THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 31, 1995 TAG: 9507310122
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Thirty-eight of South Hampton Roads' best local baseball players took the field at Harbor Park Sunday for the American Legion All-Star Game, alternately pinching themselves and scanning the sights with all the wide-eyed wonder befitting the first kids to suit up for a game in the home of the Norfolk Tides.
Although the West squad, paced by the two-hit, three-RBI performance of David Bailey, won the game, 6-4, on the scoreboard, the day was a memory-maker for every player on the roster. To a man, the All-Stars said the experience of running onto the field where major leaguers have played was a dream come true.
``I've been coming to watch the Tides since I was a kid, so it's a real honor to play here,'' said East starting pitcher David Abbott, a former Green Run standout who called Old Dominion University coach Tony Guzzo before the game to accept a partial scholarship to play for the Monarchs. ``The mound here is perfect. It's the kind of mound you dream about pitching on.''
The West went ahead in the second on Bailey's two-run single that scored Robert Jones and Aaron Ambrose. The East cut into the lead with a run against Cody Flowers in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Jason Hatcher, but Cory Bauswell opened the West third with a triple off Ed Manley and scored on Flowers' single to right for a 3-1 West lead.
The East drew back within one in its half of the inning when Eddie McInnis scored from third on Ted Tignor's fly ball.
``This was like a dream. . . . It gives you a little bit of a feel what it might be like to play at (a professional) level,'' said McInnis, who will continue his playing career at Norfolk State. McInnis left Harbor Park with an additional souvenir - one of Tides slugger Butch Huskey's bats.
The East squad got down to business in the bottom of the fourth, taking the lead for the first time with two runs against pitcher Mark Caudell. A.T. Vasta led off with a walk and moved to second on a single up the middle by James Walsh.
Andy Wissinger's fielder's choice advanced Vasta to third, and an error by catcher Pete May brought the run home. Abbott drove across the go-ahead run with a single to center, giving the East a 4-3 lead. ``This is a humongous ballpark, and it's kind of intimidating when you get up to the plate,'' Abbott said.
The East's lead was short-lived, as Jones smacked a double to left-center off Tim Sturcken in the fifth, scoring J.C. Caperton to tie the game at 4.
Back-to-back doubles by Post 280 Chesapeake teammates Mike Hoskins and David Ellyson and Bailey's second run-scoring single put the West ahead in the sixth, 6-4. But the East didn't get a chance to bat again, as the game was halted to make way for the Tides' contest with Toledo.
``I couldn't believe I was on this field, my heart was beating so fast,'' said West outfielder Aaron Bailey, a rising senior at Churchland, after the game was over. ``I hope I'll be out here again next year.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
Churchland High's Aaron Bailey chases down a fly ball during the
American Legion All-Star game at Harbor Park. Bailey's West team won
the game, 6-4, which ended early for the Tides-Toledo Mud Hens
game.
by CNB