THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170541
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
What was expected to be a duel between two of the area's best softball pitchers turned out to be an afternoon delight for two of the Beach District's best hitting teams.
In the end, No. 4 Princess Anne proved to have the better batters and used 13 hits for a 12-8 victory over third-ranked Salem Tuesday in Virginia Beach.
With the wind blowing out, Princess Anne first baseman Lisa Slingerland took Bronwyn Blair's first pitch of the game deep to leftfield for a double. Sarah Ravan's infield hit then scored Slingerland, who was 4 for 5 on the day with a pair of doubles, a single, a home run and three runs scored. Clean-up batter Lori Ferguson then drove a triple down the leftfield line and made it 4-0 when she came in on Sarah Smith's single to center.
But the Sun Devils (5-2 overall and in the league) batted around in their half of the first and took advantage of three Cavaliers' errors for four runs. Misty Colebank picked up one of her three RBIs with a misplayed flyball to right.
Princess Anne (6-1, 6-1) broke the 4-4 tie in its next at-bat with two Kelly Hartzog RBIs and a mishandled bunt that landed Jamie Durbin on third and scored Smith.
Pitcher Melissa Hirsch then retired the next six Salem batters as her team increased its lead to 11-4 behind Slingerland's two-out, bases-empty home run and another Ferguson triple that brought Ravan home.
The Sun Devils, however, would not go down quietly. They batted through the lineup again in the bottom half of the fourth and manufactured five more runs on six of their 10 hits. PATTI WALSH ILLUSTRATION: Photo by HUY NGUYEN, The Virginian-Pilot
Nansemond River freshman Ashley Alston hits a backhand return during
a match with York.
by CNB