THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300539
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 70 lines
Sixteen innings. Twenty-one hits. Twenty-seven runners stranded in scoring position.
Those are the numbers Princess Anne, Great Bridge, Bayside and Western Branch chalked up in a misty day of Eastern Region softball semifinal action at Princess Anne.
But when it came down to which teams would advance to Friday's 4 p.m. final and earn a berth in the state playoffs, only two numbers mattered: one and zero.
The Cavaliers nipped the Wildcats 1-0 in nine innings and the Marlins did the same to the Bruins in the bottom half of the seventh.
Princess Anne, which will make its first appearance in a region final since 1990, improved to 19-3 while Bayside went to 20-1. Western Branch finished its season 19-4, Great Bridge 17-6.
The Cavaliers put runners on third six times before Lisa Slingerland came home on Sarah Ravan's hit to the left-centerfield gap.
With two out, Slingerland reached on an error, then stole her way around the bases, sacrificing her already-battered knees. Freshman Kelly Hartzog beat out a grounder to pitcher Denise Wack to bring up Ravan.
Wack took Ravan 0-1 with a hard fastball before the junior ripped the second pitch for the game-winner.
``I was thinking Outback and centerfield,'' said Ravan, whose team will now enjoy a trip to the steak house courtesy of coach Dennis Nixon. ``I didn't want to fall through for my team. For some reason, I waited on it and it was my pitch. What a nerve-wracking game.''
Princess Anne had a similar opportunity to end the game in the seventh when Slingerland bunted for a hit and stole two bases. That time, however, Hartzog flew to right and Ravan grounded to Wack.
The Cavaliers left 10 runners in scoring position, Great Bridge 5.
The Wildcats missed an early chance in the first inning when Melanie Robertson reached third after a leadoff hit to left. Dana Crisostomo was called out when her bunt hit her in fair play. Heather Ward grounded out to Beth LaGreca at second and Whitney Temple popped to third baseman Lori Ferguson.
Princess Anne pitcher Melissa Hirsch set the batters down in order after the second inning until an error in the eighth helped put two Great Bridge runners aboard.
In the nightcap, extra innings loomed again until Nicole Battersby's chopper in front of the plate in the seventh brought in Jen Moricle.
With one down, Moricle ripped a line drive to left and stole on the first pitch to Tracey Berger, who earlier belted a pair of foul balls over the leftfield fence.
Western Branch's Nicole Belote pitched Berger tight before the Marlins' clean-up batter grounded out to third.
Battersby then followed with the Marlins' seventh hit and game-winning RBI.
Catcher Cathy Arnette fielded the ball, pumped to first, but found no one there as Moricle crossed the plate behind her.
``I was trying to get the out at first,'' she said, ``but there was no one there and I hesitated. I just don't know what happened.''
Meanwhile, Battersby, aware of her team's two outs, knew she had to reach first safely.
``I was thinking, `I've got to make something happen. I've got to get to that base no matter what,' '' she said.
Western Branch failed to make good on two walks in the fifth and left the bases loaded when, following a rain delay, Bayside pitcher Heidi Hill retired Arnette and Jessica Manuleleua. ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER
Western Branch's Cathy Arnette tagged out Michelle Hooks on this
play, but Bayside scored the winning run after Arnette left the
game. by CNB