THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604190260
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 32 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Bayside softball coach Conrad Parker breathed a sigh of relief when he saw base umpire David Baker making his way to the Salem field.
It wasn't that home plate umpire Larry Hill wasn't making the right calls. Or that he couldn't have handled a one-man game until Baker arrived.
In fact, who was calling what didn't make any difference for the top-ranked Marlins - their game that day against Ocean Lakes had been rained out.
Parker, an innocent bystander doing a little scouting, was asked by Salem coach Larry Bowman, Princess Anne coach Dennis Nixon and Hill to take over the duties on the base paths.
``The first one that comes after me, I'm gonna throw 'em,'' joked Parker, who is an active college softball umpire. ``I hate to do this because of my shoes.''
So, in his sparkling white tennis shoes, Parker trekked out to the muddy field and had the unenviable task of making the calls for the No. 3 Sun Devils and No. 4 Cavaliers, two of the top teams chasing Bayside in the Beach District race.
``I would hate to have to make a call that would decide it,'' Parker said. ``Both of these coaches are very dear friends of mine. And year after year, we go after each other on the softball field.''
But after four innings of work, the only one who'll being going after Parker for his performance on the field is his wife. Parker said she only buys him one pair of tennis shoes a year and wouldn't be too happy.
LONG BALL: Prior to Kelly Cahill's home run for Cox over the left centerfield fence against Princess Anne, no one other than the Cavaliers had hit it out of their park in a regular season game. Princess Anne knocked eight out of the yard in the 1995 season.
SPEAKING OF FENCES: The game of softball is altogether different when its played without a fence. Just ask any Beach District outfielder when they aren't playing at either Princess Anne or Kellam, the only schools with fences around the softball field.
A nice shot in the gap can easily turn into a triple or home run and an outfielder may have to become a distance runner to get to the ball.
``I feel a lot more pressure not to make an error,'' Princess Anne centerfielder Kelly Slingerland said of playing away games with no fence. ``If it gets by you, that's it.''
ROUNDING THE BASES . . . OR NOT: Through six games, undefeated Bayside has outscored its opponents 80-14. On the down side, winless Ocean Lakes has been outscored 116-7.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Honors go to senior first baseman Lisa Slingerland of Princess Anne. After the Cavaliers' 9-0 loss to Bayside in which Slingerland went 0 for 4, she fired back Tuesday with a game that was a triple shy of completing the cycle in a 12-8 win over Salem.
Slingerland took the first pitch of the game for a double, singled to center, stole home on a first-and-third play at second, had a two-out, bases-empty home run and doubled to left. She was also in on 10 put outs for the game. by CNB