SYRACUSE -ÊJudging by the Goshen Redskins' last two scores, one could mistake the games as tennis matches. Goshen overcame a 6-0 whitewashing by Plymouth to serve a 6-0 love match of their own against conference foe Wawasee in a baseball matchup Friday evening.

Goshen pitcher Josh Keister proved to be the king of center court by limiting the Warriors to three hits in going the distance to raise his personal record to 4-1.

"Josh pitched an excellent game," said Goshen coach Matt Chupp. "He pitched big when he needed to."

That is putting it mildly to say the least, considering the hardest hit ball was a one hopper which Goshen third baseman Eric Wolfe made a diving backhanded stab to nail Brian Milligan at first.

Goshen was able to manufacture two runs in their half of the second with obliging services provided by the Wawasee defense. Brandon Hughes reached first on a fielding error by Wawasee first baseman Mike Wilson and later stole second. Wolfe next blooped a double into right moving Hughes to third.

Wawasee was in the giving mood by wild pitching Hughes home and compounding the inning with another error by Wilson. Goshen was never seriously threatened after the second because of the dominant Keister pitching.

Goshen was the benefactor of balanced offense to the tune of six hits by six different Redskins.

"This was a total team effort...we have different guys contributing each game," said Chupp.

Not only did Goshen get balanced hitting, they also stole seven bases.

"That is a big part of our game, plus we knew Wawasee had their back-up catcher," said a pleased Chupp.

Goshen closed out the shutout in their half of the sixth, scoring four runs highlighted by the fleet Hughes doubling in two runs and stealing two bases. Hughes executed the single most exciting play in baseball, the straight steal of home.

"We (Hughes and Chupp coaching third) talked about him going on the pitch and he just took off and made a great play," Chupp said.

The loss drops Wawasee's record to 7-9 overall and 1-3 in Northern Lakes Conference play. Poor defense (five errors) and zero run support proved to be the undoing of Wawasee pitcher Drew Gradle who only allowed two earned runs in going the distance himself.

As for Keister, his only threat of losing his shutout came in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on first and second with one out, Keister executed "red 16" to perfection from the Goshen bench. Red 16 is the pickoff play in order to nail the runner at second. Keister served his final ace of the match getting Wawasee pinch hitter Henson on strikes.

The win upped the Goshen mark to 3-2 in conference play and 8-4 overall.

Talented Bucks Toil In Relative Anonymity

By Jeff Holsinger, Times-Union Sports Editor

"A Milwaukee Bucks game on a Monday night in the middle of December is about as exciting as going to your ex-girlfriend's third cousin's funeral. On a Sunday morning. Christmas Day."

• New Jersey Nets center Jayson Williams in his book "Loose Balls"

There. Jayson did it. He came out and said what everyone thinks about the Milwaukee Bucks.

If ever a team existed that deserved to cry "no respect," it would be the Milwaukee Bucks.

Only one NBA team had three players score 18 or more points per game this season.

That team was Milwaukee with shooting guard Ray Allen (22.1), forward Glenn Robinson (20.9) and point guard Sam Cassell (18.6).

Yet Milwaukee wasn't good enough to make the regular-season national television schedule.

The Bucks' appearances on national TV match the number of NBA titles won by the Clippers - zero. The Bucks didn't make NBC's schedule, which is understandable. A lot of small-market teams never are shown on NBC. But they also weren't shown on either TBS or TNT, and between those two networks, games were televised three days per week.

National publications and national television hype three teams as young, up-and-coming teams: the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and Sacramento Kings. Granted, the Kings aren't the darlings they were a year ago.

Never any mention of the Bucks as a team of the future.

Maybe now the Bucks will open some eyes.

At least they surely woke up the Pacers, who snoozed and snored their way to a 104-91 Thursday loss in Game 2.

Why the Pacers would have overlooked the Bucks is a mystery itself.

The Pacers went 37-5 at Conseco Fieldhouse during the regular season; the Bucks handed them one of the five losses and the most lopsided loss. Now the Pacers are 37-6 at Conseco, and the Bucks are the only team to beat them more than once on their home floor.

The Pacers and Bucks played four times during the regular season; the Pacers, a 56-26 team, went 2-2 against Milwaukee.

To some, the young, brash Bucks probably appeared as if they were shooting off their mouths after their Game 1, 88-85 loss. The Bucks lost, but they felt confident because Robinson and Cassell hit 10 of 34 field goals (29 percent) and yet they played the Pacers down to the final second.

"I think we have them more on their heels than they have us on ours," Robinson said after the loss.

Milwaukee coach George Karl shrugged off the loss, saying: "I see it as a cocktail party. It's good to get the introductions over."

Surely this was a sign of a desperate team reaching. Surely this was a shaken team trying not to look shaken.

No, this was the Bucks saying what they believed. They guaranteed they would shoot better, and they did. They backed up their talk Thursday by spanking the Pacers from tip-off to finish.

The veteran Pacers looked like the shaken team. Led by Reggie Miller, they harped about bad foul calls, but they attempted 10 more free throws than the Bucks.

It was almost as if they switched roles. The Bucks became the playoff-tested, strong-minded team. The Pacers became the inexperienced playoff team that let silly things like calls crawl into their heads and distract them.

Karl's key defensive move, which he actually made at halftime of the first game, continued to help. He switched Robinson off of Dale Davis and over to Jalen Rose and had skywalker Darvin Ham switch from Rose to Davis.

Can the Bucks play as well again as they did Thursday? Maybe. Probably not.

Yes, former Bull benchwarmer Scott Williams looked like he was playing out of his league. Head fakes. Putting the ball on the floor and blowing by a defender. You name the move, Williams put it on display. Vinny Del Negro looked like the Vinny Del Negro with the Spurs a few years back, draining open jumpers. And Ham. Think the Pacers would like him back?

At the same time, the Bucks raced out to a 61-38 halftime lead, yet Allen, their best player, had but seven points at the half. And the Bucks have put it all together at least once before, on Jan. 10. They shot better than 60 percent from the field and routed Charlotte by 50, 137-87.

The Bucks are guaranteed to be prepared. Karl has extra coaches, including Utah's Rick Majerus and the CBA Coach of the Year, helping his team as "consultants." You only have to assume this is permitted - surely the team checked it out with the league - because the Bucks have 10 volunteer coaches for 12 players and one opponent.

The Bucks were left for dead by many after their 3-9 February that included losses to Denver, Golden State, Vancouver and Washington. They finished 42-40 and had to beat overachieving Orlando in the 81st game of the season to get into the playoffs.

But now they are playing their best basketball in Karl's two years as coach, and they have lost only five games since March 24.

They have accomplished their most important playoff goal, to win one playoff game. The playoff win was the first for the Bucks since they beat the Bulls in May 1990. More importantly, being swept by the Pacers as they were last year could have had a devastating effect and most likely would have led to major roster changes.

A grim Miller spoke at the press conference after the game. "Right now our backs are truly against the wall," Miller said. In a 1-1 round one best-of-five series, no less, officially the earliest date for this declaration to be offered. Miller was being overdramatic, but you understand what he was saying: The No. 1 seed Pacers lost their home-court advantage to No. 8 seed Milwaukee.

NBC hasn't shown the Bucks during the playoffs and won't during the rest of the first round. The only way for the Bucks to make it on the network would be to advance to the second round, which means they would have to oust the Pacers, which isn't likely.

But with a strong performance, Milwaukee can successfully deliver a message: The Bucks are a young, up-and-coming team.

Maybe this will get them one game on TNT next year. [[In-content Ad]]