
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 1, 1995                   TAG: 9506010082
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAVE SPRING KNOCKED OUT AT HOME

Having rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the Woodbridge lead to one run, with a runner on third base and no one out, it appeared as if the stage was set for yet another last-inning rally by the Cave Spring girls' softball team.

The only problem? Someone forgot to tell Woodbridge rightfielder Nikki Jones, a freshman, that after making a catch in foul territory, going against her body, she wasn't supposed to be able to recover in time to nail a runner attempting to tag up and score.

Unfortunately for Cave Spring, Jones did just that, to complete a double play and help preserve a 6-5 Vikings victory in Northwest Region tournament action Wednesday at Penn Forest Elementary School.

After managing only three hits in the game's first six innings, the Knights (18-4), with the help of some careless play by Woodbridge (20-4), came to life in the seventh inning. After two Cave Spring hits, a Woodbridge error and a hit batsman, the Knights had cut the deficit to 6-2 and had the bases loaded for Ellen Jamison.

Jamison, who was hitless in her first three at-bats, lined a triple to left that took a fortuitous bounce away from Vikings left fielder Martha Kaufhold and cleared the bases to set the stage for Jones' heroics.

``I may have lost that game for us,'' Cave Spring coach Fuzzy Minnix said of his decision to send Jamison home with only one out.

It was hard to fault Minnix's logic with the right-handed Jones' momentum carrying her left. But Jones made the perfect play, as catcher Talia Lake never had to move from her position in front of the plate to put the tag on Jamison.

``I didn't think about anything; I just caught the ball and threw it as hard as I could,'' said Jones, who had three hits and three stolen bases in addition to her defense. ``When I let it go, I said, `Thats a good throw,' but I didn't know if it would be on line.''

``You have to give Cave Spring a lot of credit,'' said Woodbridge coach Jim Edwards. ``I'm not sure we would have come back from being down 6-1. They didn't quit.''

NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.

by CNB