DATE: Sunday, May 4, 1997                   TAG: 9705020209

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 20   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: SOFTBALL NOTEBOOK 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   90 lines

MANY FACTORS MAKE THINGS CLICK FOR AN UNBEATEN PRINCESS ANNE

PRINCESS ANNE coach Dennis Nixon didn't try to snow anyone about his softball team in the pre-season. He said flat out his Cavaliers would be good.

But this good? Even Nixon wasn't counting on a 15-0 start in which PA is literally pounding the opposition most of the time. Some of the unexpected factors that have vaulted these Cavaliers towards greatness:

Dazzling newcomers: The maturation of first-year starters Kristi Nixon (the coach's kid), Mariah Breeden and Emily Prothero apparently took about 15 minutes. Breeden, a freshman taking over at first base for All-Tidewater player of the year Lisa Slingerland, is hitting about .330 and has made only one error. Fellow freshman second baseman Nixon is up around .460 and leads the team in RBI, while sophomore Prothero has deftly manned the hot corner.

Weight watching: The Cavaliers began a thrice-weekly weight-lifting program at a local gym in January, and the effects have been particularly noticeable with Megan Shanley and Melissa Hirsch. Nixon alternated using designated hitters for these two a year ago. These days, the coach might get fired for such a tactic. Shanley is hitting .450, Hirsch .480.

Contagious hitting: Having two .400 hitters in the lineup is one thing. Having six seems downright unfair. The others in PA's .400 club: catcher Sarah Ravan, shortstop Kelly Hartzog, centerfielder Kelly Slingerland and designated hitter Jen Kanten. And it's not as though the Cavaliers are just fattening up on weak pitching. They banged out 50 hits in four games during the tough Beach Blast tournament and have twice roughed up Salem ace Bronwyn Blair, who is otherwise having a spectacular season. ``It's without a doubt the best hitting team I've ever seen,'' said Nixon, now in his 12th year.

Add to these pleasant surprises the continued dominance of pitcher Hirsch, who has allowed only six earned runs all season, and the catching of Ravan, the sleek backstop who is being touted as perhaps the Cavaliers' most attractive Division I college prospect, and it's given Princess Anne the look of a true state championship contender.

``Hey, don't even talk to me about that,'' said Nixon, alluding to last year's Bayside team which went unbeaten during the regular season but lost twice to the Cavaliers during the postseason. ```We haven't even gotten out of the district yet.''

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT: Cox showed the Cavaliers' bats could be tamed on April 22, when it held Princess Anne to one first-inning run in a 1-0 defeat. The lone score was a cheapie - Hartzog, running from second base, accidentally collided with Falcons shortstop Kathyrn Dunford while Dunford was trying to field a routine ground ball. The ball squirted away and Hartzog scored. Cox pitcher Courtney O'Konek shut down the Cavaliers on three hits the rest of the way.

``Cox outplayed us,'' Nixon said. ``They deserved to win.''

According to Cox catcher Andrea Bussey, knowledge is key to cooling the Cavaliers.

``I play ASA ball with four or five of them so I know which pitches they can hit and which pitches they can't,'' she said. ``I called the right ones and Courtney hit the spot every single time. Between her pitching and my knowledge I think we do pretty well.''

LATE SURGE: Kempsville began the year as The Virginian-Pilot's top-ranked team, but has plummeted to as low as eighth in an admittedly uneven season. Did the Chiefs simply get off to a slow start, or were they just overrated by the hometown paper?

``We've made some mental mistakes and we've been hitting the ball well but right at people,'' Kempsville coach Dean Spruill said. ``But player for player, I still say I'm as good as anyone in the Beach.''

The following day, the Chiefs backed up Spruill's words by upsetting No. 5 Cox, 2-1.

THIS 'N' THAT: Nixon said the lights on the Princess Anne field, a $40,000 project joint project of the Virginia Power Company and the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department, should be operational in two weeks. This will probably preclude any regular-season night action, but could mean a 7 p.m. start for key postseason games. Nixon also is open to the possibility of prime-time doubleheaders, say, Princess Anne vs. Salem at 5:30 p.m. followed by Cox against Kempsville, as part of next season's schedule if all coaches concur. . . . Salem's defense, porous early in the season, got a boost when Vicki Holliday moved from shortstop to first base, Jennifer Blair went from left field to shortstop and Dwan Riddick shifted from first to left. ``We're making all the routine plays now,'' Salem coach Larry Bowman said. . . . Kellam, at one point the area's fifth-ranked team, has sputtered of late, including a 6-4 loss to Green Run Wednesday. Shannon Banks said a return to top form is possible, but it's all up to the Knights. ``For some reason, half of our team seems to be just out there to be out there,'' Banks said. ``Basically, we just need to get back to playing with passion.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER

The Princess Anne Cavaliers have six .400 hitters in the softball

lineup this season.

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