Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 3, 1993 TAG: 9306030251
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
Jefferson Forest and Amherst County each got the early jump. The Cavaliers went on to whip Byrd 10-1, and the Lancers shut out Salem 6-0 in the Group AA Region III baseball semifinals at Liberty University's spacious Worthington Field.
The two old Seminole District rivals will play for the fourth time this season, this time with the regional crown and a berth in the state semifinals at stake when they meet at 4 p.m. Friday at Liberty. Jefferson Forest (19-4) has won two of three from Amherst County (18-4).
The Cavs ran off laboring Byrd starter Chris Carr with four runs in the first inning and one in the second. Chris Jones couldn't stop the bleeding and he was tagged for three more runs before Kevin Saunders could restore order.
Saunders worked the rest of the way, yielding only Vince Whorley's two-run homer in the third, but by then, the wounds were fatal to the hopes of the Terriers (17-3).
Carr (6-2), Byrd's best pitcher, developed a mysterious ailment before the game even began.
"I don't think he felt very good," Jefferson Forest coach Jim Thacker said. "The shortstop asked him during warmups, `Are you feeling any better?' And Carr said no."
Since there hadn't been any sign of trouble earlier in the week, Terriers coach Rodney Spradlin clearly was taken aback.
"He said he couldn't get loose, that his arm was hurting," Spradlin said. "If it bothered him before, he didn't ever tell me."
With two out, Jefferson Forest strung together a walk to Teddy Wilson with four consecutive hits. Whorley, Charles Taylor, Carter Lee and Matt White each drove in runs - Lee knocking in a pair with a double.
"Late in the year, we've been having to come back in the late innings," Whorley said. "This time, we wanted to get out to an early start."
Ryan Gilleland and Teddy Wilson each had run-scoring doubles in the four-run second. Whorley's homer came with two out in the third.
"He'd thrown me a couple of curveballs earlier," said Whorley, who hit his third homer of the season. "With a 1-1 count, he threw me another out over the plate and I got the fat part of the bat on it."
Jefferson Forest will be seeking its first regional baseball title since 1989.
Amherst County followed the big-inning trend with four runs in the second off Salem's Ryan Blevins. The rally started in the lower third of the order with two out after Salem second baseman Matt Burge booted a grounder. All four runs were unearned.
Amherst's Justin Johannes belted a leadoff homer in the third - a terrific shot that easily went 400 feet - but that and another run in the fourth were just window dressing.
Scott Gillispie and Brian Lang combined on a 12-strikeout three-hitter. Salem (12-10), which had won five of six coming in, committed three errors.
"You can't make errors against a good team and you have to score some runs," Salem coach Scott Atkins said.
Atkins also regretted the pitch Blevins threw to Johannes.
"We knew we couldn't let him get his arms extended, but on the first pitch, it was out over the plate - just what he wanted."
Johannes had been slumping at midseason, Lancers coach Randy Thomas said.
"He was batting .250 and now he's up to .400. Recently, he got one contact lens for his right eye. Ever since then, he's been tearing it up." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB