THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 28, 1996 TAG: 9605280164
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 112 lines
Freshman centerfielder Kelly Slingerland smacked a two-out RBI double in the eighth inning as Princess Anne nipped defending champion Booker T. Washington 3-2, in an Eastern Region softball quarterfinal Monday at Princess Anne.
The Cavaliers (18-3) will meet Great Bridge (16-5) in the regional semifinals Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Wildcats outdueled Peninsula District champion Kecoughtan, 2-1.
The Cavaliers and Bookers (13-3) were meeting for the second straight year. In last season's tournament, the Bookers, led by All-Tidewater player of the year Donna Self, stunned the Cavaliers, 4-1, in an eight-inning regional semifinal.
Monday, however, Self, now a freshman at Hampton University, could only watch from her seat along the first-base line. And Princess Anne's Lori Ferguson said the revenge-minded Cavaliers expected to have their way with the Self-less Eastern District champions.
``We wanted to kick their tails,'' said Ferguson, who, ignoring doctor's advice and playing on a badly sprained left ankle, scored the winning run.
There certainly was no rout here, as Booker T. pitcher Jennifer McMullen kept the Cavaliers off-balance with a nasty changeup and a defense which had committed 13 errors in its last two games made the plays, especially on Blair Sherwood's shoestring grab of Slingerland's sinking liner in the sixth.
The Bookers' Racquita Washington ripped Melissa Hirsch's first pitch for a stand-up triple, scored on a Princess Anne error, and Sherwood's RBI single brought in McMullen for a 2-0 lead.
But Ferguson answered for Princess Anne with an RBI single in the first, and Beth LaGreca's sacrifice fly tied the game in the second.
The pitchers took over from there. Hirsch (three strikeouts, one walk) surrendered only three hits after the first and set down the final seven Bookers. McMullen (two strikeouts, two walks) scattered six hits until Ferguson, Jen Kanton and Slingerland singled to bring in the winning run in the eighth.
Great Bridge got its offense in the fourth and scintillating defense from freshman shortstop Shelley Wineken all game long to hold off the Warriors.
Wineken made a a running, over-the-shoulder catch, then topped that with a shoestring catch of a foul pop while sliding into a concrete wall. She also drove in what proved to be the game-winner with a sacrifice fly.
Renee Scott plated the Wildcats' first run with an RBI single. The Warriors answered with a run in the fifth, but were shut down from there by Denise Wack (16-4), who threw a four-hitter and retired the final seven batters.
Southeastern District runner-up Great Bridge improved to 17-4; Kecoughtan ended at 17-3.
PAUL WHITE Western Branch, Bayside not perfect, but prevail
VIRGINIA BEACH - Western Branch and Bayside did things each team normally doesn't do, but still came away with the same result in Monday's Eastern Region softball quarterfinals at Princess Anne.
The Bruins, usually a defensively disciplined team, committed four errors but held on for a 7-3 win over Peninsula District tournament winner Bethel.
And Bayside, which hadn't allowed more than four runs all season, gave up six in a 15-6 win over Eastern District tournament champion Lake Taylor.
Western Branch (19-3) and Bayside (20-1) will meet in Wednesday's 5 p.m. semifinal.
The Bruins were flawless in the first two innings before giving up two runs on two errors and a hit in the top half of the third.
Dorshawn Bradshaw led off with a single for Bethel then scored on an errant throw. Nicole Belote then mishandled Jo Ann Andrews' grounder up the middle which brought in Michelle Suits.
Western Branch responded in its half of the inning by taking advantage of a few Bethel mistakes.
Jennifer Sajko reached on a throwing error by shortstop Nicole McDonald and came home on Jaci Morris' bunt. Morris took an extra base on the play, trying to bide some time for Sajko and then scored on Belote's slap bunt to the pitcher to tie it 2-2.
Two more Western Branch errors gave Bethel another run and a 3-2 lead in the fifth when McDonald, after being hit by a pitch, scored on Jen Nowacki's misplayed grounder to short.
Morris, however, decided it was time the Bruins take advantage of Bethel's weak spots.
The senior centerfielder sparked a three-run fifth and a two-run sixth to give Western Branch the go-ahead runs. Morris scored Sajko with a sacrifice bunt and then picked up a pair of RBIs in the Bruins' last at-bat with a single to left. Sajko scored again when Morris got Bethel to throw the ball around as she picked up extra bases.
``It was a mental game,'' said Morris, who was 2 for 2 on the day. ``That's what it came down to. I saw them make a few mental errors in the beginning and I thought if I played with them, they'd do it again.''
Bayside jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first three innings while Lake Taylor managed just one hit. In three innings, the Titans only reached base twice.
Leadoff batter Erin Finn got aboard when she was hit by a pitch in the first inning and then made her way to third on two stolen bases before being stranded. Finn later picked up her team's first hit with a shot to left-center in the third.
The Marlins, meanwhile, collected 11 of their 18 hits of the game.
``We knew we had to hit today,'' said Jen Moricle, who was 4 for 5 with four RBIs and four runs scored. ``We didn't hit well in our last game (a 2-1 loss to Princess Anne in the Beach District tournament).''
The Titans started their own slugfest in the top half of the fourth when Penny Fay, who had three of her team's seven hits, singled to left-center. Holly Robinson later picked up an RBI with a single and Tabitha Csomay smacked a double.
The highlight of Bayside's day at the plate came in the bottom half of the sixth when Tracy Berger belted a two-run home run over the left-centerfield fence.
PATTI WALSH ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP
Booker T.'s Bonnie Phelps runs down Princess Anne's Jamie Durbin for
a putout. The defending region champion Bookers got two runs in the
first inning, but bowed 3-2 to the Cavaliers. by CNB