THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 30, 1994 TAG: 9407300014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
He thinks Dwight Gooden is ``the man'' and he never pitches without a Gooden baseball card tucked away in his cap.
But Friday Daniel ``Doc'' Taylor was very much ``the man'' as he fanned a personal-best 20 to lead District 6 (Portsmouth, Chesapeake) to an 11-3 route of District 8 (Norfolk, Virginia Beach) in the seven-inning championship game of the Virginia State Big League Tournament at Plaza Little League Field.
District 6 leaves for Columbia, S.C., today to begin play in the division tournament against teams from West Virginia, and North and South Carolina.
``He was fabulous,'' District 6 coach Walter Boon said. ``I think the strikeouts and three runs speak for themselves. He was just outstanding.''
All but one of District 6's outs was a Taylor strikeout.
Taylor, who just graduated from Wilson, got started right away as he took out three in the first inning, when a steady rain was falling, but he did allow District 8 a pair of hits. By the time the sun came out in the middle of the third inning he had KO'd eight, all of them swinging. That's when the offense took over.
Divocke Crocker scored on a wild pitch, and RBI singles from William Herndon and Bruce Green made it 3-0 after three.
District 8 went down in order in the fourth.
Dedrick Johnson scored on a rundown when District 8 catcher John District overthrew third baseman Eric John. A sacrifice by Terrell Daniels and an RBI-triple from Crocker made it 6-0.
District 8 went down routinely again in the fifth. The strikeout count had reached 14, two shy of his previous personal best, but Taylor wasn't keeping track.
In the sixth he started to show signs of fatigue as District 8 got three hits and scored two runs.
``I didn't know how many I had until the sixth, when I asked someone,'' Taylor said. ``I wasn't tired at all. That's when I really started trying to shut them down.''
Taylor accounted for the final six outs.
``They really wanted to win that game,'' manager Clarence Grimes said. ``They really showed me today that when they want something they know how to get it.
``I told Doc he was going to have to hold his own out there. He more than did that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo PAUL AIKEN
``I didn't know how many I had until the sixth,'' Daniel Taylor
says. ``That's when I really started trying to shut them down.''
by CNB