THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 8, 1994 TAG: 9407060110
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY CHRISSIE TAYLOR, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
It wasn't the 1967 World Series, but Western Branch's championship game was just as important to the Red Sox and Cardinals of the Mustang division.
Unlike the World Series, though, the Red Sox won, 11-1, avenging an earlier 9-2 loss to the Cardinals. The Red Sox finished the regular season with a 20-1 record.
Coach Carl Didio's charges took 16 straight games during the regular season, the first time in several years that a team has gone undefeated.
It was the third title that Didio had won in the past four years. But he said the key to this year's club was balance.
``We won a 4-2 ball game because of flawless defense,'' Didio said. ``Our pitching and hitting shows in the statistics where we outhit teams, 4-1, and outscored them, 3-1.
``Several one-hitters were thrown and in the second game of the tournament, two pitchers (Adam Cox and David Didio) combined for a no-hitter.''
The 8- to 10-year-old group also mixed speed and power with consistency and spirit.
Other members of the team were Alex Russell, Sammy Taylor, Clyde Martin, Crew Vaughan, Brandon Spears, Eddie Brock, Chris King, Stephen Smith, Jonathan Amory and Rob Phillips.
PRO-AM LEAGUE: The Hampton Roads Pro-Am Basketball League has opened its third season, and at least three of the players are Chesapeake products.
Jeff Mordica, former Great Bridge High star, is playing for the Service Masters, and Mike Sharp, a Western Branch athlete, is a member of the Commodores. Curley Young, a Deep Creek graduate, is with the Rockets.
The 6-7 Mordica originally went to Holy Cross, but has transferred to ODU. Sharp, 6-8, attends George Mason, and Young, 6-4, attends East Carolina.
CHEROKEE ON CARD: Brian ``Cherokee'' Rogers of Chesapeake is on the boxing card for Virginia Beach's Peppermint Lounge July 14.
In the main event, Dorin ``The Destroyer'' Spivey of Portsmouth will battle Joe ``Blue'' Everett of Virginia Beach in a six-round bout. In a special women's match, Tina ``Little Star'' McClannahan of Roan Mountain, Tenn., will tangle with Angela Brown of Newport News.
SOCCER CAMP SLATED: Several members of the Hampton Roads Hurricanes will serve on the staff of the Chesapeake Select Soccer Camp on July 18-22.
Hurricane players will give each camper a ticket to the game between the Hurricanes and the Greensboro Dynamo, defending United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) champions, set for July 23.
Among the Hurricanes who will be serving as counselors are Eric Ferguson, former Great Bridge High star, Tim Figureido, Ian Spooner, Mark Waite, Neil Mason and Wayne Pratt.
The camp will be at the Chesapeake campus of Tidewater Community College on Cedar Road. For more information, call Paul O'Leary at 487-3663.
GOLF TOURNAMENT: The fourth annual Carl W. Opauski Memorial Scholarship Fund golf tournament will be held at Sleepy Hole Golf Course on July 29. Registration is at noon, and a shotgun start is set for 1 p.m.
Proceeds from the tourney go to the fund, which benefits a selected Deep Creek High senior outstanding in both athletics and academics. Opauski was a coach and athletic director at Deep Creek for more than 30 years.
Players will use the four-man Florida best ball format, and there will be awards for longest drives and closest to the pin on all par 3 holes. Entry fee will be $60 per person and that includes golf cart and social gathering at the awards ceremonies.
For more information, call Robert Sondej at 483-9787 or Nat Hardee at 494-7520 or Hank Fletcher at 547-6679. MEMO: Clipper sports editor John Gordon contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
The Red Sox, Western Branch Mustang division champs, pose with Coach
Carl Didio, right.
by CNB