Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 24, 1995 TAG: 9505240059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Jack Bogaczyk Staff Writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Tech has gotten much more from a National Invitation Tournament championship by a basketball team of underclassmen than four consecutive ESPN appearances in March. The Hokies have landed a game next season in the biggest house in Tech hoops history.
The Hokies will play Georgia in half of a Georgia Dome doubleheader Dec.16. The other Atlanta game is Louisville-Georgia Tech. The Hokies' foe in the Atlantic 10-Conference USA Challenge on Jan.4 in Worcester, Mass., is decided, too. Tech will play Cincinnati and Massachusetts will meet Memphis in an ESPN doubleheader.
MAROONED: With Salem playing host to NCAA softball and baseball championships in a span of less than a week, wouldn't it be a good time for the hometown school to commit to intercollegiate programs in those sports?
Roanoke College is the only Old Dominion Athletic Conference school with male students and without baseball, a sport played by more than 310 Division III schools. Softball is the fastest-growing NCAA women's sport. The city has excellent facilities available for the Maroons, too.
NAME GAME: Salem City Council's decision to name its new ballpark in honor of the city's war veterans - Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium - is another nice, warm touch for the Yard by the Boulevard. However, with Salem Stadium sitting next door for football, the hope that the field of dreams would be tagged differently didn't happen.
The diamond makes it obvious baseball will be played there. Fortunately, thanks to the arched brick exterior, the 6,000-seat palace still under construction looks like a ballpark and will feel like a ballpark, even if it won't officially carry that name.
So much for one overheard tongue-in-cheek notion that that park could be named for the Avalanche's owner, who coaxed the city into building a new park to keep the franchise here. It won't be the ``Bowles Bowl.''
LONG BALL: If this is his final pro baseball season, as he claims, Roanoke's George Canale is going out with a bang. Canale, with 12 homers for the Class AA Carolina Mudcats, was one off the pro baseball lead through Monday. The former major-leaguer is getting most of his cuts as a designated hitter. Many of Canale's teammates are former Salem Buccaneers, and last year's Salem manager, Trent Jewett, has the Mudcats off to a 31-15 start.
STRIKE THREE: The 48-team NCAA Division I baseball tournament pairings showed why Virginia Tech's baseball program took a hit when the Hokies joined the Atlantic 10 instead of the Colonial Athletic Association. In James Madison, Old Dominion and Richmond, the CAA has a league-record three NCAA entrants.
Only three leagues (Southeastern, ACC and Southwest) received more bids. Massachusetts is the lone team in the field from the A-10, which doesn't have an automatic bid. UMass is the only A-10 team that finished more than two games over .500 this season.
Coach Chuck Hartman knows Tech should dominate A-10 baseball, which is why he's scrambling to schedule some attractive non-conference games, like the three-game series the Hokies have at Clemson and two dates at The Citadel next season.
ICINGS: The Roanoke Express' search for a new NHL affiliation continues, and general manager Pierre Paiement said it will be at least a month before any decisions are made. The apparent decision of the Winnipeg Jets to stay in Manitoba and not move to Minneapolis is good news for the IHL's Minnesota Moose, which figures to keep ties with the local ECHL franchise.
Paiement said the Express' three NHL parent options appear to be Philadelphia and its AHL team in Hershey, Pa., the New York Rangers and Quebec. The Nordiques' potential move to the United States (Denver?) puts another uncertainty in talks with the Express, however.
MISSED: Cancer took one of the Roanoke Valley's most classy sportsmen during the weekend. Gene Hawthorne was a guiding force in professional hockey and youth golf. With Hawthorne in command, you knew who was in charge, although he didn't tell you. That's a rare combination.
Hawthorne ran the Roanoke Valley Rebels hockey franchise with a straightforward graciousness that was appreciated. Perhaps that's why he appreciated the sport's revival under Express ownership in the past two years.
by CNB