THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407020180
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
MIKE FLOYD DOESN'T ask for much. He just wants his American Legion Post 280 to stage a 7-4 come-from-behind win in the opening game of a doubleheader.
Actually, Floyd doesn't have to ask for much. He has won 14 straight games in legion competition. That's 14-0. At Greenbrier Christian Academy, he was 36-4.
He throws four pitches: blazing fastball, curveball, circle change and a hard knuckleball that dances like a leaf in a stiff breeze.
``Y'all score, and I'll hold 'em,'' Floyd tells his teammates as he comes off the mound after the first inning.
Post 280 batters do better than that. They piled up 18 runs in a recent seven-inning contest, and he kept his part of the bargain by tossing a no-hitter.
Although Post 280 takes losing personally, the club probably won't have much to fret about this season. The local outfit is loaded with talent.
``We have a balanced club: good speed, good pitching, defense, hitting,'' said coach Gary Lavelle.
The former major leaguer has compiled an enviable 75-8 record during the past three years at Greenbrier Christian Academy. And GCA, Great Bridge and Indian River feed the legion club.
``The league's competitive,'' Lavelle said. ``I don't expect any runaways.''
Problems do exist for Lavelle and Post 280. Oh, what problems.
Forty players tried out for the team. Lavelle had to trim the roster to 22. And he has no starting line-up yet.
For example, who will be the starting catcher? Perhaps Greenbrier's Mike Hoskins, a lead-off hitter with a high on-base percentage and an adept handler of the pitching staff? Or Toby Gonzalez, a Fork Union Military Academy graduate headed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill? Gonzalez caught Floyd's no-hitter, blocked his wicked curve when it broke into the dirt and drove in a run his first at-bat.
How about right field? Great Bridge grad Johnny Fox? Or Greenbrier's rising senior Jonathan Hudgins?
All Fox did in one recent game was make a full-out running catch near the foul line on a slicing drive with runners on base and drive in two runs with a zinger to the wall in right center.
Hudgins hit close to .400 as a junior and plays defense like he was born in the outfield. Hudgins also serves as the team funny man.
During a discussion about school, Hudgins laughed and said, ``I'm going to learn English in summer school.''
He said this in English, of course. Hudgins mentioned a would-be star at another school who fell by the academic wayside:
``He failed six subjects and got 70 on the other one,'' Hudgins said. ``Got 13 right out of 136 on a test.''
Some positions look set. Indian River product Shawn O'Dell plays first base. The bull-necked Florida Marlin draftee drives the ball with a smooth left-handed stroke.
However, Brian Turner waits on the bench. The 16-year-old rising senior hit a mere .420 for Greenbrier in 1994. The future sports medicine specialist carries a ``B'' average.
When Floyd's not puzzling hitters, Lavelle can start David Ellyson, who throws a mid-80s fastball. The Chicago Cubs have watched him throw in a tryout with considerable interest.
``How do you feel, Dave?'' asked Lavelle as he watched Ellyson warm up before the game. ``I probably will let you go two or three'' (innings).
``I got a little stiff,'' Ellyson said after leaving the game.
Post 110 hitters had started to catch up with his heat in the fourth inning after he shut them out for three.
Anthony Linhardt plays third base. He covers more ground than a national park. You could hang towels on his throws to first base.
In the last inning of one recent game, Linhardt hit a fastball to the bottom of the fence in center field. The rocket got to the fence so quickly that Linhardt was thrown out trying to go to second.
``I jogged to first, too,'' admitted Linhardt, who will be a Virginia Commonwealth sophomore next fall.
Then there's speedy centerfielder Jeremiah West, relief pitcher Brian Brantley and the remainder of a talented roster of 22.
What's a coach to do? ILLUSTRATION: Photos by C. BAXTER JOHNSON
Ed Gosman of the American Legion Post 280 baseball team dives for
first base.
The American Legion Post 280 team, which is considered to be loaded
with talent, warms up before a recent game.
One of American Legion Post 280's coaches, John Knight, goes over
strategy for a recent game.
by CNB