
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 27, 1993                   TAG: 9305270116
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ALLEGHANY OUSTED 8-7 IN TOURNAMENT

The Blue Ridge District baseball tournament was a routine affair in one respect - top-seeded William Byrd wore out two opponents to win its second straight title - but the character of Wednesday's event was provided by the semifinal showdown between No. 2 Alleghany and sixth-seeded Salem.

The Spartans scored three runs in the 11th, the big blow being a two-run home run by Ryan Blevins, then hung on in the bottom half of the frame to beat Alleghany 8-7 at William Byrd.

The Mountaineers had led 4-1 before the Spartans rallied in the sixth to score four runs. Charlie Hammersley hit a two-run shot to punctuate the comeback.

Alleghany tied it in the seventh but could never score the go-ahead run despite several chances.

Byrd whipped Salem in the final 7-0 and Lord Botetourt in the semifinals 5-0. Both the Terriers and the Spartans advance to the Group AA Region III tournament that starts June 2 at Liberty University.

In other high school baseball:

Covington and Glenvar advanced to the Pioneer District tournament championship with semifinal victories at Covington's Casey Field. The Cougars eliminated James River 9-6 and Glenvar routed Bath County 11-4.

The Cougars jumped on top of the Knights with five two-out runs in the third inning, highlighted by Chuck Via's two-run double and Mark Phillips' three-run homer. Chad Merrill also drove in two runs with a fourth-inning single.

A seven-run second inning carried Glenvar on its way to a 9-0 lead and an easy win. Eric East had two hits, two runs scored and two RBI for the Highlanders and Joey Hutton drove in two runs.

Covington and Glenvar will meet for the tournament title on Friday at 5 p.m. in Covington.

At Hillsville, Carroll County and Christiansburg slugged their way to New River District semifinal victories. The Cavaliers smashed Radford 13-4 while the Demons dispatched Blacksburg 10-4.

Carroll County (14-3) broke the game open in the second inning, when James Phillips hit a grand slam and Kevin DeHaven belted a two-run homer. Zack Foley pitched the complete game win, allowing no earned runs. Radford finished at 4-13.

In the other semifinal, Christiansburg (7-11) got home runs from Brock Whitlock, Denny Selfe and Toby Duncan, whose three-run sixth-inning blast put the game away. Starter Charlie Shrader struck out 10 and walked nine in 5 innings and reliever Jason Basham was perfect for 1. The Indians finish the season at 9-9.

Carroll County and Christiansburg will meet Friday at 5 p.m. for the championship. Both teams will advance to the Region IV tournament.

At Dry Fork on Tuesday, Bubba Scarce went 2-for-2 with a home run and Mark Inge was 2-for-4 with three RBI as undefeated Tunstall (19-0) trounced Bassett 10-2 in the first round of the Piedmont District tournament. Todd Criswell (3-0) won in relief, giving up one hit in 5 innings. Stan Turner got two of the Bengals' three hits.

At Bristol on Tuesday, Shawn Fouch hit a two-run homer to highlight an eight-run first inning as defending Group AA champion Virginia High whipped Marion 13-2 in a Highlands District tournament.

\ BOYS' TENNIS: At Galax, Glenvar's Nick Varney advanced to state competition in both singles and doubles with a pair of Region C championship victories. Varney defeated Floyd's Frankie Turpin 6-0, 7-5 in a singles match, then teamed with Eric Starkloff to rout Turpin and Evan Arno 6-0, 6-1 in the doubles final. Group A matches begin June 2 at Clinch Valley College.

by CNB