Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 11, 1993 TAG: 9306110110
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLUEFIELD LENGTH: Medium
Down to their last strike, the Cavaliers rallied for six runs with two out in the top of the seventh inning, then held off heavy-hitting Richlands in the bottom of the inning to beat the Blue Tornadoes 10-7 in a state Group AA quarterfinal game at steamy Bowen Field.
"We got down to one strike to win it, but that's baseball," Richlands coach Keith Hovis said.
So Jefferson Forest (20-5) keeps playing baseball. Richlands (19-4), which hit 45 home runs this year, starts its summer vacation. The Cavs visit Virginia High, an 8-7 winner over Amherst County, next Tuesday. It is the first time Jefferson Forest has made it this far since 1989.
If there ever was a baseball game waiting to be won, this was it for Richlands. The Tornadoes could have seized their destiny, but instead they were seized by a case of the yips.
With two out in the top of the seventh, Richlands was up 5-4. Jefferson Forest's Carter Lee was on first after being hit by a pitch from reliever Amos Mitchell, who previously had shown a bullfighter's ability to avoid trouble. Scott Spencer was at the plate with an 0-2 count on him.
Mitchell had struck out Spencer looking with two men on base in the fifth. But this time, Spencer poked one deep to shortstop, then beat the throw to first base. Brian Piccolo, the No. 9 hitter in the order, followed with a run-scoring single to tie it.
"I was just trying to look out for the curveball," said Spencer, who hit a 1-0 pitch. "That's what he'd gotten me with the last time."
It didn't stop there. Not by a long shot. Counting Spencer and Piccolo, Jefferson Forest strung together six consecutive two-out hits. A team that had trailed 5-1 after two innings ended the seventh with a 10-5 lead.
Richlands wasn't through, though. Brannon Breeding got a one-out hit off tiring reliever Ryan Gilleland, who had been in the game since the second inning.
"I haven't pitched that much in two years," Gilleland said.
A walk to Ronnie Cordle, a single by Terry Monk and a two-base error by shortstop Todd Stern brought in two runs. It could have been more had Breeding not been caught in a rundown between third and home. That was the second out. Lee came on to get the final out and the save.
Jefferson Forest had staged a similar comeback when it beat Lebanon here in a semifinal en route to the 1989 state title.
"I keep coming down here and having games like this, I'm going to have a heart attack," Cavs coach Jim Thacker said.
It seemed as though everybody had a hand in this one, but none had a bigger hand than Gilleland, who kept Jefferson Forest close when it was four runs down. After relieving starter Anthony Poindexter, Gilleland scattered seven hits and threw all five of his pitches for strikes, allowing only the two seventh-inning runs.
Gilleland also did it at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
Poindexter, plagued by wildness on the mound, made up for that by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two scored, as well as a sensational diving catch in center field in the sixth inning.
Lee doubled and had three RBI in two official at-bats.
Then there was Piccolo.
"I came upon him by accident in the [Seminole] District tournament and put him in there to pinch hit," Thacker said. " . . . Ever since he's been getting clutch hit after clutch hit." \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: ***CORRECTION***