THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 19, 1996 TAG: 9608190064
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 56 lines
Shawn Stokes allowed only four hits, and second baseman Chris Carter had two RBIs to lead Iron Area, N.J., to a 4-1 win over Coos Bay, Ore., in Sunday's second game in the Babe Ruth 16-18 World Series.
Iron Area advances to face Ansonia, Conn., at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Coos Bay will take on Nashville, Tenn., in a loser's bracket game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Stokes had a no-hitter through one out in the sixth, until Coos Bay's Jeremy Sampson singled. Catcher Russ Hayes followed with another base hit. But Steve Hutchinson grounded into a double play to end the threat.
Stokes lost the shutout with two outs in the seventh, when John Richards singled up the middle to score Rusty Keith, who had doubled to lead off the inning.
Fittingly, Stokes rebounded, striking out Jeremy Frietas to end the game. The possibility of the no-hitter weighed heavily on the right-hander, a senior at Jefferson Township High, in a suburb of Morristown, N.J.
``I thought about it the whole game,'' Stokes said of the no-hitter. ``I sat in the dugout in the fourth inning and just stared at the scoreboard.''
Stokes' teammates followed a time-honored baseball superstition, ignoring their hurler in hopes of preserving the no-hitter. Stokes struck out eight Coos Bay batters.
``I tried talking to a couple of kids, but they ignored me,'' Stokes said. ``It made be mad, but then I realized what they were doing. I thought I pitched really well in the first five innings. I lost a little speed late. I got a little tired.''
Iron Area Manager Joe Murphy praised his club's aggressiveness at the plate, and on the bases. Ten members of this year's Iron Area club played in the 1995 16-year-old World Series in Jamestown, N.Y.
``Our kids play every game pitch-by-pitch,'' Murphy said. ``We know at this level we're not going to get many walks . . . Maybe one or two a game. We go up looking to hit.''
In the fifth, aggressiveness cost second-baseman Chris Carter the series' first home run. With Regan Samaniego at first, Carter slammed the ball over the left-centerfield wall. But the dinger was disallowed when he passed Samaniego going from first to second.
``It was really a positive thing,'' Murphy said. `` The ball was really high, and the outfielder was holding his glove up like he was going to catch it. (Samaniego) was coming back to first, thinking he was going to have to tag. Chris was hustling and passed him. The umpire said it was a matter of inches. But it's good because it shows the kids were hustling and listening to us.''
Carter was credited with a single and an RBI.
Iron Area's big inning came in the fourth. Ryan O'Donnell and Stokes singled. Peter Polizzano doubled to score O'Donnell, and Mark Malloy's sacrifice fly to center scored Stokes.
In the third Malloy led off with a double, and moved to third on a dropped third strike and bad throw to first by Coos Bay catcher Russ Hayes. Carter's sacrifice fly to right scored Malloy.
Murphy said he has not decided on a starter for Tuesday's matchup. by CNB