THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9506010582
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Booker T. Washington's Fighting Bookers lived up to their nickname Wednesday, rebounding from a dramatic seventh-inning Princess Anne rally to score three runs in the eighth and outduel the Cavaliers, 4-1, in the Eastern Region softball semifinals at Princess Anne.
``It's unbelievable!'' crowed Bookers' coach Paul Palombo, sounding not unlike a boxer who had just knocked out the champion. ``We could have quit out there, but the kids never gave up. Nobody gave us a chance.''
Racquita Washington's eighth-inning double into the left-centerfield gap scored pinch-runner Alicia Bennett with the game-winner, and Donna Self and Sharon McClannan added RBI hits to boost the Bookers into the first regional softball final in school history.
The Eastern District runner-up Bookers (19-3) will face Beach District second seed Salem (19-2) in the final at 4 p.m. Friday. The Sun Devils overwhelmed Tabb, 15-8, in the other semifinal.
The Sun Devils will play the final without No. 3 hitter Misty Colebank and coach Larry Bowman, who will leave for France today to take part in an international 18-and-under AAU tournament.
Both teams will advance to the Group AAA state tournament beginning Tuesday. The Eastern Region teams will open against the top two teams from the Central Region. The regional champions will host first-round games.
The Bookers scratched out a 1-0 lead in the fourth, when Self walked, stole second - her first stolen base of the year - took third on an error and scored on Sharon McClannan's sacrifice fly. And given the way the pitchers were mowing hitters down, the 1-0 lead seemed likely to hold up. Princess Anne freshman Melissa Hirsch had a no-hitter through five innings and a one-hitter through seven, while Self yielded only one hit and fanned six through 6 2/3 innings.
But with two outs, two strikes and none on in the bottom of the seventh, Cavaliers third baseman Lori Ferguson chopped a single into leftfield. The next batter, Hirch, then ripped a 2-2 pitch into the left-centerfield gap for an RBI double to tie the game at one.
But the Bookers struck right back when Jennifer Self lined a shot to rightfield and narrowly beat Sarah Smith's throw to first. Bennett came on to pinch-run and was sacrificed to second by Blair Sherwood, setting the stage for Washington's game-winning double.
SALEM 15, TABB 8
The Sun Devils, who have won with pitching and defense this season, excelled at neither Wednesday. But they didn't have to, as they pounded the Tigers into submission with a 15-hit onslaught.
Salem highlighted its offensive fireworks with an eight-hit, nine-run fourth inning during which 15 Sun Devils came to bat.
``You don't expect to see that at this level,'' Bowman said.
The attack came on the heels of a nightmarish top of the fourth defensively by the Sun Devils, who gave up three runs on just one hit and were botching routine plays by literally running into each other.
``I was extremely nervous out there,'' said Salem rightfielder Michelle Pritchard, a contributor to Salem's defensive woes. ``So when I came up to bat, I really wanted to make up for it.''
Pritchard responded with two hits, three RBIs and two runs scored in the fourth. Bronwyn Blair added two hits and two RBIs, Jen Goudy and Katie Moyer each scored twice and Dana Hierholzer drove in a pair as the Sun Devils teed off on Tabb pitcher Kelli Pugh and turned a 5-4 deficit into a 13-5 lead. ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP
Bonnie Phelps of Booker T. gets back to first as Princess Anne's
Lisa Slingerland waits for the ball.
by CNB