Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 10, 1994 TAG: 9406170091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Wrong.
Glenvar made last year's first two victories look easy by rallying to trip Pound 7-2 on Thursday in the first round of this year's tournament at Salem High School.
This time, it was a rare passed ball on a swinging third strike that keyed the Highlanders' victory, putting them in Tuesday's semifinal at the winner of today's other first-round matchup between Castlewood and Powell Valley .
Down 2-1 to Pound flame-thrower J.W. ``Dub'' Salyers in the sixth inning, Glenvar (21-2-1) was in bad shape. Salyers had given up only a bloop single and seemed to be in control. When he struck out David Henderson, Glenvar's fifth-place hitter, to start the sixth, the Highlanders were on a downhill roll without brakes.
Luckily for Glenvar, the ball bounced off the glove of Pound catcher Jimmie Bowman, who entered the game when Henderson came to bat. The ball rolled toward the Highlanders' dugout as Henderson stood like a statue while Glenvar fans and players yelled for him to run.
As if hit by a bolt from the sky, Henderson took off lumbering to first and beat the throw. One more passed ball, two wild pitches, one big error and three hits later, Glenvar had scored six runs to win the game.
``I heard everybody yelling, `Go! Go!'''Henderson said. ``I saw how far the ball rolled and figured I could make it to first. If I had waited a moment longer, though, I wouldn't have made it.''
Rob Robinson's sacrifice moved Brendan Kassebaum, running for Henderson, to second. Kassebaum went to third on a passed ball. Jason Darnall walked and took off for second, drawing the throw. But Kassebaum, who was supposed to come home, stayed at third.
``It's an iffy situation,'' said Larry Woods, Glenvar's coach. ``The runner is sort of in a tough situation and Brendan wasn't ready to go.''
Salyers, though, uncorked a wild pitch that permitted Kassebaum to score the tying run. Darnall scored moments later on a two-base throwing error by Pound shortstop Craig Anthony, who fielded a grounder by Joey Taylor. After another wild pitch, Taylor scored when he beat the throw home on an infield grounder to make it 4-2.
Glenvar had scored three runs in the inning without a hit before Tim Carroll laced a double to center field, scoring the Highlanders' fifth run. After Eric East walked, Joey Hutton's bloop single over a drawn infield scored Carroll, and Jason Anderson followed with a shot to left that brought home East to make it 7-2 on six unearned runs.
``I felt like the [state] championship game last year,'' Woods said, referring to a tough Glenvar loss after the Highlanders had rallied for two state tournament victories. ``They had a dominating pitcher [Salyers]. When Jason [Anderson] pitches for us, we feel like if we score a run, the game is ours. They felt the same way.''
What if Pound (15-11) hadn't switched catchers?
``We had one bad inning when everything that could go wrong did go wrong,'' said Paul Bishop, Pound's coach. ``I'll probably be second-guessed [for the change]. It was a defensive move that a lot of people will think backfired.
``Jimmy's a good catcher and his arm's a little stronger [than that of starter Josh West]. But we did some other things in that inning, so you can't point fingers. The passed ball, though, did deflate any momentum we had and gave it to them.''
Not to be overlooked in all of this was the pitching of Anderson. He gave up two runs in the third inning, one of them unearned. The Highlanders hurler gave up five hits and struck out 12 as he won for the 10th time in 11 decisions.
``That's the quickest guy we've seen [pitching],'' Anderson said of Salyers, who likely will be his teammate at Radford University in the fall.
Anderson said he has relied more on his defense this year, trying to throw at different speeds to induce groundouts. ``It's tough to throw a good game [like Salyers] and the defense lets you down. That's what they're there for,'' said the Glenvar pitcher.
Until Carroll's double, only Anderson had hit Salyers hard. He laced a long fly ball to center field with a runner on base in the fourth, but Pound's Joey Mullins hauled in the drive 350 feet from the plate.
``It felt like a pop-up when I hit it, but it kept carrying,'' Anderson said.
Pound||002 000 0 - 2 5 1
Glenvar||000 016 x - 7 4 4
Salyers and West, Bowman (6); Anderson and Hutton. W-Anderson (10-1). L-Salyers (6-4).
by CNB