THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606130170
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 53 lines
Statistics are usually the yardstick by which greatness is measured in sports.
But in the case of Cox's state championship baseball team the numbers were so big they often obscured the essence of what the Falcons were really about.
Cox's legacy will be a .384 team batting average and 316 runs scored - 11.3 per game.
Close observers - that is parents of the pitching staff - also will note that the Falcons posted a 1.96 team ERA.
But this was also a team with character and one that learned to win almost overnight.
Cox had never won a district championship in baseball until this season and to do that coach John Ingram knew the Falcons would have to beat their nemesis, First Colonial.
In the first meeting between the teams, the Patriots rallied from a 3-0 deficit to edge the Falcons, 4-3, in 10 innings.
That could have torn at the seams of another team, but Cox's cloak of unity was sewn with steel thread.
Ask any Cox player or coach what they enjoyed most about the season and the answer likely would be the camaraderie. The players never missed a chance to talk about how they truly liked each other and hung out together and they drew strength from those bonds.
Cox came back to beat First Colonial three times by a combined score of 27-5.
That clearly stamped the Falcons as No. 1, but skeptics continued to wonder how Cox would fare in a close game and if it had enough pitching to advance deep in the playoffs.
The answer to the first question came in the region semifinals, an epic 2-1 victory over Bethel in nine innings. Cox tied the score in the bottom of the seventh and won on a bases-loaded passed ball.
The playoffs turned out to be a showcase of Cox's pitching depth. With Jason Dubois nursing a sore elbow, Jeff Tignor, Ted Tignor and Tim Lavigne combined to pitch 38 of the 56 post-season innings and go 5-0.
Dubois returned to form to pitch the state final, scattering seven hits and striking out nine in a 4-2 win over Potomac. Cox managed only five hits in that game, but stole five bases.
The Falcons, as opportunistic and ruthless as any corporate CEO, turned four walks and two hit batters into three runs.
Aaron Strausbaugh, who spent the season batting fifth in the shadow of Dubois, had two hits and drove in three runs. He also stole a base - only his third of the season - to get in scoring position and scored from second on Jeff Tignor's single to right.
It was Strausbaugh, not Dubois or Tim LaVigne, who had been honored as the Falcons' Mr. Clutch four nights before.
That's usually the way it works when you win a state championship and Cox left no doubt who had the best team in Virginia. by CNB