Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 3, 1993 TAG: 9306030235
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Knights, who hadn't been expected to do very well in baseball this spring, finally saw their string of good fortune and good playing end in a 5-0 loss to Woodbridge in the Group AAA Northwestern Region tournament semifinals at Cave Spring.
The Vikings (16-3) advance to the finals and next week's Group AAA state tournament, while the Knights (18-5), featuring a very young team, will look toward next year.
The key inning for Cave Spring was the the fifth. Woodbridge didn't waste its opportunity and the Knights did.
First, Woodbridge's Lewis Capolupo stroked a one-out single to score Robie Wood with the game's first run. The Knights should have escaped without further damage, but then shortstop Doug Kenney booted a grounder with two outs to let in two more runs.
In the bottom of the inning, the Knights were ready to strike back. Chad Smith led off with a single to right, and Robert Kaczmarek and Scott Fayed worked Justin Raynor for two-out walks to load the bases.
However, third-place hitter Will Goodman flied to center, ending the threat. Goodman would also end the game two innings later when he grounded out with the bases loaded once again.
"Our horse rode out. We got as much out of this team as we could have gotten. We weren't even thinking of winning the district at the beginning of the season, and then to get within a game of the state tournament," said Knights coach Roger White.
Woodbridge earned its victory. Because of a rainout, the Vikings had to play a first-round game against arch rival Gar-Field Tuesday, hop a bus early Wednesday morning and motor four hours to Roanoke to play the Knights.
"It was on my mind how we'd do," said Woodbridge coach Jerry Mobley. "We played until 9:30 last night, had a kid hurt and had to take him to the hospital.
"We didn't do a lot of things, but we made the plays when we had to. Offensively, we weren't as sharp, but defense carried us."
White agreed that the error was a big play or else the Knights wouldn't have had to look for the big inning.
"Hey, but that's baseball. That was a freshman out there and we wouldn't be where we were if he hadn't made some big plays during the season. Will has been one of our big hitters and he hit the ball hard both times, but just right at someone."
The best-hit ball of the day, however, was one that Greg Velo smacked to left-center for a two-run homer in the seventh. Then the Knights loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning before Dennis Emerson came on to retire Goodman for the save.
by CNB