DATE: Wednesday, May 21, 1997               TAG: 9705210729

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  115 lines

SALEM STUNS FIRST COLONIAL IN BEACH BASEBALL SEMIFINAL

Salem's Chris Sherry held the best power-hitting team in the area without an RBI and the Sun Devils overcame a bushel of baserunning mistakes to stun top-ranked First Colonial 5-4 in a Beach District tournament semifinal Tuesday at Trant Field.

Salem (14-7) will meet Cox Thursday night at 7 for the tournament championship and a berth in next week's Eastern Region playoffs. First Colonial (19-2) had already secured a region bid on the strength of its regular-season title.

Sherry, who worked the final 2 1/3 innings against Kempsville on Monday, took the ball Tuesday with instructions to go as long as he could. That turned into a 97-pitch, complete game.

``We had everybody up and ready,'' Sherry said. ``But I didn't need them.''

None of First Colonial's runs scored on a batted ball. The Patriots, who had a 15-game winning streak snapped, scored three runs on a pair of strikeouts that eluded Salem catcher Brian Thompson and one on a wild pitch.

The second strikeout/passed ball came in the bottom of the fifth and tied the game at 4-4.

But Salem struck right back. Justin Cole tripled to right-center off Chuck Coulombe with one out in the sixth and scored the winning run on Jason Harrison's sacrifice fly. That finished Coulombe, who took the loss to fall to 9-1.

First Colonial sent the heart of its order up in the bottom of the seventh, but managed only a one-out single by Bruce George. The key batter, Sherry said, was Jeff Butler.

Butler leads the area with 11 home runs and had singled twice in three trips, but popped up the first pitch leading off the inning.

Sherry led Salem at the plate with an RBI double and a sacrifice fly. He also hammered a fly ball with two on and two out in the seventh that right fielder Joe Dunlap caught over his head on a full run.

- ROBIN BRINKLEY BEACH DISTRICT

Cox 11, Princess Anne 2

VIRGINIA BEACH - Jason Dubois pitched a complete-game one-hitter and struck out nine as the No. 5 Falcons defeated the No. 8 Cavaliers in a Beach District semifinal.

Todd Blake had Princess Anne's only hit, a two-run double after Dubois hit two batters and walked another in the second inning.

Jason Cortellini's two-run pinch single in the fifth gave Cox a 5-2 lead. The Falcons then broke open the game with two runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh. Scott Magnuson had three RBIs for Cox.

- ROBIN BRINKLEY SOUTHEASTERN

Western Branch 3, Deep Creek 2

SUFFOLK - That voodoo those Bruins do so well stymied Nansemond River once again.

For the third straight game involving the two teams, Western Branch grabbed deep in their bag of tricks to beat the Warriors, this time breaking up a no-hitter and getting a seeing-eye single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to advance to the Southeastern District final and into the Eastern Region tournament.

In the first game between the rivals, the Bruins won 8-0 despite only getting one more hit as the Warriors stranded 13 runners. The rematch saw Western Branch stage a five-run, two-out rally in the seventh to force extra innings and set the stage for a comeback win.

Jared Judy was the answer this time out, hitting a grounder up the gut to drive in pinch-runner Jeff Pye from second.

``I was just praying for the ball to fall,'' Judy said. ``He (Nansemond River pitcher Chip Runyan) threw me a fastball, low and outside, and I was looking to drive in that run.''

``I ran on contact,'' added Pye. ``I didn't know what happened to the ball, but I got a go signal from the coach and I just ran as soon as he (Judy) hit it.''

Runyan had a no-hitter going for 5 1/3 innings, striking out four before David Powders smacked a single to right. Runyan held Western Branch to three hits and finished with eight strikeouts.

Winning pitcher James Fticsar went the distance, also striking out eight while giving up five hits.

Nansemond River took the lead in the second inning on a two-run triple by Mike Byrum.

The Bruins tied the game in the sixth on an RBI double by Kevin Pearson and a sacrifice fly by Lynnwood Shackleford.

- BRIAN J. FRENCH

Great Bridge 12, Deep Creek 3

SUFFOLK - For three innings, the Hornets were giving the Southeastern District's top team a scare. Two innings and nine runs later, the Wildcats were giving themselves a return trip to the district finals.

Mike Cuddyer lashed a three-run triple and Chris Gibson added a home run to lead off the fifth inning for the Wildcats, who guaranteed a trip to the region playoffs for Western Branch by virtue of their win.

Cuddyer finished the game with four RBIs and pitched a complete-game victory with seven strikeouts, hitting as high as 92 mph on the speed gun.

Great Bridge scored all five of their runs on two hits in the fourth, scoring two on a Deep Creek error.

Deep Creek pitcher Brad Partain no-hit the Wildcats for the first three innings, extending a streak against Great Bridge of 10 straight innings without allowing an earned run.

Ray Long stole four bases for the Wildcats.

- BRIAN J. FRENCH

VIS quarterfinals Greenbrier Christian 8, Southampton Academy 0: Thom Ott struck out seven and allowed two hits in five innings as the No. 3 Gators advanced to the Division I semifinals. Ott also had two doubles and an RBI and Dustin Sellers was 2 for 3 with three RBIs for Greenbrier (26-2), which will play the Covenant-Hampton Christian winner in a semifinal Friday at 7 p.m. at Old Dominion.

Alliance Christian 8, Bethlehem Baptist 2: Nick Huneycutt hit a two-run double in the second inning and Chad Feyer added a two-run triple in the fifth as the Falcons gained the Division I semifinals. Huneycutt finished with 15 strikeouts and scattered three hits for Alliance, which will play the Colonial Beach-Fuqua winner Friday at 4 p.m. at ODU.

St. Stephen's 5, Nansemond-Suffolk 4: St. Stephen's built a 4-1 third-inning lead then held on to advance to the Division II semifinals. Kyle Snow scored on a single by David Putnam in the seventh to make it 5-4 before the Saints stranded the potential tying and winning runs.

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