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BREVARD 1, UVA-WISE 0 (9)

Cavs Fall Out of AAC Tournament, Await Regionals
May 7, 2004

BRISTOL, TN - UVa-Wise's bid to win its first Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament title came to an abrupt end Thursday as the No. 1 seeded Cavaliers dropped a tough 1-0, nine-inning decision to a suddenly hot Brevard (N.C.) College club.

Brevard's Krystal Westnedge smacked a lead-off solo homer in the top of the ninth to give the Tornados a 1-zip advantage over the Cavaliers. UVa-Wise batters failed to equal Brevard's run total in the bottom half of the inning, ending the Cavaliers' tournament run.

Brevard, winners of three consecutive tournament games, moves on to play Virginia Intermont College Friday. The winner will face Milligan College later in the day Friday to decide the tournament championship.

Despite being eliminated from the AAC postseason competition, UVa-Wise still has games remaining to be played this season. The Cavaliers qualified for next week's (May 12-14) Region XII Tournament in Athens, Tenn., by winning the AAC's regular season title. The brackets and seeding for the regional competition have yet to be determined.

UVa-Wise opened the tournament Wednesday with a close 4-3, 10-inning win over Bluefield College, the tournament's No. 8 seed. The Cavaliers fell behind 3-0 early in the contest, but Megan Dean (Appalachia/Appalachia High) rallied the Wise squad with a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game at 3-3.

The two squads played six scoreless innings from that point before the Cavaliers loaded the bases and Melissa Barnes (Stafford/Brooke Point High) singled home Kari Sparks (Gate City/Gate City High) from third with the game-winning run.

Senior April Damron (Jenkins, Ky./Jenkins High) picked up the win in relief for UVa-Wise.

Later Wednesday, the Cavaliers could not maintain their extra-inning magic against regional rival Virginia Intermont College. The Cobras, the tournament's No. 5 seeded squad, dumped the Cavaliers into the loser's bracket with a 3-2, 9-inning win over UVa-Wise.

The Cavaliers, who sported an AAC best .324 team batting average going into the tournament, managed only four hits against Virginia Intermont.

The UVa-Wise offense finally awoke a bit Friday as the Cavaliers pounded Union (Ky.) College 8-0. Barnes batted 3-for-3 with a double and a school record seven RBI. All-Conference third baseman Heather Gentry (Tazewell/Tazewell High) went 3-for-4 at the plate, including a double in the bottom of the first.

Damron, who was named to the AAC's All-Conference team Wednesday, tossed a one-hitter and struck out eight Union batters in five innings of work. The win, Damron's 17th this season, is a new UVa-Wise record. Stephanie Brumfield previously held the record with 16 wins in 2001.

After a 2-2 performance in the AAC Tournament, the Cavaliers' overall season record now stands at 38-8. Those 38 wins are a school record.

Softball Notes: The AAC announced its all-conference first team Wednesday before UVa-Wise took the field against Bluefield. Cavaliers making the squad were pitcher April Damron (Jenkins, Ky./Jenkins High), catcher Dani Benton (Virginia Beach/Oscar Smith High), shortstop Jennifer Law (Scottsville/Fluvanna High), third baseman Heather Gentry (Tazewell/Tazewell High) and center fielder Kendall Rainey (Glade Spring/Patrick Henry High). ÉThe Cavaliers' perfect extra-innings record came to an end during the AAC Tournament. UVa-Wise was 4-0 in extra frames after its 3-2, 10-inning win over Bluefield Wednesday. Since, the Cavaliers have dropped two consecutive games that have extended past the regulation seven innings, losing 3-2 in nine innings to Virginia Intermont and 1-0 in nine innings to Brevard in the tournament's elimination round. ÉDuring the season, the Cavaliers were a combined 8-0 against Brevard and VI, the two teams that defeated the Cavs in the AAC Tournament.