By Jeff Wendland, Dispatch/Argus staff writer

MIDLAND, Mich. -- They set the table and cleared it all afternoon.

The top three hitters in the Rock Island Legion Post 200 lineup did
everything coach Mike Bell could have asked of them in Thursday's
18-5 pasting of Dearborn Post 173 on the opening day of play at the
Great Lakes Region Five Tournament.

Leadoff hitter Bryce Palar came to the plate six times and rapped six
line drives, three for singles and three for doubles while scoring five
run sand driving in five.

No. 2 hitter, Dustin Harksen, chimed in with four singles and a sacrifice
bunt.

For good measure, third-place hitter Steve Strickler had a two-run
double, a two-run home run and a sacrifice fly.

In all, that's 12 hits, nine runs and 12 RBIs for the top three men in
the Rock Island lineup.

"We came to the park ready to hit,'' said Post 200 coach Mike Bell.
"Twelve hits and 12 RBIs out of the top three guys in the lineup is
hard to beat. They pitched it, we saw it and we hit it all day.''

That's an understatement.

Rock Island banged out 18 hits, five of them for extra bases and
scored two or more runs in six different innings to get off to a flying
start in pool play.

Speaking of flying starts, Palar gave the Rock Island offense a great
one, signaling what was to come with a line single up the middle to
open the top of the first.

"I was swinging the bat pretty well in batting practice (Thursday morning)
and when I hit that first back up the middle, I had a feeling this was
going to be a good day,'' Palar said. "I've only had six hits in a game
one other time in my life. I was seeing the ball and hitting it hard.''

Harksen followed Palar's first-inning lead with a line single of his
own and Strickler then laced a two-run double to the gap in right-center.

"It's nice coming to the plate with men on base all day,'' said Strickler.
"The key here was their pitchers made some bad pitches and we
jumped on every one of them.''

Strickler scored on an error and Rock Island added two more in the
second on an RBI hit by Palar, driving home Zach Vroman for the
first of his five runs scored, a bunt hit by Harksen and a sacrifice fly by
Strickler.

"While the six hits were nice, I was happiest with the fact that after my
first at bat every time I came up I had Zach in scoring position and was
able to drive him in,'' said Palar.

Rock Island hit a little clinker in the third when Dearborn got to starter
Brett Hiner for three hits and two Rock Island errors helped the
Michigan club score three times.

"Brett didn't have his best stuff and we played some awful defense,''
said Bell. "I shouldn't be too surprised. We had a lot of guys who
were playing in infield spots for the first time in a while. We didn't
bring our best defensive game to the park with us, but that's okay
because we hit it and I know we'll bounce back with the gloves.''

After Dearborn plated the three in the third, Rock Island bounced back
with the bats. Palar doubled off the base of the fence in left to plate
one run and Strickler made it a 9-3 game with a home run over the
fence in left.

Dearborn wouldn't quit, scoring two more in the fourth to signal the
end to Hiner's day, but Chris Wood and Ben Layer came on to throw
five innings of one-hit relief and the Rock Island bats didn't stop
cranking out the runs.

Vroman and Palar drove in runs in the fifth; Vroman had an RBI hit
in the seventh and then scored on a Palar double; and in the ninth
Palar drove in Vroman again before Harksen singled in two more.

"It was a day where everyone was seeing it and hitting it,'' said
Harksen. ``Bryce was hitting everything hard and I was just trying
to move him over to give `Strick' the RBI chances.''

Vroman's day typifies the Rock Island attack, tough from top to bottom.

"We really don't have a bottom of the order, everyone hits about
the same,'' Vroman said. ``We have a lot of weapons and I know
when I get on base someone at the top will probably drive me in.''

Rock Island continues pool play action today at 10 against Toronto,
Ohio, a 4-2 loser to Somerset, Ky., on Thursday.

Copyright 1998, Moline Dispatch Publishing Co.