Saturday, September 14, 1996

Prairie Dogs play for title tonight
By AL PICKETT
Sports Editor

The Prairie Dogs stand on the verge of doing something no Abilene professional baseball team has ever accomplished - win a league championship on its home field.

The Dogs, leading Lubbock two games to none in the best-of-five Texas-Louisiana League Championship Series after wins Wednesday and Thursday over the Crickets, return home tonight for Game 3 at 7:05 p.m. at Abilene Christian University's Crutcher Scott Field.

A win tonight will give Abilene the league championship. If not tonight, the Prairie Dogs could claim the league crown on Sunday or Monday at Scott Field.

Abilene's only modern-day professional baseball championship came in 1951 when the Blue Sox won the West Texas-New Mexico League title. But the Blue Sox clinched the championship on the road with a win against the Lobos in Game 5 at Lamesa that year.

"Since our brutal beginning, everything has fallen into place," Abilene manager Phil Stephenson said. "Consistency has been a big thing for us, guys understanding their roles and doing what I've asked of them. We have a lot of unselfish players, but that's what it takes to win."

After an 0-4 start, the Prairie Dogs have lost only three in a row once all season in compiling a league-record 67-31 overall mark.

Stephenson will send unbeaten left-hander Lance Schuermann to the mound tonight to try to finish off the Crickets. Schuermann was 12-0 during the regular season and beat Amarillo, 5-2, last Saturday to clinch the league's first-round series victory over the Dillas.

Schuermann has a 3.32 earned run average this season. He'll be opposed tonight by Lubbock right-hander Steve Duda (11-8, 3.76 ERA).

Schuermann made three starts and one relief appearance this season against Lubbock, hurling 242/3 innings. He had a 2.60 ERA and a 2-0 record with two no-decisions against the Crickets.

Abilene, on the other hand, rocked Duda in his three appearances against the Dogs, who handed him his first loss this season after a 7-0 start. Duda was 0-2 with one no-decision and a 6.20 ERA in 232/3 innings against the Prairie Dogs.

Third baseman Manny Gagliano has broken out of a slump in the championship series for Abilene. He is 4 for 9 with five runs batted-in in the first two games with the Crickets.

Eric Gonzalez had three hits and Rod Brewer and Paul Coleman two hits apiece in the Dogs' 8-3 win Thursday over Lubbock. In Game 1 on Wednesday, Barry Jones belted a solo homer and drove in the winning run with a RBI single in the top of the 11th inning.

"We did a good job in the first two games of staying in our game plan, of forcing their starters to throw a lot of pitches," Stephenson said. "Lubbock had seven walks in each game. All those pitches eventually take their toll on the starter. Duda will throw more strikes than (Ron) Gerstein (Thursday's starter for the Crickets), but we still have to be patient. We need to make him throw something you want to hit rather than something he wants you to hit.

"Patience is why we led the league in walks and runs scored. Those two often come together."
This has to be a gratifying season for Stephenson, in his first season as a manager after an 11-year playing career in the major and minor leagues.

"It will be if we win one more game," he said. "Right now everything will be perfect if we win one more."