Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 16, 1993 TAG: 9306160175
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL LENGTH: Medium
The Cavaliers scored first, but mound mistakes ultimately were their undoing as Virginia High School came back for a 4-1 state Group AA semifinal victory Tuesday at DeVault Field.
The Bearcats did it without making a whole lot of racket with the bats.
Lack of a monster offense hasn't hurt the defending state champions much because they can always fall back on stouthearted pitching, which was what they had from Shawn Fouch against the Cavaliers (20-6).
Fouch, throwing by his own estimate about 70 percent curveballs, scattered seven hits and kept the heavy-hitting Cavs off-balance most of the evening. In that atmosphere, it put a lot of pressure on Cavs starter Teddy Wilson and successors Marc Theiler and Carter Lee.
Wilson walked two and hit a batter, and all three of those runners scored. Theiler issued a leadoff walk to Bo Love to start his stint on the mound in the fourth, and that run scored without benefit of a hit on a pair of wild pitches.
"It's definitely a bigger strike zone down here," said Jefferson Forest shortstop Ryan Gilleland, who went 2-for-4. "But you can't blame anything on the umpire. You can't do much with one run."
Jefferson Forest had base runners every inning but the first, but could only score once - in the third on Matt White's leadoff single and Brian Piccolo's RBI double. Piccolo, the designated hitter batting in the ninth slot, went 3-for-3.
"I was throwing a hard curve at first," said Fouch, who beat Jefferson Forest here in the quarterfinals last year. "But I felt like I was getting it too high. So I started throwing the curve not as hard. I threw a lot of curves. They were hitting my fastball pretty good."
The breakthrough inning for the Bearcats (21-3) was the third. Side-arming Wilson had allowed one hit and faced one over the minimum through two, but after striking out Beau Leonard to start the third, he began to unravel. In succession, he walked Curt Pritchard, hit Danny Sowell with a pitch, walked Kevin Barker, then gave up a run-scoring single to Fouch. Wes Brown, the designated hitter because a pulled hamstring prevented him from playing right field, then singled in two more.
Wilson struck out Mickey Glover and Vince Whorley picked Brown off first to end the inning.
"They're an opportunistic team," Cavaliers coach Jim Thacker said. "We gave them the chances and they slid right through the door."
Virginia High plays host to the winner of Tuesday's Turner Ashby-R.E. Lee of Staunton game for the state title Friday. Virginia High beat Amherst County in the quarterfinals after losing to Richlands for the Region IV title.
"That was the best thing that ever happened to us," Virginia High coach Eddie Icenhour said. "If we'd beaten Richlands, we would have had to play Amherst here and then gone up the road to play Jefferson Forest up there."
In truth, the best thing that happened to Virginia High is Fouch, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies this year.
"They told me it was something like the 30th round," Fouch said. "I'm supposed to talk to them again after we finish playing, but I don't think I'll sign. I don't think I'd get much."
Instead, he's inclined to go to Walter State Junior College in Tennessee, play for two years, then declare for the draft again. By then, he may be a smarter pitcher, which would be saying something, because he's plenty clever already.
"He kept throwing that curve and we were beating it into the dirt," said Cavs leadoff man Anthony Poindexter, who went 0-for-4. "Once he'd get up on you, he wouldn't throw you any strikes."
Jefferson Forest, which had been down to its last strike before beating Richlands 10-7 in the quarterfinals, had its last gasp in the seventh when Piccolo and Gilleland both reached on singles. But Wilson fanned to end it.
"We kept getting people on, but we couldn't punch the clock when we needed to," Gilleland said. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB