THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9605310191
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: 55 lines
The 10-under Tidewater Drillers AAU baseball team qualified for the National Championships in Kansas City by finishing second in the state qualifying tournament Memorial Day weekend in Fredericksburg.
The Virginia Blasters won the tournament and also are headed to the nationals in August.
Eleven of the Drillers' 16 players are from Virginia Beach, four are from Chesapeake and one is from Norfolk. Strong pitching and defense carried them to their national tournament berth.
After receiving a first-round bye, the Drillers defeated the Virginia Players of Fredericksburg, 7-6, in the second round. Aaron Hurwitz of Lynnhaven (Virginia Beach) pitched six strong innings for the Drillers, striking out nine. The last seven outs Hurwitz recorded were all by strikeout.
The Drillers held a 6-2 lead over the Players, but a couple of defensive miscues allowed the Players to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the top of the sixth, the Drillers' Nelson Adcock of Lynnhaven led off with a triple into the rightfield corner. Jesse Wilson of Lynnhaven then singled Adcock home for what turned out to be the winning run.
Hurwitz struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth.
In the winners' bracket final, the Drillers got five strong innings on the mound from Hunter Hall of Indian River (Chesapeake) but fell to the eventual tournament winners, the Virginia Blasters, 7-2. Blasters pitchers Justin Holloman of Great Bridge (Chesapeake) and Ryan Pond of Western Branch (Chesapeake) held the Drillers' offense in check the entire game.
That loss dropped the Drillers into the losers' bracket, with the winner advancing to the championship game and also earning a berth in the National Championships.
In the losers' bracket final, the Drillers got a strong game on the mound from Brandon Hendrix of Woodstock (Virginia Beach) and defeated the Players, 7-2. Hendrix worked 5 2/3 innings, and Hurwitz came on to record the last out.
Hall and Andrew Black of Great Bridge had three hits each in the victory that sent the Drillers to the nationals.
In the championship game, the Drillers' pitching did not hold true to form in the team's first three games of the tournament, and the Blasters rolled to a 19-5 victory.
The Drillers' top hitters in the tournament were Black, .545 batting average; Hall, .500; Shane Kozuch of Kempsville (Virginia Beach), .500; Steven Goldburg of Kempsville, .455; Hurwitz, .400; Adcock, .400; and Chris Green of Lynnhaven, .357.
Other members of the team are Virginia Beach residents Rory Byrd, William Davis, Robert Fulgham and Andrew Peck; Nachion Moore and O'Max Williams of Chesapeake; and Chris Williford of Norfolk.
The Drillers are managed by Bryan Black of Chesapeake. Assistant coaches are Nelson Adcock and Bernie Kozuch of Virginia Beach, and Tim Peck is the business manager as well as an assistant coach. by CNB