Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 6, 1993                   TAG: 9305060102
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IT COMES DOWN TO THE END FOR RIVALS ROANOKE, W&L

This is a game that should be played at the end of the season.

"I agree," said W&L coach Jim Stagnitta, whose 10th-ranked Generals (10-2) play host to fourth-ranked Roanoke (10-3) today at 3:30 p.m. at Wilson Field. "I can't remember a bigger game in my four years here."

At stake will be the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship - each team is 5-0 - as well as one, and maybe two, NCAA Tournament bids.

"Plus, it's our biggest rival," Stagnitta said.

There are no automatic bids to the eight-team Division III field and, as recently as 1990, no ODAC team was invited. The last time two ODAC teams went to the Division III Tournament was 1987.

"It was pretty similar to this year," said Roanoke coach Bill Pilat, at the time an assistant coach at W&L. "It was the last week of the season, and Roanoke won 15-14 in overtime. The next week, Roanoke went to W&L for the first round of the tournament and lost 19-11."

The team that wins definitely is in the tournament, Pilat said. If Roanoke loses, the Maroons will have a chance, but W&L would be in big trouble with a loss. The Generals have one more game after today, against VMI on Saturday in Lexington.

Roanoke has won six of the past seven regular-season meetings between the teams and is coming off a 40-6 victory over Virginia Wesleyan. Doyle Smith, secretary of the United States Lacrosse Association, said he has no records of a Division III team scoring more than 40 goals.

\ CAREER MOVE: Sam Croft, an ACC basketball official for the past 11 seasons, has submitted a letter of resignation to league supervisor of officials Fred Barakat and will concentrate on the Southeastern, Metro, Sun Belt and Big East conferences.

Croft, who was born in Roanoke and is a Jefferson High School graduate, is the second prominent ACC official to resign. Rusty Herring, who during one stretch called games in the National Basketball Association, gave Barakat similar notification.

"It was a personal thing for me, and I decided I'd rather spend my time somewhere else," said Croft, who moved from Roanoke to Greensboro, N.C., three years ago. "I guess it shocked a lot of people, but I've got a lot of admiration for [ACC commissioner] Gene Corrigan and Fred. He's [Barakat] got a tough job."

Croft would not elaborate on his reasons for resigning, but Barakat is known as a tough boss who wields considerable power as supervisor of officials in the ACC, Colonial Athletic Association and Big South Conference. Barakat could not be reached for comment.

\ RECRUITING: Cave Spring girls' basketball player Kim Stewart, a second-team All-Group AAA selection, has signed a letter-of-intent with Elon College. Stewart, a three-year starter at point guard, averaged 16 points and four assists this past season.

Elon, which had an 11-13 record last year, is making the move from NAIA Division I to NCAA Division II, as are the other seven schools in the South Atlantic Conference.

The men's program at North Carolina-Charlotte has signed 6-foot-11, 278-pound Pedro Morales from Woodbridge, N.J. Morales, now playing in the Superior Basketball League in Puerto Rico, is the son of former World Wrestling Federation tag-team champion Pedro Morales.

Clemson, which lost an underrated point guard in senior Chris Whitney, has added 6-2 Kyle Freeman from Pulaski, Tenn., and Columbia State (Tenn.) Community College.

Freeman, who originally signed with - but did not play for - Arkansas State, will have three years of eligibility provided he graduates from junior college. Freeman averaged 20.4 points and 10 assists this past season.

William and Mary has signed 6-7 1/2 Chris Hall, who is the Tribe's first junior-college signee in more than 10 years. Hall, from Houston, averaged 10 points and 7.5 rebounds this past season for Allen County (Kan.) Community College. He has three years of eligibility.

Virginia Tech has received a recruiting visit from 7-foot, 245-pound Chris Haslam from St. Andrews School in Savannah, Ga. Haslam, a British exchange student, also is considering Ball State, Jacksonville and American University. Haslam is the second player this spring to visit Tech, which has no indication it will have a scholarship available.

\ CARR CITED: Ron Carr was selected male coach of the year at Division II Longwood College, which overcame a 4-6 start in men's basketball to finish 17-10, including a 72-68 upset of Pfeiffer College, ranked third in Division II at the time. Carr, from Blacksburg, was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech before going to Longwood.

\ BASEBALL: Virginia Tech freshman catcher Josh Herman has struck out once in 58 at-bats this season. Counting his senior year at William Byrd High School in Vinton, he has struck out three times in 119 at-bats. He hit .492 as a Byrd senior and is batting .310 for Tech.