ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997 TAG: 9704240031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: RAY COX THE ROANOKE TIMES
Franklin County has three aces in Larry Bowles, Brian Strong and Jeremy Adkins.
In baseball, as in poker, sometimes a pair of aces will suffice.
Actually, maybe you only need one really overpowering pitcher with a bulletproof arm to win a high school state championship. Glenvar High and Jason Anderson and Brookville and Phil Leftwich proved that.
Unless you have a future big-leaguer like Anderson or a No.2 draft choice like Leftwich, at least two real good pitchers is usually what it'll take to win a state title.
Should you be blessed with three, as Franklin County is this year with left-hander Larry Bowles and right-handers Brian Strong and Jeremy Adkins, senior hardballers all, you may start thinking big now.
``We set a goal to get better every year,'' Strong said. ``Last year, we wanted to win the Roanoke Valley District and the Northwest Region. We were beaten at regionals [2-1 by Heritage]. We thought we should have done better.''
Unfinished business, to be sure, but merely winning the region will not suffice.
``We've wanted to be state champs from day one,'' Adkins said.
Pitching is the key at all levels of baseball. The Eagles have it.
Bowles has been blowing them away for three years at Franklin County. This year, he's even tougher, as he showed Pulaski County with an 18-strikeout two-hitter recently. The whiffs were believed to be the most for a Franklin County hurler in the past 20 years. The hits were an infield bleeder and a dink into shallow left field.
``It was just amazing,'' said F.L. Slough, Franklin County's coach.
Bowles, 12-0 the past two years, has battled back from diabetes and has signed to play at Virginia Tech. He has 56 strikeouts in 27 innings.
Strong was the hard-luck victim in the Heritage loss this past year despite a three-hitter. Now he's 2-0 with 20 strikeouts in 14 innings.
``We couldn't score him any runs and their pitcher was on,'' Bowles said.
Strong plays shortstop when he isn't on the hill. Last year, his .455 batting average led the team. He's batting .500, right behind Bowles' .520.
Adkins is the utility man: first, third, shortstop (when Strong pitches). He's hitting .385 and has struck out 15 in 10 innings.
All three pitchers have a varied arsenal. Bowles and Adkins throw fastballs and curves to go along with a forkball that Eagles pitching coach Wallace Chitwood taught them. Strong is trying to master the forkball to augment his fastball and bender.
``If one of us has a bad night, then we have two more ready to take the ball,'' Bowles said. ``We always have rested pitching.''
A year ago, when the Eagles were winning the district and going 19-2, 80 percent of the pitching outings were complete games.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the current campaign, from a coaching standpoint, is that none of these stellar hurlers is content with past accomplishments.
``You don't often find seniors who are still willing to learn,'' Chitwood said. ``But these guys are and that says something for them.''
But that's not all to be said for these three aces.
``It doesn't take much to be a pitching coach when you have guys like them,'' Chitwood said.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: RAY COX THE ROANOKE TIMES. Franklin County pitchersby CNB(l-r) Jeremy Adkins, Larry Bowles and Brian Strong, all seniors,
give the Eagles a solid enough pitching rotation that they expect to
do better than last year's regional final loss.