Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 22, 1993 TAG: 9307220438
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The latter may never become the answer to a question on a high school history test, but it is a place where young men from the neighboring enemy tribes of Christiansburg and Blacksburg met to form a winning baseball team a year ago.
After coming up with a diplomatic moniker - they call themselves, simply, "the Burgs" - this squad of 16-to-18-year-old boys has proved that even arch-rivals can play together . . . and win together.
In just two seasons, the Burgs have laid claim to two Dixie Majors District 5 tournament championships. This weekend at Jefferson Forest High School, the team will make its second consecutive state tournament appearance.
The Burgs won the district tournament by taking two of three games from the Pulaski White Sox in the finals last week at Calfee Park. The team heads into the weekend with a 13-6 record.
Not bad for a bunch of guys who spend the entire school year trying to mash each other into the turf when Blacksburg and Christiansburg meet on an athletic field.
"We like joking around," said Byron Gates, one of four Christiansburg players on the 15-man roster.
"We tell each other, `the next time I see you, I'm going to kick your butt.' "
That kind of feeling was evident in the dugout the first time these players got together, bound only by their mutual dislike for one another.
"Everybody stayed on different ends of the dugout," said Casey Reynolds, an infielder from Blacksburg.
When it was decided last season that there would be only one team from the Blacksburg-Christiansburg area - there weren't enough players to field two squads - some guys didn't like the idea of teaming up with enemies.
"Some kids from Blacksburg, I won't say who, wouldn't play," said Casey Reynolds. "They didn't think it was right."
The guys who showed up realized they had potential to go far. They cruised through last year's district tournament and made a good showing in the state tourney. They beat defending champ Blackstone, then lost two games by a total of three runs, including a 2-0 loss to eventual champ Campbell County.
They capped the tournament by being awarded the Best Sportsmanship trophy, another sign of their coming together as a team.
"Last year was a learning experience for us," said head coach Jim Hensel. "I think we're better prepared this year, because a lot of guys have been there before."
The Burgs received a bye in the first round of the double-elimination tournament and will open play Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The winner of the state tournament advances to the Dixie Majors World Series in Lufkin, Texas.
"Last year [heading into the state tournament], we didn't think we could win it," said second baseman L.J. Hensel, Jim's son. "We didn't think we could compete with the other teams. This year, we know we can compete."
Considering they play together only during the summers, the Burgs demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for playing team baseball during last week's district tournament.
In the final game against Pulaski, the winning runs scored on the most unselfish play of all - a suicide squeeze.
With the the score knotted at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Ronnie Secrist laid down a bunt that brought Hensel home from third base. A throwing error on the same play allowed Jody Dickerson to score from third.
"If there was a play that turned the game around, that was it," said Jim Hensel.
Gates, a hard-hitting third baseman, roped a couple of doubles in that game. He and teammates Dickerson, Jason Basham and Brad St. Clair make up the Christiansburg contingent.
The players from Blacksburg are Hensel, Sam and Casey Reynolds, Secrist, Justin Jones, Mike Donohue, Brooke Berkley, Steve Carter, Patrick McNinney, Kip Caulpetzer and Clay Scott.
For the summer, anyway, these players aren't from either place.
"When you're really competitive, it doesn't matter where you're from," said Gates. "All you want to do is beat the other team."
by CNB