Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 13, 1993 TAG: 9306140153
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Robinson demonstrated those skills Saturday, when his two-out single in the seventh inning capped a three-run rally that gave Glenvar a 5-4 victory over Honaker in the Group A state baseball tournament at Salem.
Glenvar advances to a state semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Salem High School. The Highlanders will meet Castlewood in a rematch of the Region C final, an 8-7 Glenvar victory.
Robinson's hit ended a traumatic game. His hard play left three Honaker Tigers crumpled on the field in agony. The winning hit, a dying quail behind second base, fell between Honaker's Jeremy Jessee and Rodney Staten, who collided trying to make the catch.
Jessee and Staten stayed prone on the field for several minutes, before getting up with ice packs on various parts of their bodies.
With two outs in the sixth inning, Robinson hit the second of his three singles. He then tried to go to second to draw a throw as a Glenvar runner rounded third with the potential tying run.
Honaker catcher Shane Miller was alert and had Robinson nailed. So the Highlanders junior slid hard into the Tigers' Rodney Miller. The second baseman was taken off the field with a knee injury, but not before tagging out Robinson to end the inning.
"I was trying to slide hard, make him bobble the ball so maybe we could tie the game," Robinson said. "I was hoping he [Shane Miller] might overthrow it."
Robinson had the game-winning hit against Castlewood in the Region C championship game earlier this week. The Highlanders also beat Lebanon in the Region C tournament on a late rally.
With their team trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh and the bottom of the order coming up, Glenvar fans hardly expected Robinson would get another chance.
Seventh-place hitter Trevor Willis reached when third baseman Matthew Hilton threw wildly to first on a grounder. After Jason Darnall flied out to left, ninth-place hitter Bryan Snead drew a walk to put the tying runs on base.
Tim Carroll, the Highlanders' leadoff hitter, bounced to third, but Hilton didn't throw wildly this time as he got the second out at first base. Honaker pitcher Marcus Jessee, who was tiring, then hit Eric East to load the bases.
Joey Hutton, who had the big hit against Lebanon, then singled up the middle, scoring Willis and Snead to tie the score. Jason Anderson, an All-Timesland player who had tripled and doubled earlier, was walked intentionally.
That brought up Robinson, who lofted a soft pop behind first base. When the two fielders collided as the ball fell to the ground, Glenvar (15-4-1) had its victory and a berth in the state semifinals.
"I kind of thought one of them would catch it," Robinson said. "The one at Castlewood did the same thing, but that wasn't catchable."
The rally was dramatic, but it wasn't surprising to Glenvar coach Larry Wood.
"They always think they're going to win," Wood said after his team's third consecutive late-inning rally. "They believe it and now they've got me believing it."
Anderson, Glenvar's pitching ace, had one of those days that defies description, or two runs by the Highlanders in the fourth might have stood up.
Anderson struck out 12 and didn't give up a hit until the sixth. But he walked 10, and that was his undoing.
"I really didn't have it today," Anderson said of his pitching.
Honaker (13-6) had runners in every inning, but didn't score until the sixth. Anderson walked three hitters and got two outs before Tigers coach Tom Harding sent pinch hitter Sean O'Conner to the plate.
O'Conner, batting .750, lined an Anderson pitch to right for a two-run single, and an error by Carroll gave the Tigers another run and a 3-2 lead.
In the seventh, Anderson gave up another run before David Henderson got the final two outs.
"I hadn't pitched since the regular season," Henderson said. "I had no idea I'd be pitching today."
"It wasn't a gamble," said Wood, whose second pitcher has been Willis. "They split time during the year.
"I started to get Jason in the sixth, but he said he had one more inning left. When I went to get him in the seventh, he said his shoulder was hurting."
Harding, in his first state tournament in 21 years of coaching, was hoping to get his 252nd career victory. Instead, he went home with a disappointing loss.
"It seems like we had no luck. But we had opportunities," Harding said. "When you get to to this point and don't take advantage of opportunities, you don't win. The Glenvar kids just never quit." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB