THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509120432
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
You knew Paul Wilson's bulldog mentality wasn't about to let him go down easily, if at all, in the fifth and final game of this International League West Division playoff series.
With that fact assumed, the Richmond Braves' already formidable task of beating the Norfolk Tides' powerful righthander twice in a week grew to near-impossible dimensions after one inning Saturday at Harbor Park.
By the time the Tides finished batting around against lefthander Brad Woodall, a ghost of the guy who bested Wilson in a 2-0 shutout in Game 1, four runs had scored.
Wilson has probably blown a few four-run leads before, if you reach back to his days on the Orlando, Fla., sandlots. But who in either dugout or among the paid crowd of 5,621 really thought there was much suspense left after the first?
Wilson, though not at his blazing best - called ``stale,'' in fact, by pitching coach Bob Apodaca - made sure there was no doubt about the outcome. He yielded eight singles, got three double plays behind him and a fifth run on Jay Payton's second-inning home run.
They were the main ingredients in a 5-0 victory that sealed the divisional title and sends the Tides into the Governors' Cup finals tonight at home against Ottawa. First pitch is 6:15 p.m.
The Lynx, which finished second in the East Division in the regular season, took out Rochester, 4-2, with a three-run, ninth-inning rally in Game 5 of their series Saturday.
``I geared myself for a 1-0, 2-0 game, but any time they want to score four or five runs for me I'll take them every damn day,'' Wilson said. ``I didn't have my best stuff. My fastball wasn't there, what I think is there. Average slider, curveball, changeup.
``That four-run lead let me go after them with the fastball. I got groundballs, the defense helped me out - you can't say enough about those three double plays. Hey, I'll take it.''
Wilson, whose outfield had to handle just one fly ball, said he wasn't on his game because his preparation had been rushed in order for him to pitch Game 5 Friday, as it was originally scheduled. So he kept it simple and struck out six while walking none, in contrast to Game 1 when his five walks cost him.
``I didn't see that sharpness and crispness that I'm used to seeing from him,'' Apodaca said. ``But the kid did it with guts, determination and will.''
And with the peace of mind that an early lead produces.
``Over the course of the year we usually score late,'' Tides manager Toby Harrah said. ``Scoring early like that really gave us some momentum, and it just carried through the entire ballgame.''
Four hits and a critical error by Woodall propelled the Tides to their daunting advantage. Ricky Otero singled to start the first, and Kevin Morgan followed with a bunt that Woodall quickly fielded.
Woodall fired to second to begin a potential double play but threw the ball into centerfield, a miscue that opened the gates. Jay Payton and Aaron Ledesma singled and Woodall's wild pitch scored Morgan for a 2-0 lead. After Alex Ochoa walked to load the bases, John Orton's sacrifice fly made it 3-0.
With two outs, Rey Ordonez poked an RBI-single that finished Woodall and, in the face of huge odds, all but closed out the Braves.
``I screwed up the bunt and that set the tone for the whole inning,'' Woodall said. ``After that I was really in trouble. I had runners on first and third, I gave up a couple of hits and it's over against a guy like Paul Wilson.''
Payton shared that sentiment.
``If they'd have been able to turn two on that, it would've been a whole different ballgame probably,'' he said.
Instead, it wound up as the Tides' second shutout in their three victories - Game 3 was also a 5-0 victory - and advanced the best team into the finals, Richmond manager Grady Little said.
``We were playing a team out there tonight who was the champion of our division,'' Little said, ``and they played like champions in this series.''
NOTABLE: Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield has been hospitalized with a virus and missed the last two playoff games. They are the first Tides home games Rosenfield has missed due to illness since 1967, when the Tides were in Class A and played in Portsmouth.
Rosenfield has said previously he has missed only one game since the Tides became a Triple-A franchise. That was a few years ago when an out-of-town meeting kept Rosenfield from a game at Met Park. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
Tides manager Toby Harrah, left, congratulates Jay Payton after the
centerfielder's fourth-inning home run.
by CNB