THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604180184
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Camden County and Manteo have grabbed the early baseball headlines this season, but there is a team that may be their equal, oreven better.
Perquimans County has put together a squad that features hitting, pitching and speed, which proved to be a deadly combination over Camden in last week's local Easter tournament.
The Pirates banged out nine hits, including two homers, stole four bases and played three innings of shutout ball to preserve a 14-3 win over the Bruins in the tournament championship.
The Pirates' offensive attack had Camden on the ropes from the beginning. With one out in the first, Carson Stallings walked and stole second, enabling him to score on a two-out double by Paul Hunter.
Perquimans erupted for seven runs in the second, taking advantage of three Camden errors.
Leary Winslow led off the inning with a walk. A.J. Miller's grounder to short was thrown away by Brian Gamet. Jason Clark's groundout moved the runner to third. Drew Byrum drove in a run with a liner to right. Mark Clinkscales hit a grounder that was thrown away by Camden third baseman Doug Leary.
Clinkscales moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch. Carson Stallings walked and was moved to third on a double by Brock Nixon. Hunter drove in a run with a fielder's choice and Clint Eley added another run with an RBI single. Hunter later scored on a throwing error by Gamet.
Again, a stolen base helped keep things going for Perquimans in a five-run third. Byrum led off the inning with a home run over the left centerfield fence. Mark Clinkscales followed with a single to right and stole second. He later scored on a one-out single to right center by Hunter. Other runs scored on an RBI walk by Clark, a run-scoring wild pitch, and an error by Camden second baseman Andre Butts.
Perquimans added a final run in the fourth on a solo homer to right center by Clinkscales.
Clark went the distance for the win, scattering nine hits and striking out nine. Although he was roughed up for three runs in the third, he pitched out of jams in the first, fourth and fifth innings.
In the first inning, Tom Ott lined a two-out single to to center. Leary followed with a single to right that moved Ott to third. Mike Ott hit a sharp grounder to third, which was snagged by Hunter who threw Ott out at first.
In the Camden fourth inning, with one out, Gamet reached on an infield hit and moved to second on a passed ball. But Clark coaxed Brad Johnson to fly to left and struck out Butts to end the inning.
In the Camden fifth, with one out, pinch hitter Chad Leary struck out, but reached first on a passed ball. He also moved to second on a passed ball. Clark struck out pinch hitter John Blank looking. Ryan Allen smacked a single through the hole at short, putting runners at first and third. Clark then walked Nick Williams to load the bases.
With two outs and the bases jammed, pinch hitter Heath Williams popped up to Hunter at third for the final out.
Perquimans head coach Phil Woodell said his team was just waiting to explode offensively.
``We've felt like we had a pretty good hitting team,'' Woodell said. ``It was just a matter of time. It seemed like we were all over the ball tonight. Hopefully this will carry over to the conference season. It's easy coaching when they hit the ball like this. ``
Woodell said Clark, a junior, has been a surprise to the Pirates' pitching staff.
``He throws strikes,'' the coach said, ``and that's what it's all about.'' by CNB