THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605260235
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 48 lines
Almost perfect.
That's only way to describe to Greenbrier Christian's fifth consecutive Virginia Independent Schools Division I baseball championship.
Senior lefthander Nick James pitched a perfect game for 6 2/3 innings and the Gators did everything else right Saturday in routing Covenent School of Charlottesville 10-0 at Old Dominion University.
James (9-1) threw only 85 pitches and struck out 15. But one pitch he'd like to have back was a 1-0 fastball that Brandon Yancey ripped up the middle for the Eagles' only hit. Covenant (17-3) hit only two balls out of the infield.
``I knew it was a no-hitter, but I didn't realize it was a perfect game until two outs in the seventh,'' James said. ``That's when my teammates started screaming at me.''
James tried to spot a fastball to Ramsey but made it a little too fat.
``He throws a lot of strikes and I wanted to lay off the curve,'' Yancey said. ``I was looking fastball and got one right down the middle.''
Greenbrier (27-3) gave James an early cushion with one run in the first, four in the second and four in the third. Ross Robertson delivered the key blow, a two-run triple that made it 4-0. Robertson was 2 for 3 with three RBIs.
Greenbrier allowed only one run its last seven games and outscored its three opponents in the state tournament 26-0. Nansemond-Suffolk falls
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy lost to Richmond Collegiate 2-1 in the Division 2 championship game.
Thomas Winston's sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the sixth drove in Andrew Slater with the winning run.
N-SA (17-8) had tied the score at 1-1 in the fifth, but a controversial umpire's call and a baserunning blunder prevented the Saints from taking the lead.
Andy Dunn led off the fifth with a walk and then Jason Strickland appeared to beat out a bunt. But the first baseman, Winston, fell across the bag trying to make the putout and Strickland failed to touch the base. He was tagged out trying to come back, and N-SA coach Bill Harris thought obstruction should have been called.
Ben Johnson and Robbie Grandy followed with walks, loading the bases. Mike Vizcaino popped to shortstop and David Putnam grounded to short. Putnam was safe and Dunn scored on an error, but Johnson slowed rounding third and was gunned down at the plate. by CNB