Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 24, 1990 TAG: 9005250005
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: TAZEWELL LENGTH: Medium
Tazewell's fireballing left-hander could have done with one run. His teammates gave him 13 more than that while mashing Christiansburg 14-0 in the semifinals of the Group AA Region IV baseball tournament Wednesday at Tazewell Middle School.
"A pitcher likes to have all the runs he can get, whether it's one or 100," Bulldogs coach Lou Peery said.
Tazewell (19-2), which qualified for the Group AA Tournament with the victory, plays Friday at Virginia High for the regional championship. Virginia High beat Graham 4-3 in the other semifinal Wednesday. Christiansburg (14-5) was stopped in the semifinals for the third straight year.
"We ran into a buzzsaw when we got a well-rested Wagner today," Christiansburg coach Kirk Litton said.
Working on a week's rest, Wagner chewed up the Blue Demons with a two-hitter in which one ball left the infield. One base runner made it as far as second base.
"Every once in awhile, I talked to the umpire because he's seen me pitch before," Wagner said. "He told me that my ball didn't have nearly as much movement on it as it usually does."
That probably doesn't make much difference to the Demons. All they knew was the baseball was moving past their bats at a vigorous pace.
Wagner struck out 19 batters, 11 of those coming in succession. He fanned 14 of 16 between the first and fifth innings with the interruptions being Mike Royal's infield single in the second and a walk to Donnie Robinson in the fifth. Wagner issued four free passes.
"We heard that when he throws hard and is on, he's tough; when he throws hard and is wild, you can get to him," Litton said. "He was on today."
Wagner's record improved to 7-1. Batting second in the lineup, Wagner also contributed two RBI and a run scored to an 11-hit attack.
Christiansburg got caught in a pitching bind of another sort. Its top two starters, Darren Graham and Royal, had shared duties in a 12-inning, 5-4 endurance test of a victory Monday over John Battle. Graham started against Tazewell and lasted two innings; Royal pitched the next three and was equally ineffective.
(for briefs that followed this story, see microfilm)
by CNB