THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 25, 1995 TAG: 9505250638
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Great Bridge and Churchland, the No. 3 and No. 4-seeded teams, won Wednesday and will play today at Cascade Park for the Southeastern District baseball tournament title.
The winner of the 4:30 p.m. game will gain the Southeastern's No. 2 berth in next week's region tournament.
Churchland upended regular-season champion Indian River, 9-5, and third-seeded Great Bridge followed with a 14-8 victory over No. 2 Western Branch at Cascade. Indian River qualified as the district's No. 1 region entry, winning the league championship in a playoff Monday with Western Branch.
Both semifinal winners erupted early for their wins. Churchland jumped on Indian River starter Eddie Byrum for three runs in the first and two more in the second for a 5-0 lead.
Great Bridge's first nine batters reached base en route to an eight-run opening inning
In the opener, Churchland backed the 11-strikeout pitching of Robert Jones with a 13-hit attack. Aaron Bailey slammed a 375-foot home run in the fourth and Gary Denette and Dale Heely added three hits apiece.
Jones limited Indian River to eight hits, including a pair of doubles by Keith Reynolds.
In the nightcap, winner Mike Cuddyer (6-1) yielded eight hits, struck out six and walked four. He also drove in three runs.
The Wildcats had 14 hits, including three by catcher Jeff Myers.
Chris Kelley (5-0 against conference foes) will pitch for Churchland today against David Allison (4-2) or Steve Eudy (2-2).
Northampton 7, Nandua 6: Bill Ames' squeeze bunt brought in Darren Collins with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Yellow Jackets (17-1) the Eastern Shore District tournament championship. The Warriors had tied the game in the top of the inning when Craig Stevens scored on a fielder's choice. by CNB