Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 29, 1993 TAG: 9305290237
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Goodman singled home Scott Fayed with the winning run in the sixth inning as the Knights downed Franklin County 4-3.
Then Goodman retired the last two Eagle hitters - with the tying run on third base - to save the win.
Both teams advance to the Northwestern Region tournament that begins next Monday. District champion Cave Spring (16-4) plays host to Halifax County. Franklin County (12-6) travels to Western District tournament winner George Washington-Danville.
"He threw me a high fastball and I tried to pull it," Goodman said of losing pitcher Phillips Bowles (3-1). "I tried to get it to the outfield so the runner [Fayed] could tag up. But I didn't get as much of it as I wanted to and it ended up falling in front of the fielder."
Fayed opened the bottom of the sixth inning by doubling along the left field line. He took third base when the ball got past outfielder Freddie McGhee.
"Basically I was just trying to put the ball in play," Fayed said. "I wanted to hit the ball fair and hope it would find a gap. That's what it did."
But in the Franklin County seventh, pinch hitter Clay Bailey drew a lead-off walk from winning pitcher Robert Caldwell (5-0). Bailey was replaced by pinch runner Justin Sigmon who moved to second on a balk and was sacrificed to third.
At that point, Goodman replaced a weary Caldwell, who had thrown 117 pitchers. All Goodman did was strike out two dangerous Eagle hitters: Derek Bryant and Nicky Coleman.
"Lately I've been coming in to close games out so I knew what to expect - but I'm not going to say I wasn't nervous," said Goodman, who has two wins and four saves. "Coach [Roger White] told me to come in there and throw strikes."
What Goodman threw were unhittable strikes.
"We just came up short," said Franklin County coach Mason Ligon. "Our guys just didn't hit the ball. You've got to put the ball in play to win ball games."
Earlier, Franklin County had put the ball in play. The Eagles led 1-0 after a double by Bowles in the second and a 3-1 in the third as Bryant tripled.
But each time the Knights came back in their half of the inning to tie. Brent Shorter tripled home a run in the second and Rober Kaczmarek hit a two-run homer in the third.
In the semifinals earlier Friday, Franklin County's Greg Purdue and Issac Medciros combined for a one-hitter as the Eagles won 13-0 over Pulaski County (4-15). Bryant, Coleman and David Purdue went a combined 7-for-10 with seven RBI and five runs scored.
Cave Spring reached the finals with a 12-4 win over William Fleming (5-11). Fayed had a bases-loaded triple and later scored in a four-run fourth.
by CNB