THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010443
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 43 lines
Poor weather and a lack of opponents has hampered the home team's preparations for the 16-18 Babe Ruth World Series, but head coach William Creef says he sees signs of improvement.
Rain has kept the team from practicing on some nights. The Albemarle squad has been splitting practices between Manteo High School and Currituck County High School.
The teenagers have played two practice games against a team of college players who graduated from Manteo High School. The Babe Ruth team fell 9-7 to the alumni team last Friday. Former Manteo pitcher Nick Walke, now at Elizabeth City State University, hurled six innings for the win.
Things looked better for the Albemarle team on Sunday. In a seven-inning game, the Babe Ruth squad downed the Manteo alumni 3-2.
The pitching, which is expected to be the strong point of the Albemarle team, came through. Foye Minton allowed two runs in three innings.
In relief, Ted Toler and Johnny Fuller shut down the alumni offense the rest of the game. Toler had three strikeouts in the fifth inning.
Other games that Creef has wanted to play have not materialized.
``The teams from Norfolk are in tournaments and can't play us,'' Creef said.
``We had good competition this past weekend. We would like to have some more.''
Creef said he hopes to schedule games against a team from Virginia Wesleyan and a team from Bertie County.
According to Creef, the hitting has not been up to par so far.
``I'm shocked at the way they are hitting after the first two games, but they looked good today (Tuesday) in batting practice,'' he said. ``It's been a couple of weeks since they played. With the rainouts, we haven't had much of a chance to practice.''
Creef said the Albemarle coaching staff discussed the starting lineup on Tuesday, but he would not release the list of starters. He did say there is still competition at shortstop and third base.
The nine-team series begins Aug. 17 and ends Aug. 24. The Albemarle team will face the team from the Pacific Northwest region at 7 p.m. by CNB