ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606070054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BRISTOL
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
The Group AA baseball semifinals spoiled the fun again for William Byrd High School.
For the the third time in the past five years, the last game before the state championship contest was a lagoon of quicksand for the pilgrims from Vinton.
The dream-wreckers for the Terriers, just as they had been in 1992, were the Bearcats of Virginia High School, who this time edged their guests 5-4.
Virginia will play in its seventh state championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday when it entertains Nansemond River, which crushed Broad Run 12-1 in the other semifinal Thursday. Virginia (20-9) has won four state titles.
William Byrd (19-5) will begin planning for next year.
``We had very much looked forward to coming down here after what happened '92,'' said Rodney Spradlin, the Terriers' coach. ``I'm proud of this team. If anybody had told me that we would have made it this far, I would have been very happy with that.''
That was then. Now, there is no easy way to accept Thursday night's events at DeVault Stadium. Not after Byrd took a 4-1 lead.
That happened in the third inning, when the Terriers strung together three consecutive hits, the last one Ben Smith's mortar launch of a three-run homer that loudly kicked off a high second-level bank of fence signs that local ground rules make home run territory.
Smith, a left-handed hitter, got under and turned on sophomore right-handed pitcher Nic Lively's delivery to send it over the inner semicircle of fence. It was Smith's first homer of the season.
If the Bearcats were momentarily stunned by Smith's blast, it didn't show.
With one out in its half of the third, Virginia (20-9) matched Byrd's feat of three consecutive hits. The first two never left the infield. The third did. That one banged off the end of Israel Pope's bat and sliced all the way to the fence in right.
``Israel has been a starter and leader for us for four years,'' said Mark Daniels, Virginia's coach. ``Our underclassmen had said today that they wanted to send him and the other seniors out a winner, but he picked them up there.''
There the score held until the sixth, when speedy Harry Anderson of the Bearcats was plunked by a Justin Likens pitch and sent to first base with no outs.
Byrd's Matt Whitehead then crept in to take a pickoff throw at first base. Catcher Brian Jones caught his eye and fired, trying to catch Anderson snoozing. Instead, the throw floated high and Anderson had his base.
Two outs later, Damon Peters brought him home with a shot to left field that turned out to be the winning hit.
``It was very important for us to come out and shut them down after that inning that we scored three, but we couldn't do it,'' Spradlin said.
Daniels had seen this before.
``At Tazewell in the regionals, their kid hit a three-run homer on us and we battled right back on them just like today,'' the Bearcats' coach said.
The game-winner was a hit to deep in the hole at shortstop that ticked off the end of Ryan Caya's glove as he was trying to bring it in across his body.
Each team had nine hits.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB