THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 30, 1995 TAG: 9505300136
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Princess Anne kept its dream season going with a 2-0 Eastern Region quarterfinal victory over defending region champion Great Bridge on Monday on the Cavaliers' home field.
The Cavaliers (18-2) will host Booker T. Washington (18-3), a 7-2 quarterfinal winner over Bethel, in a 3 p.m. semifinal Wednesday at Princess Anne.
Tabb (17-2) and Salem (19-2) will meet at 5 p.m. Tabb defeated Granby, 7-2, while Salem edged Western Branch, 3-2.
The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday.
Princess Anne had to scratch for everything it got, not scoring until the fifth inning. Beth LaGreca led of with a walk. Pinch-runner Melissa Rice stole second and took third on a bad throw to second by Wildcats catcher Mari Magyar. Rice scored on a sacrifice bunt by Megan Shanley.
The Cavaliers added a run in the sixth. Lisa Slingerland led off with a base hit up the middle and stole second and third. She scored on Lori Ferguson's sacrifice fly to rightfield.
Princess Anne survived a third-inning scare from Great Bridge (17-5) as the Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs. But Melissa Hirsch quelled the threat with a strikeout and two pop-ups.
``We were a little nervous at first,'' Slingerland said. ``But when we didn't let them score with the bases loaded, we got pumped up and acted like this was just another game.''
- LEE TOLLIVER
B.T. WASHINGTON 7, BETHEL 2 The Bookers broke open a close game with four runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Booker T. held a 3-2 lead going into the inning, scoring runs in the first, fourth and sixth.
Raquita Washington led off the seventh with a walk, Donna Self reached on a fielder's choice and Sharon McClannan walked to load the bases. Cheryl Haynes and Jennifer McMullen then delivered base hits for RBIs. McClannan and Haynes scored on shortstop Chris Bolens' bad thrown to home.
Self shut down Bethel's next three batters to end the game.
``That really was a big inning there,'' said Self, who finished with 10 strikeouts. ``We were just hitting in good spots, and it rattled them. Their confidence went down a notch, and that's why they didn't come back strong.''
The teams were tied after three innings, with Booker T. scoring in the fourth and Bethel (17-2) tying it in the fifth. The Bookers again took the lead in the sixth and shut the Bruins down before blowing the game open in the seventh.
- LEE TOLLIVER
SALEM 3, WESTERN BRANCH 2 Michelle Coates jarred the ball out of Bruins catcher Angie Albertson's glove to break a 2-2 seventh-inning tie and give the Sun Devils their seventh consecutive victory.
Western Branch pitcher Nicole Belote had retired 12 in a row before Cheryl Coates reached on a two-out walk. Michelle Coates entered as a pinch-runner and promptly stole second. Kelly King ripped a one-hopper to shortstop Evie Benson, whose throw to nail Coates skipped past third baseman Jennifer Sajko. Coates then dashed home, arrived at the same time as Sajko's throw and slid hard into Albertson, who lost the ball in the collision.
It was the third manufactured run of the game for the Sun Devils, who managed just four hits - all singles - but revved up their running game and capitalized on six Western Branch errors.
``We always try to make things happen on the bases,'' Salem coach Larry Bowman said. ``We made some mistakes doing that, too. But in the end, it paid off.''
The Sun Devils will meet Peninsula District runner-up Tabb in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Salem pitcher Bronwyn Blair held the Bruins to four hits, although she issued three walks after allowing only six bases on balls during the regular season.
``I was really nervous,'' said Blair, who also had two of the Sun Devils' three hits. ``All I could think about all day was trying to win this game.''
Sarah Wolf had two hits and Sajko and Jaci Morris each scored a run for the Bruins (18-5), who will be denied a third consecutive trip to the Group AAA state tournament.
- PAUL WHITE
TABB 7, GRANBY 2 The Tigers parlayed a walk and two Comets errors into a three-run first inning and never looked back. Tabb will meet Salem in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Elizabeth Scheessele and Sara Rowley, who reached on Granby pitcher Elaine McCall's throwing error, scored when Comets shortstop Summer Jernigan threw wildly to first after fielding Tricia Parker's grounder. Parker later scored on Kelli Pugh's double.
Donna King's throwing error in the seventh resulted in two more unearned Tabb runs as the Comets made three errors in a game for the first time since early April.
Granby (14-4) also missed a chance to strike quickly, as the Comets loaded the bases in their half of the first with nobody out. But Pugh fanned cleanup hitter Kelly Rogers, got Gina Frazier to pop up and retired Jernigan on a groundout.
For the game, the Comets stranded eight runners and lined into two inning-ending double plays.
Donna King had three hits, including a double, and scored a run for the Comets.
- PAUL WHITE by CNB