THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170684
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KINSTON, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
If only for a night, Grainger Stadium became Coors Field.
Old Dominion can expect home runs from a Ron Walker or a Matt Quatraro. But Jason Koch going deep? What's going on?
In any case, the Monarchs needed every ounce of power-hitting available Thursday, even if it came from the most unlikely of sources.
ODU got a blend of timely hitting, pitching and defense to defeat UNC-Wilmington 4-2 in the winners' bracket of the Colonial Athletic Association baseball tournament. The top-seeded Monarchs (38-15), two-time defending tournament champions, advanced to Saturday's 1 p.m. title game.
``I was just as surprised as anyone in the ballpark,'' Koch said of his first career homer. ``The first time I was up, he pitched me inside. . . . I knew he was going to come inside and I just turned on it.''
It was more like an explosion from the 5-foot-8 junior leftfielder. Koch's two-run blast, down the rightfield line off Jason Ramsey in the third inning, broke a tie at 1 and gave ODU the lead for good.
But along with the strange came the familiar.
Walker put the Monarchs on the scoreboard with a shot over the wall in left-center in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. Walker's 11th homer of the season, estimated at 455 feet, hit the roof of a building behind the stadium. Albert Belle and Cecil Fielder are believed to be the only other players to hit the target.
Aside from ODU's power display was a combination of quality pitching and defense.
Jesse James, going against All-CAA pitcher Ramsey, held the Seahawks in check for most of his 6 1/3 innings. James allowed a home run to Jason Roach in the top of the second and but did not allow any of his six hits in the same inning. However, he owes a few of his teammates credit for holding UNCW (28-29) to two runs.
Rightfielder Brian Fiumara made a diving catch with a runner at second and two out to end the top of the fifth. An inning later, first baseman Anthony Forelli made a diving stop, then tossed the ball to James with a runner on to end the sixth.
``We played great defensively,'' said James (8-6). ``I couldn't have asked for anything better.''
Justin Kreider relieved Koch in the seventh with two on and one out and retired the side without allowing another runner to score.
Walker then retired the side in order the last two innings to earn his ninth save and second in two nights.
Even with a loss at 1 p.m. Saturday, the Monarchs could still win the title. By coming through the winners' bracket, ODU will play a second game Saturday if it loses the first one.
In Thursday's other games: James Madison scored eight runs in the eighth inning to knock William and Mary out of the tournament 8-4. The Dukes (32-24) play Virginia Commonwealth in the losers' bracket at 3:30 p.m. today. . . . The third-seeded Rams (34-21) pounded out 13 hits to eliminate East Carolina 10-0. The winner of the losers' bracket game plays UNCW at 7:30 p.m. for a berth in Saturday's championship game. by CNB