THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030567
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
The deepest high school pitching staff in Hampton Roads got a little deeper Tuesday.
First Colonial's Chuck Coulombe, who figured to be the Patriots' sixth pitcher if ever there was need for such a thing, worked out of a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the fifth inning and finished up for the save in a 10-0 rout of fourth-ranked Churchland in the Beach Blast.
``I didn't expect to pitch today,'' Coulombe said. ``But some of our guys were having control problems and they just told me to get ready.''
Coulombe, a junior making his first varsity appearance, combined with Steve Johnson, Matt Large and Scott Schneider to stop the Truckers on two hits. Johnson, a senior working on a 50-pitch limit, worked the first 2 2/3 innings and was credited with the victory.
First Colonial coach Norbie Wilson said he planned to use at least four pitchers and possibly five, but left Coulombe in because he got in a groove.
The second-ranked Patriots (2-0) made sure Johnson exited a winner by scoring four times off Chris Kelly in the first. Kelly, who signed with William and Mary in the fall, set the tone by walking the first two batters.
The two staffs combined for 17 walks, four hit batsman, five wild pitches and 20 strikeouts in the nearly three-hour marathon.
Twice Churchland left the bases loaded. In the third inning, Scott Schneider came on with two outs and a 1-0 count on Otis Jones and got a strikeout.
In the fifth, Coulombo relieved Schneider and struck out Otis Jones and Robert Jones and retired Pete May on a comebacker to the mound.
First Colonial broke it open with five runs in the sixth. Brad Tetlow lined a grand slam on a 3-0 pitch - he said he thought the count was 2-0 - and two batters later Jeff Butler hit a bases-empty home run.
Ocean Lakes 8, Great Bridge 5: The unranked Dolphins rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the No. 7 Wildcats. A two-run single by James Walsh in the sixth inning tied it and Rob Robinson followed with the go-ahead RBI. Anthony Szalyga contributed two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by BILL TIERMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
Nate Frost of First Colonial dives into second base, but is tagged
out by Churchand's Jeff Bristow.
by CNB