THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605230214
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 41 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: 51 lines
THEY SAY that great pitching wins ball games. But when Perquimans County's normally able arms failed last week, the bats came alive to preserve a 16-8 win over Bear Grass in the first round of the 1A state playoffs.
The Pirates banged out 11 hits and took advantage of some costly mistakes by Martin County's Bear Grass squad to escape the first round.
The Pirates, highly touted going into the playoffs, had their ace Clint Eley on the hill and were playing at home against the fourth-place team from an inferior league.
But it was still a rocky start. Teams like Perquimans aren't supposed to give up eight runs to teams like Bear Grass, especially in the playoffs.
Bear Grass pitcher David Dadisman had little help on defense. Perquimans, which scored in every inning, struck for two runs in the first with the help of some poor fielding by the Bears.
Dadisman walked Mark Clinkscales to lead off the game. The pitcher had Clinkscales picked off first, but Clinkscales reached second when no one covered the bag. Clinkscales moved to third on a groundout by Brock Nixon. Paul Hunter followed with a double, allowing Clinkscales to score. Eley drove in the second.
The Pirates went up 3-0 on a triple smoked by Clinkscales down the right-field line in the second inning. Clinkscales' RBI was set up when Mike Salvatore popped up.
Things were going as planned for the Pirates until the defense let Bear Grass back in the game. Ninth batter Kevin Williams ripped a single to left. Eley walked Eric Styons. Dadisman hit a ball in the hole at short. Nixon tried to force the runner at third, but Williams slid in safe to load the bases. David Leary followed with a grounder through Nixon's legs to score two runs. Nick Weaver tied the game at 3-3.
The Pirates' bats answered the call in the third. Hunter smashed a double to left and scored on a single by Eley. Eley scored on a single ripped to right by Leary Winslow.
Perquimans sealed the win with four runs in the fourth when Bear Grass fell apart completely. Clinkscales walked and moved to second on a wild pitch to open the inning. Carson Stallings singled Clinkscales to third. Shortstop Styons booted a grounder by Nixon to let a run home. Hunter hit a sharp grounder through the legs of David Leary to score another run. Eley knocked in a run. Hunter scored the final run of the inning.
The coach said his team might have been a little rusty after a week layoff. ``We all needed the work,'' he said. ``We weren't prepared, and that includes me. I've got to do some better things to get us prepared.'' by CNB