ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 1, 1996 TAG: 9606030074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BRISTOL
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
One of the two best baseball records in Timesland will get better today.
Forty-two victories will be on display when Giles tangles with Grayson County for the Group A Region C title. Win or lose, both teams will go to the state tournament, Giles for the first time ever after beating Bath County 5-1 on Friday.
Grayson County won its 20th straight by stopping John Battle 6-0 behind Chad Shaffner's four-hitter.
``The promised land,'' Giles coach Bruce Frazier said.
The Spartans (20-1) negotiated the narrow passage to bliss with a left-hander at the helm. Josh Stephens never let a hitter dig in and take a decent whack as he scattered six hits while striking out six.
``I didn't want to overpower anybody and I didn't want to strike everybody out,'' he said. ``I wanted to allow as few hits as possible, keep the runners close who got on base, and to throw strikes.''
Stephens had an RBI double - ``It's hard to hit well when you pitch,'' he said. ``But I did get my one hit.'' - and Neal Mustard and Matt McLaugherty each had two-run singles, Mustard's coming with two outs in the fifth.
``Stephens is a heck of a talent,'' Bath County coach Richard McElwee said. ``We let him off the hook a couple of times by swinging at some questionable pitches.''
The pitches Grayson County's Shaffner threw mostly were hammered into the ground.
``I didn't have a good fastball,'' he said. ``I tried to locate the pitches, moving in and out, slow and slower.''
The Blue Devils banged out nine hits, with Jason Rutherford, Kevin Dalton and Shaffner stroking two each.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB