By Preston Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Gar-Field has rebounded from a slow start to win eight of its last 10 games, even with expected ace Eddie West, a returning All-Extra pitcher, nursing an 0-4 record headed into the regular season finale Tuesday against Woodbridge.

A win would assure the Indians (11-7, 4-2) of a first-place tie in the Cardinal District. Forest Park and Hylton, who also meet Tuesday, also have 4-2 district records.

Gar-Field split with both Forest Park and Hylton, and in most cases of first-place ties with no sweeps a tiebreaker game is played to determine the regular season district champion and automatic Northwestern Region tournament qualifier.

The Cardinal has a seven-game schedule this season because the first games against first-year school Freedom did not count toward the district standings.

Senior Justin Martin (5-2) and sophomore Gil Rodriguez (3-0) have combined for most of Gar-Field's wins, but first-year coach Steve Denard likely will throw West against Woodbridge, despite the left-hander's accuracy struggles.

"Eddie's proven himself in the past to be a dominant pitcher, and we're hoping that he just is able to come around when we need him here in the postseason," said Denard, whose team's upturn began with a 1-0 win over Woodbridge. "We're going to find out Tuesday, and he's ready to accept the challenge.

"Other guys have gotten the job done for us, so we've been very fortunate. That's good to see. And when Eddie comes around, we're even that much better of a team."

West went 7-2 with a 1.96 ERA last season, with 79 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings. This spring, his main contributions have come in center field and at the plate. Along with Martin and Rodriguez, junior shortstop J.T. Gregory has been another mainstay.

Gar-Field is the only area team to reach the region tournament each of the past three years. The Indians could make it four in a row, under three different coaches.

Stonewall Jackson graduate Courtney Bures, a freshman shortstop at Mississippi State, is one of 32 players invited to the USA women's national softball team selection camp June 13-17 at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

From the tryouts, a national team and an elite team will be chosen to play in various international events this summer. The national team will play games in California, Oklahoma and Japan. The elite team will play in Canada and Spain. Other camp invitees will be announced this week.

Last year, Bures was one of 50 players invited to the USA junior world national team tryouts, but she did not make the squad.

Bures, the 2004 All-Met player of the year, was the only freshman on the all-Southeastern Conference team announced Thursday. Heading into the week, she led the league in slugging percentage (.834), home runs (17) and total bases (156) and was second in batting average (.428) and hits (80). She ranked third in runs (49), RBI (53) and triples (5).

The Bulldogs (33-28), seeded ninth in the SEC tournament, lost 5-0 to second-seeded Alabama in the first round but bounced back to beat sixth-seeded South Carolina, 4-1, on Friday to avoid elimination. Bures went hitless in the two games.