THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607040225
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 115 lines
THE COURTHOUSE Braves routed the Great Neck Dolphins, 13-5, to win their third straight city softball title as a team. This season, the 13- and 14-year-olds added a junior title to their previous pre-teen titles. David Bunn has coached many of the same girls during those three seasons.
His daughter, April Bunn, winning pitcher in last year's championship game, moved to second base. Her move made way for Mia Ross, a lanky left-hander.
Great Neck might have enjoyed seeing Bunn back on the pitching rubber. It didn't take them long to tire of Ross.
``She throws in the mid 50s,'' said David Bunn. ``So it wasn't a hard decision to make her our pitcher.''
All she did was strike out 18 Great Neck hitters in the seven-inning game and drive in two runs with a pair of doubles. Both hits came on inside-out swings to the opposite field. Both looked like she placed them in the outfield.
Ross showed the same control with her pitches that she did with her bat. She worked fast, threw smoke and showed pinpoint control.
Dolphins hitters had the unenviable task of facing her on a night when Ross was nearly perfect. When they kept the bat on their shoulders, she struck them out looking. When they swung the bat, they couldn't catch up with her pitches, swinging after the white blur had already popped into the catcher's mitt. Very few even fouled off a pitch.
Great Neck pitcher Shannon LaVigne threw well enough to win on most nights. She held the heavy-hitting Braves scoreless through the first two innings. A couple of five-run bursts by Courthouse - in the third inning and again in their last at-bat - gave Ross more than enough support.
Ross did falter briefly. In the fifth inning, LaVigne finally got good aluminum on a Ross pitch and drove a double to the gap in right-centerfield, scoring two teammates.
Ross had another shaky inning in the sixth. An error, a couple of walks and a passed ball loaded the bases. She surrendered a walk that scored a run, but struck out three straight hitters and closed down the Dolphins the rest of the way.
``We're lucky to have good players and they play well together,'' Bunn said.
SOFTBALL
PRE-TEEN: Courthouse fared well in the girls' pre-teen division, too, as the Courthouse Bears beat the Courthouse Wildcats, 27-7.
``We had just a great overall team effort all year,'' said Bears coach Kathy Blowe, whose team went 10-0 in the regular season and roared through the playoffs.
Blowe said that Sarah Doverspike was an ``excellent pitcher'' all season.
Blowe also praised her assistants, Bill Orrico and Jay Marshall.
JUNIOR: Anthony Boyd, long-time coach and athletic director of the Aragona/Pembroke Recreation Association, underplayed his role in leading the A/P Braves to a title. His junior girl Braves compiled a 13-2 record overall.
``The coach is only as good as his staff and players,'' said the 20-year coaching veteran.
Like most coaches, Boyd credited a team effort for the Braves' success.
They defeated the Arrowhead Angels, 10-3, in the championship game.
``All my girls are moving up (to the senior division) next year,'' he said. ``And I hope to move up with them.
PRE-TEEN SLOW-PITCH: The West Kempsville Bangels beat a team from their own association in capturing the pre-teen girls softball title. The Bangels defeated the WK Twisters, 14-10, in the championship game.
``In certain games, different players were the key to winning,'' said third-year coach Mary Near. ``Sometimes, we won with pitching; other games, with hitting or defense.''
``In the championship game, the Twisters loaded the bases on us twice with no outs and didn't score,'' she said.
Near credited her assistant, Terry Martin, with a fine job.
The Bangels will lose about five players from the team, but the girls will remain Bangels even after they move up, Near explained.
``We're having the trophies inscribed, `Always A Bangel,' '' Near said.
SENIOR GIRLS: Jimmy Albert took over as coach of the Creeds Tractors two years ago. All he has done in that time is win back-to-back titles. His senior girls beat the Thalia/Malibu Angels, 8-6, in an exciting championship game.
``We led 5-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, then they scored three times to go up, 6-5,'' said Albert. ``We came back and scored three times to win. Jamie Files drove in the winning run.''
That didn't surprise Albert.
Files hit .700 and had seven home runs. Third baseman Sarah Suissa compiled a .666 average and hit three home runs. Mariah Whitehurst anchored the defense at shortstop.
Albert loses eight of his 12 players, but he some good ones coming back, he said.
BASEBALL
MIDGET: The Woodstock Dodgers may not have had the greatest players, said coach Mike McDonald, ``but they were the most coachable team I have ever had.''
They used defense and base running in going 13-0 and winning the midget boys championship. They beat the Creeds Indians, 13-3, to win the title.
McDonald cited the play of two standouts, Brock Thompson and Bryan Banks, as key to the Dodgers' success.
``Brock pitched and played third base,'' he said. When Banks wasn't pitching he caught, played shortstop and the outfield.
``They had a heckuva of a year,'' McDonald said. ``They were the most coachable team I've had in seven years of coaching.''
McDonald is optimistic about next season, too. Of the 11 players on this season's team, eight return.
JUNIOR BOYS: The Arrowhead Braves won the junior boys title and finished with an 11-0 record. They beat the Larkspur/Salem Yankees, 7-2, in claiming their second straight title.
``We've only lost one game in the last two years,'' said assistant coach John Turnipseed.
Brian Foster was 7-0 as a pitcher and Jason Liffick provided both good defense and offense.
``Jason's 6 feet tall and weighs about 220,'' said Turnipseed, ``so he has plenty of power.''
He must. The Braves scored 110 runs and gave up just 22 all year.
``The title game was the closest game we played,'' Turnipseed said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY EDWARDS
Mia Ross, a lanky left-hander for the Courthouse Braves, struck out
18 Great Neck hitters in seven innings and drove in two runs with a
pair of doubles. by CNB