Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 19, 1994 TAG: 9405190174
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Jason Bell, a 6-foot guard from Gar-Field High School, signed a letter of intent with the Keydets on Tuesday, Gar-Field coach Andy Gray said.
Bell was a three-year starter for the Indians. He averaged 15.6 points, 3.1 steals and 3.2 rebounds last season when Gar-Field posted a 20-4 record and was Cardinal District champion and Northwest Region semifinalist.
Bell earned first-team All-District and All-Region honors as a senior and joins Mike Spinelli of Falls Church High School, Greg Robison of Fork Union Military Academy and Nate Shiflett of Charlotte, N.C.
Bellairs also added Gerald ``Kirby'' Dean, an assistant at Eastern Mennonite the past two years, to his coaching staff.
Dean is from Spotswood and played at Eastern Mennonite from 1988-92. He is currently pursuing a master's degree at James Madison, where Bellairs was an assistant for six years before being hired by VMI in April.
In other sports in the region:
Brian Fitzgerald pitched a two-hitter as Virginia Tech upset No.3-seeded South Florida 2-0 in the first round of the Metro Conference baseball tournament at Louisville, Ky.
The left-handed sophomore didn't give up a hit after Doug Carroll's two-out double in the sixth inning, and he retired the last 10 batters he faced. Fitzgerald (8-4) allowed just two runners after the seventh inning.
Tech, the tourney's sixth seed, stranded eight runners in the first four innings against South Florida freshman Mark Roberts (8-3), the Metro's Newcomer of the Year. Tech's only run in that span came when David Fitt scored from third on a passed ball.
Kevin Kurilla's two-out single in the top - his third hit of the day - of the ninth made it 2-0. Denny Hedspeth and Sal Colangelo had two hits for the Hokies, who play the Southern Mississippi-Louisville winner today at 3 p.m.
Anthony Solomon, an assistant basketball coach at the University of Richmond during the 1993-94 season, has been named an assistant basketball coach at Virginia.
Prior to coaching at Richmond, Solomon was an assistant coach at Manhattan College (1992-93), at Bowling Green State University (1989-92) and at Delaware (1988-89). Solomon, 29, is a native of Newport News and a 1987 graduate of UVa. He lettered four years as a guard for the Cavaliers and participated in three NCAA Tournaments and one NIT.
The Virginia Tech golf team, two-time Metro Conference champion, will start play at the NCAA East Regional today. The 54-hole event will be held at the par-72 7,089-yard Grand National Lakes Golf Course in Opelika, Ala. The 23-team tournament will continue through Saturday.
Tech enters the NCAA with three team victories. The Hokies are anchored by three-time All-American junior Brian Sharp, who leads the team in stroke average with a 73.4. Tech is seeded seventh from the District 3 North.
Washington and Lee seniors Angie Carrington and John Surface have been named the 1993-94 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the first time one school has earned both honors.
Carrington, an All-ODAC pick in women's lacrosse and soccer, is the Generals' third all-time leading scorer in both sports.
Surface, a three-year starter on the football team as an offensive guard, is a two-time first-team All-ODAC selection and a two-time second-team all-state pick by the Roanoke Times and World-News.
Boosted by a first-place finish in basketball, Roanoke won the women's 1994 ODAC Commissioner's Cup, and Lynchburg won the men's competition.
Roanoke tallied 46 points in the women's standings, which are compiled by assigning points based on how the school finishes in the league. Lynchburg was second with 41 points, followed by Washington and Lee with 39.5.
In the men's competition, Lynchburg amassed 52 points, followed by W&L (49.5), Randolph-Macon (43), Hampden-Sydney (42) and Roanoke (41.5).
If one-pocket billiards is your game, Roanoke is where the action is the next four days.
Many of the nation's top professional pool players, including such stalwarts as Buddy Hall, Mike Massey, Steve Mizerak and Nick Varner, are among the entries for the first Roanoke One-Pocket Tournament running today through Sunday at Guys & Dolls Billiards on Williamson Road.
``We've got players coming from all over the United States,'' said Julian Robertson, Guys & Dolls manager. ``These are not just any guys, either. We're talking some of the biggest names in the pro game. People will be amazed at just how how good these guys are.''
Julian Robertson, Guys & Dolls manager and tournament director-player Grady Mathews are expecting a field numbering 50-60 players when the first rack is broken today at noon. Play in the double-elimination tournament will run from noon to approximately midnight each day. Sunday's championship match will start between 8 and 9 p.m., with the winner to receive approximately $3,500, Robertson said.
Massey, recently tabbed the world's greatest trick-shot artist, will perform in special exhibitions for spectators Friday through Sunday. The starting times of Massey's exhibitions will be announced today.
Tickets are $3 for today's and Friday's afternoon sessions and $5 for Saturday and Sunday. Evening-session tickets are $5 tonight and Friday night and $7 for Saturday and Sunday. Tournament passes are $35.
``This is the ninth major tournament I've done, and Grady is a long-time pro player,'' Robertson said. ``We knows all these guys, and that's the big reason they're coming here.
``We don't expect to make a lot of money out of this. If the numbers come up good, I think we will move into one of the bigger hotel sites next year. There's a lot of enthusiasm in pool in Roanoke, so I expect to see some big crowds. We can't handle many, but we'll take of what we can handle.''
by CNB