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8 stouffville suntribune thursday aug 19 2004 york region man goes to bat for greek team bypeter robinson correspondent its rare a trip to a high- end junior baseball tourna ment leads to the olympics but it did for george kottaras the 21yearold from markham was playing in the connie mack world series in new mexico a few years back and had a rather fortu itous encounter with anoth er baseballer who like him self has greek heritage he asked me if i was greek and i told him yeah im greek he said he gave me his card and york at the games we stayed in touch fast forward a few years and kottaras is living drie of the unlikeliest olympic dreams of anyone from york region kottaras is playing for the host greek team a squad made up almost entirely of americans with greek heritage plus two canadians kottaras and mel melehes of guelph with 22 other players much like kottaras a coun try that had virtually no baseball pedigree of its own suddenly had a team stacked with a collection of low and midlevel minor league pro fessionals other than the month they are together this summer they ply their trade in ball parks from fort wayne in to south bend az to wichita ks unfortunately the feel good story aside from the minicult following they have here in athens pret ty much ends there despite a decent lineup that was considered to have an out side chance at the medal round the greeks have slumped we just have to put it all together kottaras said we need some timely hits and pitching thats what it has been one or two bad innings that have been the differ ence we have the depth and abiuty to win its just frustrat ing when we lose because we know we can finish better than where we are kottaras hit the nail on the head with his assessment the team was in a game against cuba until a late- inning collapse undid what would have been a greek version of miracle on grass a similar fate befell kottaras and his teammates against chinese taipei in front of a boisterous crowd the greeks fell apart in the seventh turning what had been a 21 game into a 71 rout freelance writer peter robinson is covering the athens olympics for the yori region newspaper group locals help in ball win it was an allarea affair as canadas mens baseball team extended its winning streak at the olympic games blanking host greece 20 yesterday former stouffville resident paul spoljaric now of sharon allowed three hits and struck out four over fiveplus innings to earn the win chris begg of uxbridge came on in relief peter orr of richmond hill opened the game with a double and eventually scored he knocked in the other run with a triple in the seventh inning canada is alone in top spot in the roundrobin standings at 40 save an additional 2050ofr the already reduced prices on all furniture notavahable at markham fashion outlet save an additional 25 off the already reduced price on selected appuances shjecllon varies bystohe amiaiksrjkmiusfkffaiabuathmahammshonounr 2010 valid saturday august 21 only on a minimum purchase of 50 before taxes some exclusions oppty see certificate for details the first 400 customers will receive a free coffee coupon look for other great store manager specials throughout our stores all weekend long pants for the family 2prsaveanaddmonal20po 3prsaveanaddmonal25 4prormoresaveanaddfidnal30 smigsaeasa0n0ijilhsioflhmprige womens sleep wear robes buy 2 items save an additional 20 buy3itemssaveanaddfnonal25 buy4ormosaveanadlonal30po swmbascionamswgtfibvlpr womens sandals buy2 prsave an addmonal207o buy3 prsave an addfhonal25 bly4ormoisanaddrnonal30 svlngsaibasbdonouilfswgleflbiprfce saturday morning specials 7 to loam kllvyift saveanaddihonal jlffilippl mmwmwb savfan additional selected dryers selection vahe5 bystore not avaiabte atthe markham easwonouiiet i 1 a i the already reduced price on all swimwearforthe eamjly selection vares by store the already reduced price on all window i eashionsfor the home selfcnon vaj3es byspcxx the already reduced price on selected home electronics secdon vare3 bysfoge 3 the already reduced price oni all bras panties selection vares by store bmpforvootletbrafipton liquidation centre rex0a afd markfilm fashion outlet ofilymerchaiseselectio varfesbystorefor other hot dals visittheoutlet slte atvwvsears ca s c0pyrj6htsears canada iric 2004 fl catalogue shopping ask about our ovajgppj i tzhetw ttrxdau ni vp mrm lakfc shore blvd services 18002673277 brampton outlet brampton liquidation centre rexdale outlet dixie value mall markham fashion outlet frmflan 169pm sat 7am lo6prn- fbi 10am ia3pm sat 7am fri 10am to 9pm sat 7am to 6pm fbi 10am to 9pm- sat 7am to 6pm fri 10am to 9pm- sat 7am to 6pm v sun 11afflto5pm sun 11 am to 5pm sun11amto5pm sun 11am to 6pm sun 12pm to 5pm sale prices in effect august 2022 2001 unless otherwise stated in our ad or while quantities last sale does not apply to purchases made prior 10 august 20 2004 all outlet merchandise has been priced for final sale