Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 10, 1990 TAG: 9005100626
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
McDonald uttered the two words in relief as William Byrd's Antonette Veloso's final shot sailed out to give McDonald a 6-3, 6-3 victory and a berth in the Region III tournament Monday at Magna Vista.
The match ended the local battle of the sexes that for two years pitted McDonald against Veloso, a junior who played for the William Byrd boys' team because the Terriers don't have a girls' squad.
McDonald, the Group AA runner-up last year, has won five of seven meetings with Veloso.
"I think he's most relieved they never have to play again like this," said Dave Petersen, Salem's coach.
McDonald lost the first match between the two this year, and Veloso later charged he had shown bad sportsmanship over a call she had made that went against him.
Wednesday, there was no evidence of any bitterness.
"I'll never have to go through this again," McDonald said. "It's been pressure for two years."
For Veloso, there will be another chance to advance to the Region III tournament and possibly the Group AA boys' championship round next year.
"It wasn't my goal to go to the regionals," said Veloso, who also lost in the district final to McDonald a year ago. "I never thought about that. My main competition was Tommy. Yes, I felt pressure, but I think Tommy had more pressure on him."
The pressure on McDonald showed early as Veloso broke his serve to take a 3-1 lead in the first set. McDonald caught himself, took five straight games and broke Veloso's serve four straight times stretching into the second set.
"I was just starting off slowly and she was up for it [the match]," he said. "She was really grooved. She was taking my serve and putting it in the corner."
"I think I started to play tentative and I didn't play as aggressive as I should have," said Veloso about the shift in momentum.
Down 2-0 in the second set, Veloso had a chance to get back into the match by taking a love-40 lead on McDonald's second serve. But McDonald won five straight points to go up 3-0.
Leading 4-1, McDonald shouted to himself, "Don't let up." Then he broke Veloso's serve and went to a potential deciding game on his serve.
McDonald aced Veloso on his first shot. Then the Byrd junior won the rest of the points to break McDonald's service and held her serve to keep the match going. However, McDonald stormed to an easy victory in the ninth game.
\ BASEBALL: Liberty's Keith Coles pitched a three-hitter, struck out 11 and hit two home runs in a 5-1 victory over visiting Appomattox. Coles hit a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the fifth.
The victory left the Minutemen (12-5) a half-game out of third in the Seminole District with one game left. Kerry Hogan drove in the other two runs for Liberty.
At Lexington, Glenvar (9-6, 10-7) remained in the running for one of the top four spots in the Pioneer District by beating the Scarlet Hurricane 4-1 behind the four-hit pitching of Sean Grinnell and Chris Graham.
At Moneta, Josh Herman went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs to lead William Byrd to a 15-3 victory over Staunton River in a Blue Ridge District game shortened to five innings because of the 10-run rule. The Terriers are 3-6-1, 9-7-1; Staunton River is 3-7, 6-8.
\ SOFTBALL: At Lord Botetourt, Janelle Sowers won her seventh consecutive game as the Cavaliers beat Glenvar 8-6. Katrina Wilhelm had a two run double in the sixth for Lord Botetourt. Bobbi Wright led Glenvar with a two-run double in the seventh.
Jalenda Newman pitched a five-hitter as Staunton River (3-7, 5-12) closed the regular season with a 5-3 victory at William Byrd (3-7, 6-9). The teams will meet Monday in a first-round Blue Ridge District tournament game.
At Staunton, Shannon Simpson, Amoreli Ronquillo and Sarah Brady led Roanoke Catholic to a 25-0 whipping of Stuart Hall.
Simpson was 4-for-5 with seven RBI, Ronquillo went 4-for-4 with four RBI and Brady was 2-for-2 with a homer for the Celtics (9-2).
At Lynchburg, E.C. Glass took advantage of six errors to score 10 unearned runs in the fourth inning and beat Patrick Henry 11-8, completing a sweep of the Patriots (6-10). In the first game, the Hilltoppers (3-12) took advantage of walks to win 10-8.
At Lynchburg, Sara Goodman went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI as Cave Spring beat Heritage 9-4. Jackie Baker (1-3) pitched a three-hitter for the Knights (8-8).
\ SOCCER: Chad Brown had three goals and Mark Newell added two as host Northside (7-3, 10-4) defeated Alleghany 9-0 in a Blue Ridge District game.
Lord Botetourt rolled to an 11-3 victory over Staunton River in the first round of the Blue Ridge District soccer tournament. The Cavaliers (5-6, 8-7) face William Byrd today in second-round action.
by CNB