THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190603
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
When First Colonial's baseball team went to Florida last week, determined to prove it was among the nation's elite, Jason Bozard had extra incentive.
His biological father would be watching him play for the first time since Bozard was in Little League.
Each day, Don Beaver drove the 90 minutes from Jacksonville to Ocala to watch his son's team play in the Diamond Jubilee baseball tournament.
With Beaver in the stands, Bozard delivered.
In the quarterfinals against host Vanguard High, Bozard hit a high chopper to third to score Brad Tetlow with the game-winning run in the eighth inning of a 3-2 victory. Vanguard is ranked No. 1 in its region by The Orlando Sentinel.
In the semifinals, the Patriots trailed Forest High, 5-4, in the 10th, when Bozard singled to right to put runners at first and third. He advanced to second on a Brian Ruzzi single, went to third on a fielder's choice and scored the game-winner on a wild pitch.
First Colonial faced Vanguard again in the final. With his team leading 8-5 in the sixth inning, Bozard broke the game open with a grand slam. The Patriots won, 13-7.
Afterward, Beaver raced out of the stands, ran into the Patriots' dugout and said: ``Jason Bozard, now that you've been named most valuable player of the Diamond Jubilee, what are you going to do?''
Bozard took his cue: ``I'm going to Disney World!''
``My Mom and Dad divorced when I was little and my Mom remarried when I was 4,'' Bozard said. ``Then my stepfather adopted me and I took his last name. But I visit my biological father for a month out of every summer and either on Christmas break or spring break every year.
``Still, he'd only seen me play one Little League game when I was 10. Under the circumstances, I was more pumped up than anyone to play well down there.''
Bozard, who played rightfield as a sophomore on First Colonial's unbeaten state championship team, doesn't dream of playing college baseball.
At 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds, he realizes college coaches look for more size. Instead, he says he will be content to major in business, with a minor in architecture, at Virginia Tech.
Upon returning to Virginia Beach, Bozard had a confession.
``I didn't go to Disney World,'' he said. ``I went to Universal Studios instead.'' by CNB