DATE: Friday, August 1, 1997                TAG: 9707310186

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 20   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   69 lines

ARAGONA-PEMBROKE WINS TITLE

The Aragona-Pembroke Little League 11-12 girls softball All-Stars playoff season was nothing short of a dream ride.

Mainly because the team advanced further than any team (boys baseball or girls softball) in the league's 37-year history. A-P won the District 8 and state championships before losing in the divional portion of Little League softball's Major age group (11-12) playoffs.

But the journey was also made special because of how the team kept advancing.

To even get to the state tournament, the A-P All-Stars had to battle through the losers bracket of the District 8 tournament - winning three games to get to the championship. There, they had to beat the winner's bracket entry twice in the double elmination format.

And the team had to come from behind in nearly every game.

Against Green Run, A-P found itself down 9-4 in the fourth inning of a scheduled six-inning game, only to fight back and win 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh.

Next, it was a second chance at Azalea - the team that defeated A-P earlier to put them in the loser's bracket. The Norfolk team also took A-P to extra innings despite an 18-strikeout effort by Tracie Slate through nine innings. Since pitchers were only allowed to pitch nine innings in a row, Lindsay Kennedy was brought in with the score tied at 7-7. Kennedy gave up one run, but her team came back to score twice on Belle Dickson's two-run double for a 9-8 victory and a shot at the title.

There, A-P defeated the Chesapeake representative twice for the district crown.

In the District 8 tournament, A-P was 6-1 and four pitchers combined for with 75 strikeouts in 44 innings, while giving up only 13 hits.

In the state tournament, the miracles kept happening.

After a one-run victory over Clifton Forge on the combined no-hitter of Celia Henline and Cassie Hill, A-P handed host Bridgewater an 8-3 loss on Slate's one-hitter and Henline's pair of triples.

A-P then beat Olive Branch 3-2 despite trailing by a run and down to its last strike and no one on base in the bottom of the last inning. Jessie Rhea provided the extra-inning winner on a two-run triple.

Down 6-1 in the fifth of the winner's bracket final, A-P came up with a 9-run inning to win 10-6.

A-P then again faced Bridgewater in a rain-delayed championship game that was played on three fields and took nearly eight hours before Little League officials awarded the title to A-P.

``The home team kept putting stuff down on the fields and then moving us from site to site,'' manager Greg Slate said. ``Our district representative and their's called the home office, where the decision was made. We had beaten them once, we were the winner's bracket winner and we were beating them 9-3 when the game was called.''

Unfortunately, the dream ended 22 hours later in the divisonal tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C. - where Aragona-Pembroke dropped decisions of 6-0 and 3-2.

``It's been one heck of a few weeks,'' Slate said. ``We never had time to celebrate anything, because we always had to leave right away for the next thing. But we won 10 games straight and six of them we came from behind in.

``But it's sure been a dream ride for all of us.''

Slate said his team's journey was made easier by the Aragona-Pembroke board of directors, which paid all expenses.

Helping Slate with coaching duties were Scott Henline and Joe Rhea, while Lou Bowman kept stats.

Team members were Theresa Castner, Dickson, Jessica Garcia, Cristin Hallstein, Marquita Haywood, Slate, Henline, Hill, Kennedy, Melissa Kepley, Devon Mandaleris, Rhea, Jennifer Thomas and Stephanie Witt.

Dickson, Rhea, Slate and Henline were consistently the team's top hitters throughout the tournament.

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