THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607080141
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOKOLOSKI, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: MOOSIC, PA. LENGTH: 44 lines
Once again, Bobby Valentine watched his Norfolk Tides dig deep for victory Saturday night.
And what he's seeing leaves the Nofolk manager convinced his team has the most heart in the International League.
``What you saw is just the way we've been playing all year,'' Valentine said. ``We play the full nine innings, regardless of the score.''
Sometimes, like Saturday, the Tides play even more.
Terrell Lowery's big double set up a two-run rally in the 10th inning Saturday as the Tides snatched a 7-5 victory from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons at Lackwanna County Stadium.
That followed the series opener Friday night, when the Tides rallied from an 8-5 deficit with five runs in the eighth inning to take an 11-8 victory.
And that followed a stretch where Norfolk won three games over eight days in its final at-bat.
``We just try to give out best while we're out there,'' Valentine said, ``A lot of times, our best has been good enough. This team has a lot of heart.''
Norfolk broke Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's back with another night of dramatics.
The Red Barons used David Tokheim's two-out double and an RBI single from pinch hitter Bob Zupcic to tie the game, 5-5, in the bottom of the ninth inning. That sudden outburst came against Derek Wallace, whose 18 saves is second in the International League.
But when the game hit extra innings, Norfolk pulled out the knockout punch.
Matt Franco singled, and Lowery moved him to third base with a double that bounced against the rightfield wall.
``That put men on second and third base, with nobody out, made us bring the infield in,'' Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre manager Ramon Aviles said.
It also set up Roberto Petagine, whose hard single off the glove of second baseman Mario Diaz scored Franco with the go-ahead run. Kevin Roberson followed with an RBI single to rightfield, bringing Lowery home with the game's final run.
The Red Barons grabbed a quick 3-0 lead with Gene Schall's two-run single in the first inning and an RBI single from Diaz in the second.
But Norfolk erased it with a five-run third inning, fueled by a bases-loaded, three-run triple from Lowery.
``The triple was huge,'' Valentine said. ``But the double . . . he set up a run-scoring situation.'' by CNB