THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 1996 TAG: 9608070434
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER AND PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 48 lines
Finalists in two divisions of the 15th annual Tidewater Softball Championships were decided Tuesday at Princess Anne Park.
B.G. Henderson and Sons will take on Footer's Sports Pub in Friday's coed championship, while Bethel Baptist and the Mt. Pleasant Mennonites will meet for the men's church title.
Quarterfinals in men's and women's divisions will be held tonight at Princess Anne Park to determine Friday's matchups.
Norfolk's B.G. Henderson and Sons, featuring a lineup comprised mostly of players from last year's coed champs, provided the most exciting action of the night in a 17-16 quarterfinal victory over Harrison's of Portsmouth.
Reggie Lebray's two-run homer over the left centerfield fence lifted Henderson to a 16-13 lead and Reggie Landers' RBI triple gave his team an insurance run it would end up needing in the top of the seventh.
In the bottom half of the inning, Steve Vernon of Harrison's started a comeback with a solo homer with one away. Greg Harding - who was 4 for 5 - hit his fourth home run of the night to put his team within a run.
Then with two outs, tying run Dewey Fussell moved to third on Marcie Wineken's single, but the game ended when Steve Gilbert hit an infield grounder and Wineken was thrown out at second.
Henderson followed with a 20-8 semifinal win over Fat Rogers of Virginia Beach. Frosty Clore was 4 for 5 with three home runs and a triple and Ricky Bivens was 3 for 4 with three homers.
Footer's advanced with an 11-1 quarterfinal win over M&J Home Repair of Chesapeake followed by a 23-5 victory over Chapmans of Norfolk.
Ronnie Norton was 4 for 4 with a pair of homers to lead Footer's and Gina Sivells was 2 for 4.
Defending church champion Bethel Baptist of Chesapeake easily moved into position to defend its title by blasting Virginia Beach Vineyard 18-9 in a quarterfinal before 12-run-ruling Alliance Christian of Portsmouth in the semifinal.
Bethel tallied 37 hits including nine home runs in the two games.
Johnny Gibbs led the charge with an 8 for 8 performance. Al Davenport had three home runs, while Jay Hebron had a pair for five RBIs.
Marty Plank was 3 for 3 with five RBIs in the opener.
Chesapeake's No. 2 entry - Mt. Pleasant - scored a 17-14 quarterfinal victory over Go Ye of Virginia Beach and followed with a 19-7 victory over First Lutheran of Norfolk to get to the final.
In the semifinal, the Mennonites were down 6-7 in the bottom of the fifth and exploded for 13 runs to end the contest on the 12-run rule.
Tonight's action gets under way with quarterfinals on four fields at 7 p.m. by CNB