THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 16, 1995 TAG: 9505160425
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
The first time Derek Riebel ran onto an athletic field in South Hampton Roads, the opposition thought he was a she.
Riebel, who had just moved to the area, was competing with Sasha Young for Great Bridge High's placekicking duties.
Young kicked Great Bridge's first three extra points in a scrimmage with Green Run. Riebel was called upon to attempt the fourth.
``There were five 300-pound guys lined up yelling, `Get the girl! Get the girl!' '' Riebel said. ``The snap went over my head and by the time I picked it up, they were landing on me. I fell right on the nose of the ball.
``Their players were running around, hollering, `We got the girl! We got the girl!' I was laying there whispering to myself, `I'm not the girl.' ''
Two years later, Riebel is at a different school playing a different sport - and you might even say he is ``the man'' when it comes to Nansemond-Suffolk Academy baseball.
The speedy outfielder was a first-team All-Tidewater selection last year after being named Tidewater Conference Player of the Year. He hit .393, with four home runs and 31 runs batted in, while committing no errors, in 28 games.
He's been equally impressive this season. With the TCIS and state tournaments still ahead - the Saints begin TCIS tournament play today - Riebel is hitting .382, with three home runs, 23 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 17 games. Again, he's committed no errors.
College recruiters see him as a Division I prospect. Virginia Tech, Richmond, James Madison and Old Dominion are showing interest.
``He can hit at the Division I level,'' said Greenbrier Christian coach Gary Lavelle, who pitched in the major leagues for 14 years. ``He's obviously ripped up the TCIS pretty good. My only question is his throwing ability, which is a big thing for him. But the potential is there because he has the work ethic and attitude to let his abilities take him as far as they can.''
While Riebel quickly got over his mistaken identity as the girl kicker, his landing on the nose of that football apparently had some lasting physical side effects.
He developed a mystery illness that lasted almost a year - at one point he'd lost 15 pounds from an already-slender frame - and ended with surgeons removing his appendix. They found it lodged next to his stomach.
``Which is why it hurt to eat,'' the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Riebel said. ``There's a place for everything, and my appendix wasn't in its place. They think it might have happened when I landed on the ball.''
Riebel missed an alarming amount of school - 10 consecutive days at one point. His junior baseball season at Great Bridge was also interrupted by a broken thumb.
With the year a bust athletically and his academics suffering as well, his parents suggested a transfer to N-SA, where Riebel would repeat his junior year and remain for his senior year.
Driving 60-plus miles round-trip to school has paid off for Riebel, who lifted his grade-point average above 3.0 this year for the first time since moving to the area. His Scholastic Assessment Test score increased 180 points, to 900.
If the name Riebel rings a bell, there's reason. Derek's father, Chic Riebel, is sports editor of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
``I see a lot of sports,'' Derek Riebel said. ``When we lived in Pennsylvania (where his father was sports editor of the Delaware County Daily Times), I remember going to Chicago and Montreal on road trips with the Philadelphia Phillies. I went to a World Cup soccer game last summer at RFK between Belgium and Saudi Arabia. And we go to a lot of ODU and Tides games.''
If there is a negative, Derek says it is that his father has made a conscious effort to play down his son's exploits in the sports pages.
``He's so afraid to put my name in the paper,'' Riebel said. ``But most people don't even make the connection.
``He was hesitant to let me on the All-Tidewater team last year. But you've got to look at the stats. Do I deserve to make it? I did. But because he's my dad, I feel I have to do more than anyone else.''
``He's certainly one of the best players in the area,'' said N-SA baseball coach Bill Harris, whose Saints are ranked sixth in the area. ``He's a step ahead of at least 98 percent of the area players, and he's probably the area's best defensive outfielder. He's extremely coachable and really works to maximize his talents.
``And he's the prototype No. 2-slot hitter. He hits real well to the right side, his foot speed keeps him out of the double play and he seldom strikes out.''
Riebel, however, hasn't had the opportunity to display those talents against public school teams, which are forbidden by Virginia High School League rules to play teams with fifth-year seniors.
``That kind of gets to us as a team,'' said Riebel, who turned 18 in September. ``We know we're good, but we can't play other teams and prove it.
``I don't think the extra year should make a difference. If I'd graduated last year, I would have been 17, and that's younger than most kids who graduate.
``We (teammate Mark Fowler is also a fifth-year senior) aren't too old to play. There are people at the public schools who are older. But they got held back before high school. We got held back in high school.'' ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL KESTNER
Staff
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy's Derek Riebel is hitting .382, with three
home runs, 23 RBIs, 17 steals - and no errors.
by CNB