[04/13/01] BRANDON What has become routine for Taylor Tankersley was a first for Parkview Baptist.

The Warren Central left-hander pitched his sixth straight shutout Thursday against the Baton Rouge team, which hadn’t been held scoreless all season, as the Vikings (28-1) won their 18th in a row, 4-0.

Brent Towne hit a two-out, two-run homer in the fifth to make it 3-0 and Tankersley added a run-scoring single in the seventh to bury the Eagles (26-3), ranked No. 1 in Class 3A in Louisiana. Kyle Simmons and Brian Pettway had two hits apiece and Joey Lieberman doubled for WC, which will face another Louisiana powerhouse, Woodlawn, Friday night at 7 in Brandon.

But the pitchers stole the show in what could be Round 1 of a future Southeastern Conference rivalry.

Tankersley (8-0), an Alabama signee, didn’t allow a ball to be hit out of the infield until University of New Orleans signee Cody Velverdo slapped a single to center with two outs in the seventh inning. He struck out 11 and walked three while allowing just two hits to boost his streak of scoreless innings to 38.

The Vikings cranked out nine hits to hand LSU-bound Rob Rome (7-1) his first loss. He struck out 10 and walked three before being pulled with two outs in the seventh.

“It was just another tremendous performance for Taylor,” WC coach Sam Temple said, noting that Tankersley threw just 85 pitches. “I’m as proud of my guys as I’ve ever been. That team is as good as we’ll see.”

Tankersley, who struck out the first four batters, also blanked Louisiana 5A powerhouse Airline during his current streak.

Parkview’s only previous losses were to Mid Pacific at a tournament in Hawaii and St. Amant, both 5A schools.

“We were intimidated,” said coach M.L. Woodruff, who has led Parkview to four state championships in his 18 seasons.

WC, ranked No. 1 in the state and 12th nationally by USA Today, stranded runners in each of the first four innings, including Lieberman, who led off the fourth with a double and made it to third with one out.

Simmons, batting from the No. 9 spot, set the table both times WC scored. He singled to start the fifth, then scored on a throwing error. Tankersley hit a double-play ball to second, but the throw went into the outfield, between the left fielder and the center fielder.

After the next batter struck out, Towne stepped to the plate and took Rome downtown, launching a high home run to left field.

“I didn’t think it was gone,” said Towne, who hadn’t homered in his last 12 games.

He struck out on the same pitch in his previous at-bat, but he was ready this time.

“He’s got a great slider, but he hung it every once in a while,” said Towne, who was 2-for-3. “He got me once, but I was sitting on it the next time.”

Temple said that was a credit to his players’ communication.

“They did a lot of talking between at-bats,” he said, noting that Towne also did well Saturday against Madison Central’s Bo Bradberry, who has a similar breaking ball. “They all came back to the dugout saying they had never seen a breaking ball like that.”

Simmons singled to lead off the second, went to third on Kevin Coker’s bunt and scored on Tankersley’s single.

As usual, defense helped the Vikings’ cause. Tankersley made a diving back-handed grab to double-up Justin Perrone at first after he drew a walk to lead off the third. First baseman Carl Upton made nifty inning-ending plays in the third, fourth and fifth, including an unassisted double play.

Woodruff wasn’t discouraged. In this same tournament in 1997, the Eagles lost three of four the lone win coming against WC then went on to win 18 a row to take its fourth title.

“Who knows, maybe we’ll do that again,” he said.

Woodruff said that Rome wasn’t as sharp as usual, but that wasn’t the difference, he added.

“I don’t know if we ever would have hit (Tankersley),” he said.

Rome said he did have his best stuff. Warren Central just hit it.

“The ball (Towne) hit out was a good pitch,” he said. “I would have been beating myself up if it would have been a bad pitch.

“They won it, we didn’t lose it.”

Rome liked the idea of meeting Tankersley again during SEC West series.

“I’d love to face him again, and I’m sure I will,” he said. “He’s a great pitcher.”