THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994 TAG: 9406150111
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940616 LENGTH: Long
Facenda, also a basketball standout, was named the softball Player of the Year. Although just a sophomore, Hucles was a landslide winner in girls soccer. Hucles was also named Player of the Year in South Hampton Roads by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
{REST} Norfolk schools landed 16 players on the All-Tidewater Conference teams, which were selected by coaches in the 10-school league, the area's dominant private school conference.
Nansemond-Suffolk's Derek Riebel was named Player of the Year in baseball, a team dominated by the Saints. Nansemond-Suffolk won the regular-season title and had five of the nine first-team members.
Norfolk Christian's Jeremy Elms was a close second to Riebel in voting for Player of the Year. Elms was named on seven of a possible nine ballots and collected 46 points under a ratings system by the coaches. Riebel was named on six ballots and had 49 points.
Elms hit .413 with 24 RBI. He was a Division I Virginia Independent Schools all-state choice as an infielder, and had a 1.76 earned run average and 70 strikeouts in 30 innings as a pitcher.
Catholic, which upended Nansemond-Suffolk in the league tournament semifinals and defeated Norfolk Collegiate in the championship game, landed only one first-team player: Benny Brent of Norfolk.
Brent, a pitcher, was 7-5 with 92 strikeouts in 48 innings and a 1.63 ERA. He also hit .347 for the Crusaders.
Norfolk Academy's Ben Hamlet was also a first-team choice. A pitcher/outfielder, Hamlet hit .370 with 15 RBI, and had 73 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings and a 2.41 ERA.
Riebel led the Saints with 32 runs scored and 31 RBI. He tied teammate Mark Fowler, also a first-team selection, for the team lead in home runs with four. Riebel was second in the batting category with a .393 average behind first-teamer Mike Vizcaino. Riebel also had 10 doubles and three triples.
Joining Riebel, Fowler and Vizcaino on the first team were teammates Grant Sharp and Walt Bondurant. Riebel, Fowler and Sharp each earned Division II first-team all-state honors, and Bondurant earned honorable mention all-state.
Fowler, a junior outfielder and pitcher, batted .333 with 23 RBI and 23 runs scored. On the mound, Fowler struck out 40 in 53 2/3 innings, posting a 2.09 ERA.
Vizcaino, a freshman outfielder and pitcher, led the Saints with a .397 average. He scored 18 runs and batted in 24. As a pitcher, Vizcaino struck out 36 in 45 2/3 innings of work and a 2.60 ERA.
Junior pitcher Bondurant was 7-0 with a 1.69 ERA and struck out 35 in 37 1/3 innings. At the plate, Bondurant batted .244 with 11 RBI.
Facenda, the TCIS' top pitcher, is headed to Mary Washington on a softball grant. She hit .511 and was the premier home-run hitter in the area with 11. She had five victories as a pitcher and had a 1.08 ERA.
``She's probably the best player in the conference,'' Catholic coach Vann Sutton said. ``She even had two home runs when we were deliberately throwing her bad pitches.''
Joining Facenda on the first team from Norfolk are Norfolk Christian's Rachael Mulder, an outfielder who hit .404 with 13 RBI, 17 stolen bases and 18 runs; Norfolk Academy's Lauren Goldman, a pitcher who hit .340, scored 23 runs, had 14 RBI, struck out 61 batters and had a 2.19 ERA; and Norfolk Collegiate's Jennifer Goudy and Marcy Michaels.
Nansemond-Suffolk sophomore Sarah Putnam was a close second to Facenda in voting for Player of the Year. She struck out 164 in 129 innings and had a 1.70 ERA. She helped herself at the plate with a .528 average, 26 RBI and 34 runs scored.
Putnam led Nansemond-Suffolk to the Tidewater Conference regular-season and tournament championships and was named most valuable player in the tournament.
Catholic landed two first-team players: Erin Osborne, a pitcher/ infielder who hit .640, and had six home runs and seven triples, and Nikki Williford, a pitcher/ outfielder who hit .352 and added two home runs and two triples.
Nansemond-Suffolk's Lea Wilson, a catcher with 28 putouts, a .459 batting average, 21 RBIs and 26 runs scored, rounded out the first team.
The Norfolk Academy girls soccer team, which hasn't been scored upon in the Tidewater Conference in 22 games and boasts a 125-0-1 all-time league record, led the all-conference selections with four.
Hucles finished with 45 goals and 25 assists to lead the conference. Teammates Alli Jacobs, a midfielder, scored 11 goals and had 14 assists, halfback Carrie Evans had 13 goals and assists, and Hilary Martin scored four goals and had three assists. According to coach Kevin Sims, Martin, a halfback, was a heavy factor in the Bulldogs' 17 shutout victories.
``There's quite a bit of experience amongst these girls,'' Sims said.
Especially Jacobs. She is a five-time All-Tidewater Conference choice, having first made the team as an eighth-grader.
Other Norfolk players on the first team include Norfolk Christian's Martha Duffey, a forward who had 15 goals and three assists; and Norfolk Collegiate's Heather Dailey, a forward with 11 goals and seven assists.
Goalkeeper Jill Van Guilder of Nansemond-Suffolk, who had six shutouts and a goals against average of one, and Catholic midfielder Georgia Germano round out the first team.
Cape Henry's Mike Basto was named player of the year in boys lacrosse, though that honor might have gone to a player from Norfolk Academy had the Bulldogs participated in Tidewater Conference lacrosse. Norfolk Academy instead competes in the Virginia Prep League.
Three Norfolk Collegiate players - attacker Vancy Tysor, defender Ben Gauthier and midfielder Pete Hansen - were first-team choices.
by CNB