THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995                  TAG: 9507210288
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 25   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Short :   47 lines

VIRGINIA HEAT GOING TO TENNESSEE IN ITS FIRST YEAR THE TEAM HAS A STATE TITLE AND NOW SEEKS A NATIONAL ONE.

Paced by the solid hitting of Chesapeake's Tony Moore, the Virginia Heat 15-Under AAU baseball team claimed the state title in a tournament at Virginia Wesleyan College June 30-July 3.

The Heat, in their first year of existence, will be in the AAU National Tournament, Aug. 5-12 in Millington, Tenn.

Moore led the team with a .625 batting average in the tournament, with nine RBI. Brian Anderson,

also from Chesapeake, hit .500 and had six RBI.

Suffolk's Mike Byrum drove in six runs and had an on-base percentage of

Virginia Beach's Pat West, Josh Claypool, Shawn Baxter, and Jeff Alberts, Ray Long and Craig Sizemore of Chesapeake, all had on-base percentages of

Starting pitchers were Anderson, Byrum, Alberts, Chesapeake's John Curtice, and Virginia Beach's Nate Story and John McLaren.

The Heat opened the tournament with a 12-6 win over the Virginia Stars. The team fell into the loser's bracket by dropping a 7-2 decision to the Virginia Jazz, plagued by errors despite a three-hitter by the Heat pitchers.

The team rebounded with an 8-2 win over the Manassas Thunder, setting up a rematch with the Jazz.

A total team effort was needed to dispatch the Jazz, but the Heat prevailed with a 10-4 win. With one loss each in the double-elimination tournament, the two teams met again in a winner-take-all final, and the Heat won the state title with another 10-4 win.

The Heat is managed by Dave Alberts and Gary Moore, with additional coaching by Bob Moro and Larry Amorosso.

Other players on the roster include Claudell Clark, Demarco Chesson, Bobby Moro, Ricky Stephenson, and Stephen Allison of Chesapeake, and Andre Corpuz, Joe Amorosso, and Eric Souza of Virginia Beach.

The Heat's players and coaches travelled down to Winter Haven, Fla., from July 5-10 for a some rest and relaxation, as well as a few exhibition games in preparation for the national tournament. by CNB