Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 29, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba Tuesday a gust 29, 2006 c1 All Eyeson Agassi legendary Tennis player wins sports first round match at . Open c5 editor Julian Rachey 697-7285 i i classified c7 fish take first step toward playoff spot e Edmonton ? its simple for the Winnipeg Gold eyes. With six to go and a slim Lead in the wild card race its time to string together a few wins and ride into the playoffs or continue losing and once again Call Alberta a graveyard. The Gold eyes and their playoff Hopes ground to a halt in Calgary Dur ing the final week of last season. That possibility looms again this year. The fish kicked off their final week of the regular season with a 6-0 win Over the Edmonton Cracker cats last night and extended their Lead in the wild card race to 2 1/2 games. After three straight losses the Gold eyes got a Complete game five hitter from Rookie Ben Moore and a big fourth inning that accounted for the bulk of the clubs offence. Centre fielder Fehlandt Lentini struck the big blow at this Point i a kind of lost Selkirk pro admits drilling a two out single that cashed a pair of runners. Matt Mann belted a two run Homer in the eighth inning to make it 6-0. After a four game series in Edmon ton the Gold eyes travel to Calgary for the final three games of the season. The Gold eyes went 1-5 in Calgary last year and Are 2-4 there this season. The vipers rolled into Winnipeg with a revamped lineup last week and took three straight from the Gold eyes. If there a anything left to play for when the fish get to Calgary there slots of reason to be nervous. There a a whole lot to play for. I a excited about our Opportunity and i Hope our team is. They should be. Although we did to play Well this week end we re still in the Drivers seat said Gold eyes manager Rick Forney. We have an Opportunity to play seven games to get ourselves into the play offs and earn a championship spot. That should motivation enough for should the Gold eyes Clinch a playoff berth they la be heading Down to Fargo for the West division final beginning sept. 5. The Gold eyes Haven to set the North Ern league on fire with a 19-22 second half Mark and can thank their solid first half play 27-21 for their current wild card status. The Gold eyes Don to swing the bats Well but what they can do is pitch. In a five game series a hot rotation can end up with the hardware. In a Short series if you have some pitching and play defence and get some timely hitting for a week or 10 Days you can end up a Champion for Ney that a a week away though. Before then the fish must find some offence. I Don to need to say any names but if you look at our stats Over the last 10 Days there Are some Guys that need to pick it up a Little bit said Forney. The Promise of the postseason is still there. Nothing a better than playoff baseball but nothing a worse than Promise unfulfilled. teeing off on a slump frustrated Hnatiuk takes time off from his journey Back to pea tour by Tim Campbell s sometimes enough is enough. Selkirk a Glen Hnatiuk reached that Point 12 Days ago in Penn Sylvania when he packed up his clubs and went Home after a miser Able five Over 76 in the first round of the nationwide tour event. The clubs were punished confined to the garage for More than a week while Hnatiuk cleared his head. I needed some time off and it was simply time to take some Hnatiuk said i know yesterday from the How Good practice Range near a player his Central Florida Home. I a just Back i am and to hitting some balls i a just the last Day or the hiatus to not there regroup was not a right now break the 41-year? old Manitoban could ? Glen Hnatiuk afford to take. But the Way he looks at it he could to afford not to. I a trying to get things going most definitely but i just can to get a handle on it said Hnatiuk who had played six of the previous seven weeks. I a not driving it any Good. I a not doing anything any Good. I Don to have a bad attitude i just Don to want to struggle and i a not doing myself any Good if i a out there just playing no Good. I want to be ready and i know when i will be. I be played Long enough to know when i a Sharp or since surgery to repair Tennis Elbow More than two years ago game Sharpness has been elusive. Return ing to the pea tour with a medical exemption last season he did to play Well enough to keep the fully exempt card he enjoyed for five seasons. This year he took advantage of a one time exemption for former pea tour players for full membership on the nationwide tour. He found some game and moved up the nationwide Money list to near 50th place. But with declining play and no cheques cashed since Early August he has slipped to 72nd place. His goal is to return to the pea tour either by finishing in the top 20 of the nationwide list or the top 30 of the finals of qualifying school. An important Fallback position however is to be in the top 60 on the nationwide tour Money list this season securing full privileges there for 2007. Hnatiuk thought he was on the right track earlier this season. For a while i thought my swing was getting better he said. And i had been putting better relative to How i usually putt. But now i a almost in a holding pattern. I a frustrated with the Lack of consistency. Its too Many bad holes and Many of them Are almost Hnatiuk said that during his last nationwide round aug. 17 in Scran ton pa., he made two double bogeys with an eight Iron in his hands from the Fairway and another bogey with a nine Iron in the same situation. I know How Good a player i am and i a just not there right now he said. Its just Ball striking. Its a year and a half since i made those swing changes. I a not As consistent a Ball striker As i used to be but i still want to be going in that he said yesterday he will not play this week in Ohio. He sounds doubt Ful hell even return to next weeks event in Utah and he wont play the Canadian open next week in Hamil ton even though a sponsors exemption would Likely have been available. I said before if i did to have a card locked up id probably be staying on the nationwide he said. A Good week would go a Long Way. A Good week at the Canadian open Well i a not sure what that would have done for me. I had Given Imp his agents Long enough notice about my feelings on that so they did to have to push for one an exemption Hnatiuk Speaks from a position of authority on the Canadian open. In 1999, he declined his open spot to stay on the nationwide tour and won that week Locking up the pea tour card he kept for five years. If he skips the next two weeks hell have six nationwide events left this season to make his move. He a aware that while the break was important time is also ticking. Its one of the reasons he a Likely on his Way to Alabama this week to see longtime teacher Ron Gring. I be been practising for a couple of Days now Hnatiuk said. I Haven to seen my teacher at All but we be been talking on the phone which is what we often do because we have such a Good relationship and he knows my swing. That usually can get me work ing on some things. But at this Point i a kind of lost. I need to go see him.?. ;