lies in resources arid aspirations in drawingan analogy with hockey giangrosso said back home in alabama if i wanted to find a hockey coach that could help me learn the game there arent too many of them around i could find more help in canada where theres probably a coach living on each street j if a canadian wanted to improve his baseball skills he might be hard pressed to find a baseball coach living on the same street but in the united states there are probably more baseball coaches living on every street having worked with a number of youth base ball campsiri the us giangrosso also said youngsters south of the border have more knowl edge in terms of a direction they can turn to if they wish to further their careers on theplaying field while playing in the major leaguesis the igoal of most players theres also the option of earning a free posthigh school education through a base- ball scholarship at a university back homeyou ask a number of kids where they want to play ball and a lot of them will say they want to play at alabama auburn texas or lsu us collegiate baseball powerhouses he said here in canada apart from making it in the major leagues a lot of youngsters dont know whats out there to be had giangrosso said the team ontario baseball academy concept is attempting to reduce the baseball disparity between the two countries catering to youngsters between the ages of 9 and 13 the facility exposes youngsters to the game of baseball at an early age what we want to do is prepare kids for the team ontario youth squad 17- and 18yearolds and to make the national team travel internation ally and maybe even get drafted by a major league team said sam dempster director of baseball operations at the green acresbased team ontario academy also head baseball coach at durham college and a scout with the new york yankees dempster said the idea for this baseball concept began two years ago after he discussed it with with marc picard director of operations for the team ontario youth squad and bob cohen team ontario baseball program general manager 1 having supervised the green acres baseball camps in past years and armed with good training facilities that include five baseball diamonds three batting cages and various training stations and aids dempster got his plan off the ground this year with the cooperation of the owners at the green acres day camp site the purpose of the camp dempster said is to teach youngsters the grassroots of the game through a repetitionof drills if i had to put on a piano concenonce a week i wouldnt just practice once a week- id review my piece over and over dempstersaid and when it comes to baseball you just dont practice once a week for a game beginning at 830 am and concluding at 430 pm the daily itinerary is comprised of throwing and receiving mechanics working out by position hitting and playing a game each afternoon dempster is assisted by six coaches who have uni versity baseball experience with the camp running for a twoweek period close to 60 youngsters from various parts of toronto attended last weeks first session curtis rice an outfielder with the markham mariners peewees and a former camper under the old green acres baseball format feels the new program has enhanced his playing skills you get extra special training its definitely a higher level program said the markham resident ive learned a lot about catching added 14- yearold matthew regenstreif a catcher in the thornhill select program a camper at green acres for the past eight years regenstreif said the new team ontario pro- gram is far different from what he was used to under the old format a its a big change its harder work and its bet terc a team ontario baseball academy is also con ducted in richmond hill and serves youngsters between the ages of 14 arid 18 those interested in attending a future team ontario camp can call dempster at 2591129 perry ciifiston ptake putting for granted putting can be a difficult part of the game to practice but those who do practice it can reap the rewards when people begin golf they always say first i will learn to get to the green and then ill work on my putting thats just practice anyways in all honesty putting certainly isnt as exciting as driving your ball down the fairway but it doesnt mean you should neglect it to find out just how good you are as a putter try counting how many- putts you take per round good putters take 30 putts of less average putters take between 31 and 61 poor putters take more than 36 if you fall into the category of a poor putter take some time to improve it practice short putts nothing longer than five feet if you cant sink those regularly then dont expect to sink many longer ones make a game of it continue to practice until you hole out five in a row when five becomes relatively easy make it 10 in a row technique can be just as impor tant in putting as in your full swing have your local cpga professional give you a lesson address your letters to impact golf schools co perry curiston 19 mill st stouffville ont l4a 1c6 or email your comments to impactgolf- perryc3webnet perry curiston s director of impact golf schools and was the 1996 and 1998 ontario pgateacheroftheyear leaside trio bowl up title the leaside club ladies trebles tearh of ruth milani jeanette del carlo and anita gourley captured the markham lawn bowling clubs recent ross dixon financial interclub tournament the agincourt team of maureen- ferguson marion mogill and cathy roddock finished second- while the markham entry of grace medland dorothy silverthom and doiothy boynton was third the stouffville entry of jane hachey andrea corner and audrey gibson was fourth at the recent annual local celebrities tournament the three some of john van nettentess van netten and davis tsubouchi finished first secondplace honours went to jack silverthom grace medland and dick peel while jake rousseau sigrid liebeckand harry james were third r