THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050535
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 66 lines
Atlee baseball coach Bob Stratton on Monday called Cox a team that comes along once in a lifetime.
The Falcons did nothing to change his mind Tuesday night, hammering the Raiders 11-3 in a state quarterfinal game at Old Dominion University.
Jason Dubois and Tim Lavigne hit two-run home runs and Ted Tignor pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-hit relief as the Falcons ran their winning streak to 20 games.
Cox (25-1) will meet Denbigh (22-2) Thursday at 4 at ODU in a rematch of the Eastern Region final won by the Falcons 14-3. Denbigh beat Lee-Davis 6-3 in eight innings.
``These guys hit as well as anybody I've seen in 17 years,'' Stratton said of Cox. ``You take their hitting and add their pitching - Dubois and Lavigne weren't even in there - and they are a pretty well-rounded high school team.''
Cox pounded 14 hits, six for extra bases.
``Our guys go up there with the idea they are going to hit,'' Cox coach John Ingram said. ``Unless you overpower us, and I haven't seen anybody do it yet, we're going to hit.''
Jeff Tignor got the start for Cox in place of Dubois, who strained his elbow in the region semifinals.
Tignor allowed three runs on five hits and Atlee had runners on second and third with two outs in the second when Ingram turned to Ted Tignor.
He struck out Atlee cleanup hitter Jason LaFlame to end the threat and cruised the rest of the way. He struck out nine and didn't walk a batter.
``I had no idea I'd pitch,'' Ted Tignor said. ``I figured J.T. would go pretty much the whole game. I had a good slider and tried to stay ahead of the hitters. It was fun.''
Ingram said the Falcons were ``on the ropes'' when Ted Tignor came in.
``That was a gutty, terrific, you-name-the-adjective-and-that-describes-it performance,'' Ingram said. ``That was the hardest I've seen Ted throw.''
Cox trailed 4-3 when Dubois unloaded his seventh home run of the season and second in two games in the bottom of the third. The towering drive to left-center off starter and loser Bo Acors scored Ted Tignor, who had singled, and gave Cox the lead for good.
``I was watching him pitch to the guys in front of me and he started everybody with a fastball,'' Dubois said. ``I got one up in the zone and just sat on it.''
Dubois also had an RBI single, walked and lined out to the warning track.
The Falcons scored seven runs in the fifth to finish off the Raiders.
David Wilson led off with a single and Dubois walked. Aaron Strausbaugh, who had three hits, followed with a two-run double to make it 6-3. Jeff Tignor singled in Strausbaugh, knocking out Acors.
After Frank McDonnell lined out hard to center, Eric John walked and Brandon Ramsey hit a double that one-hopped the wall in left-center, driving in John.
Lavigne followed with his eighth home run of the season, a line drive that hit off the athletic building beyond the leftfield fence.
Dubois, who started in rightfield, did some light throwing in the bullpen before the game Tuesday and listed himself as ``day to day.''
``My plan now is to start Jason Thursday and get as much out of him as I can,'' Ingram said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by HUY NGUYEN\The Virginian Pilot
Cox pitcher Ted Tignor, right, accepts congratulations from coach
John Ingram after coming in to relieve cousin Jeff Tignor and
closing out an 11-3 win over Atlee in the state quarterfinals.
[Color photo also appears on p. C1] by CNB