DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706180246

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 17   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CHIC RIEBEL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  102 lines

SUMMER LEAGUE MOVES IN A NEW DIRECTIONTHE BOARD WANTS THE LEAGUE TO BE A PLACE WHERE YOUNG PLAYERS CAN BE DEVELOPED.

As near as anyone can tell, the Tidewater Summer League is more than 70 years old. But the area's premier adult baseball league is getting younger every year.

That's because the TSL has made a conscious decision to include more college players.

``The board of directors thinks we need to focus on being more of a developmental league,'' said Mike Dooley, the commissioner of the six-team league and manager/sponsor of the Greenbrier Knights. ``We're doing it for a couple of reasons.

``One, there's a lot of Division II and Division III kids in our area who need a place to play in the summer. And two, we don't see any future for the league if we keep going with the same guys on the same teams forever. We need younger guys to keep things going.''

The youth movement is obvious on the six teams' rosters. The three newest teams - the Norfolk Yankees, the Marlins and the Christopher Newport Cubs - are made up almost entirely of college players. The Churchland Thoroughbreds, coached by Pittsburgh Pirates area scout Bob McKinney, have always featured college-age players.

The Knights and the perennial champion Tidewater Drillers - who have historically relied on older players - have added college players in the past two years.

It's no coincidence that the level of play is up this season.

``I've only been in the league for two years, but it's a lot better this year,'' said the Knights' Joe Martinez, who played Double-A ball with the Detroit Tigers just three years ago. ``The college guys are making it better. Last year, there were games we could just show up and win. Now there's better pitching and better teams. You have to play harder to win.''

Indeed. Veteran-laden Greenbrier, which began the week as the league's only unbeaten team, needed a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the young Yankees last Thursday. The quality of play in the 5-4 Knight win was excellent. There was outstanding pitching by the Yankees' Jesse James, who made All-Colonial Athletic Association at Old Dominion this spring, three home runs and several outstanding plays on defense.

``It's the best amateur ball around here,'' said Dooley. ``It's far superior to rec league ball. It's also the best-kept entertainment secret around. We play on a lot of great fields and the games are free. What more could a baseball fan want?''

Bill Scott, who sponsors and manages the Norfolk Yankees, loves being a part of the TSL.

``We were in the National Adult Baseball Association in other years and I just wasn't happy with the quality of ball,'' said Scott, who has been involved with the baseball programs at Green Run and Kempsville High Schools. ``But there's first-class talent in this league. Most of my team is college guys from Virginia Beach and this is great competition for them.''

Yankees outfielder Ed McInnis, a Green Run graduate who plays for Norfolk State, doesn't know what he'd do without the TSL.

``Baseball is a year-round game now, you've got to play in the summer to stay in shape,'' he said. ``I work at a shoe store and I work my schedule around my games as much as I can. There's good ball in this league, pretty much as good as what we play against at Norfolk State.

``I also enjoy playing against guys you hear about and read about from other colleges. It helps you to see where you stand and helps to make you better.''

For the Knights' David Winter, one of the few Division I players in the league, the Tidewater Summer League is literally just what the doctor ordered. Winter, a First Colonial grad who batted .309 as a freshman at Old Dominion, had to sit out his sophomore year as a result of a lacerated kidney. He received medical clearance to begin playing several weeks ago.

``If I hadn't gotten hurt, I'd be in one of the wooden bat leagues right now, but I didn't think I'd be ready for that kind of competition, so I came here,'' Winter said. ``I was surprised how good it was. There's some really outstanding players in this league.''

And the TSL hopes to keep bringing them in. In order to do that, the league has a plan to make itself more attractive to the college players.

The plan includes finding sponsors for all teams so that no one has to pay to participate, holding an all-star game for college players in early July, considering a rule that requires a certain number of college players on each roster and mailing letters to state college coaches and local high school coaches telling them about the league.

Sponsorship is the top priority. Three of the teams - Greenbrier, the Drillers and the Yankees - are pretty much bank-rolled by their managers, Dooley, Gary Wright and Scott. Christopher Newport players are paying their own way. The Thoroughbreds are sponsored by the Churchland Baseball Association and the Marlins by National Roofing.

``You don't want kids to have to pay to play,'' said Scott, a manager for Conway Southern Express, who shells out more than $2,000 for the Yankees to take the field. ``They have enough to do just going to school and playing ball.''

``We'd like to get back to where the league was when it was the old City League in Norfolk,'' said Dooley. ``Back then all of the teams were sponsored. It was a terrific atmosphere for the players: No fees and some great ball.'' MEMO: Anyone interested in sponsoring a Tidewater Summer League team can

contact Dooley at 428-6484. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by NHAT MEYER

Mike Dooley, manager of the Greenbrier Knights, said the Tidewater

Summer League aims at getting younger players.

Anthony Linhardt, catcher for the Greenbrier Knights, eyes the field

after a couple of runs were scored in a recent game.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu