Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 8, 1990 TAG: 9007060510
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Ray Cox
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The patrons at Calfee Park have been flowing and so have the dollars. The fans have been arriving with good humor and good appetites. No one can recall the consistent level of support seen here through the first 14 games of this season.
The topper was the July Fourth blowout (in more ways than one) with the Bristol Tigers. An official count of 1,192 turned out for a 7-1 Braves victory, their sixth in eight starts at home. This for a team that drew an average of 300 a year ago and never has done great at the gate, perhaps because it plays in one of the smallest towns in organized baseball.
Those who came Independence Day saw: fireworks; an all-over-the-infield brawl that brought on a 10-minute play stoppage and three ejections; one of the most hideous black eyes any Bristol Tiger was ever administered; a three-pitcher one-hitter; two home runs; and the annihilation of a professional ball club of profoundly limited abilities.
Braves general manager Kyle Scharhag isn't certain what he's doing right to keep the people coming to the ball park. He just hopes he keeps doing it.
Of course, credit should be accorded the proper source: They have a good product at Calfee this year. "The Braves of the Future" (as the team logo shouts) are good young ballplayers right now.
Among several players whom you'll be hearing about frequently this summer:
Hector Roa, the sweet-fielding shortstop with pop: three homers and a team-leading 13 RBI through 14 games.
Leadoff man and center fielder Brian Kowitz: team-leading 22 hits, six walks, 12 runs and a .431 average through 13 games.
First baseman Pat Dando, who signed as a free agent in 1989 and now is showing the scouts what they missed by hitting .429 with three doubles, a triple and two home runs and 21 hits.
Outfielder Troy Hughes, a three-sport star from Illinois who passed up a college football offer to hit .353 and put together a baseball package of power and speed in Pulaski.
Outfielder Johnny Walker, another multisport guy who aspires to follow the path trod by Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. Power and speed from deep in the heart of Texas.
Catcher Wallace Gonzalez, a bruiser who's ripped a couple of mighty home runs. One at Calfee this week had everybody scrambling for distance estimates.
"485 feet, it had to be," fellow catcher Vincent Jiminez said. "It got out of here so fast I didn't have time to turn my head to see how far it went," coach Randy Phillips said.
Gonzalez is also an excellent fellow to have on your side when hostilities start, as he showed the Tigers this week.
The no-place-like-home crew: seven players are hitting over .300 in Calfee: Dando (.391), Gonzalez (.385), Juan Williams (.363), Kowitz (.360), Trent Mongero (.333), Walker (.333), and Roa (.316).
The get-me-outta-this-place guy: Armando Rodriguez is batting .083 (1-of-13) at home and .476 (10-of-21) on the road.
The pitching staff with the 3.23 ERA. Right-hander Keith Morrison (3-0) retired 15 in a row and 20 of the last 21 while striking out 10 and walking two in seven innings his last outing. Right-hander Brett Grebe (2-1) had a six-inning one-hitter. David Williams (2-0), the right-hander from Arkansas, has fanned 15 and walked two in 18 innings. Closers Raymond Mack and Barry Chiles, a couple of fireballers, and curveballer Mike Shepherd have been deadly.
These guys will be in it for the long haul.
There has also been some nice amateur baseball being played in the area this summer.
American Leagion team Roanoke West, which has had substantial contributions from players from Christiansburg and Shawsville, is leading the Blue Ridge District with a 10-1 record and has won four games by the 10-run slaughter rule.
Billy Wells' team, which has won five straight and scored 99 runs, has also pitched well, as an 2.17 team ERA would indicate. The top pitcher has been lefty Robby Gibson from Salem (4-0, 1.17 ERA, two saves, 44 strikeouts in 29 innings) with Christiansburg's Mike Royal (3-0, 1.53 ERA) not far behind.
West has had plenty of power: seven have hit home runs including Pat Rakes and Royal with five each.
Giles County, on the other hand, is going the opposite direction. After starting 3-1, Giles has lost five straight.
In the Southwest League, Blacksburg has won four of five and is in first place. Among those responsible are infielders Wayne Caldwell and Brad Ewing and shortstop and pitcher Walter Smith, of whom big things are expected before his high school career ends (he's a rising junior).
The secret to their success?
"It isn't because we've been practicing," Coach Jody Falls said. "We can't get a field."
An AAU 18-and-under girls basketball team called the New River Valley All Stars will be part of a 36-team field at the national tournament at the University of Tennessee-Chatanooga July 7-14.
The team, which qualified by winning the state, opened against Western Pennsylvania Saturday.
Members include: India Adams (Radford), Beth King (Radford), Kristi Workman (Radford), Michelle Graham (Radford), Stephanie Gentry (Radford), Deitra Dobbins (Radford), D'Lynn Anderson (Fort Chiswell), Lisa Thayer (Abingdon), Sarah Quesennberry (Pulaski County).
A notable absentee is Radford's Paige Martin, who chose not play. The team could use her. The All Timesland player scored 37 points while playing against members of the Bobcats' boys' varsity in a recent Radford summer league game.
Even so, this team can play. Both Adams and Anderson were Timesland players of the year and the 1989 Radford team, well-represented here, was the Group AA runner-up.
"Nobody came close to us at [AAU] state," Coach Guy Gentry said.
by CNB