Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 25, 1995 TAG: 9505250051
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
But a glance down the Floyd County High batting order reveals some bats that can be death to the earned run average and other pertinent statistics of rival pitchers.
Squeamish residents of opposing dugouts might want to cover their eyes when ...
Floyd County's Peter Bucklin comes to the plate. He's hitting .500 with 24 hits and 27 runs batted. That's final regular season numbers.
Bucklin said that as regular seasons go, his wasn't all that terrific. That may come as news elsewhere.
Sammy Burton takes his stance in the box. Burton's been clubbing them at a .500 rate and he has one more hit than does Bucklin.
Jason Pratt dug in. Pratt is hitting .468 with five homers and 28 RBI.
Worried glances may be cast at Kevin Keith and his .435 average.
Jason Dalton hauls his big bat in from the on deck circle. Dalton has been hitting at a .405 clip with 20 RBI.
Enemy harmony might be further disturbed were it known that Dalton's bat has a few more knocks left in it. The stick's owner is but a freshman.
``I've never had anything like it, '' Buffaloes coach Skip Bishop said of his killer lineup.
Bishop has been at this awhile and is the dean of Three Rivers District coaches.
``When we're on, we're on at the same time,'' said Keith, the first baseman. ``But we also can all hit a cold streak.''
That doesn't happen often, although Bucklin might make you think otherwise.
``The competition hasn't been as strong as it used to be,'' he said. ``It's hard to hit some of the slow pitching we've seen. I don't like it at all.''
Bucklin, Burton and Keith are the veterans among the heavy hitters, all being seniors. Maybe their age has given at least a couple of them an appreciation of the classics. At one recent practice, Keith was sporting a Led Zeppelin T-shirt while Burton wore a Grateful Dead one.
``We've been on the varsity for three years, so we've seen all the good pitchers,'' Burton said. ``You have guys like [Josh] Stephens of Giles, who's as good as we've seen. Some of the others, we've hit hard.''
Bucklin is a proven man with a bat, having hit near .500 last year. Burton and Keith have been more of a surprise.
``Kevin and I are seeing the ball better this year,'' Burton said.
Neither Burton nor Bucklin and to a lesser extent Keith can afford to overlook other responsibilities, either. Burton and Bucklin play what are arguably the most important defensive positions. Burton pitches and plays shortstop and Bucklin catches. Keith plays first base.
Burton says he hits better when he's playing shortstop. Bucklin is glad to be where he is.
``I love to play catcher,'' he said. ``I'd be bored anywhere else.''
Burton or Robert Favre have pitched all the big games for the Buffs, Burton going 4-2 with a 1.63 ERA.
``One of the reasons we've hit this year is because the pitching we see in practice has been better than what we see in a game,'' Burton said. ``Favre's stuff is the nastiest.''
Favre is said to be distantly related to Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers quarterback, although Robert pronounces the family name so to rhyme with ``favor.''
In any case, there was no denying that the Buffs got off to a favorable start when leadoff man Dwayne Hale hit the first pitch of the season over the fence. The team had been working out at a private batting cage.
``I'm convinced that's why we got off to that kind of start,'' Bishop said.
The team went on to hit 18 home runs and score more than 200 runs. Two years ago, Floyd County hit no home runs. Five times this year, they've scored 20 or more runs.
``That helps your confidence, '' Burton said.
by CNB