Kyle Pittman's day on

Congratulations to Kyle Pittman of Hunt High School, who was presented with WRAL-TV's "Extra Effort Award" by the legendary Tom Suiter on Tuesday.

Kyle was a standout on the football field in the fall and has been a standout behind the plate for the Warriors baseball team this spring. But mostly, he's been a star in the classroom since he came to Hunt.

Make sure you watch all the way to the end of the segment because the WRAL cameraman takes one for the team. Positioned behind the mound to get some good shots of Kyle throwing the ball to second base, the cameraman (whose name I do not have) caught one of Kyle's strong tosses atop his noggin. The poor fellow was knocked out and required emergency medical attention but, as you can see on the WRAL segment, he is OK now.

Considering all that happened to Kyle on Tuesday, one might think he might not be completely focused when the Warriors hit the field at Southern Nash for a 3-A Big East Conference game Tuesday night. One might be wrong if one thought that.

All Kyle did Tuesday night in Hunt's 24-1 win was hit three home runs, including — get this — two grand slams in the same inning! And he did it off a pretty good pitcher in Kyle Shields, who started for the Wilson American Legion team last summer and has signed with NCAA Division II upper-echelon program Francis Marion (S.C.) University.

On the night, Pittman finished with 10 RBIs — one short of a state record — as he went 4 for 5, including a double. Inexplicably, he struck out in his first at-bat. The two grannies in the same inning and game tied a state record, the former held by five other players including Southern Nash assistant coach Ricky Howard who accomplished the feat with the Firebirds in 2002.

Short of Anthony Atkinson scoring 10 points in 45 seconds and nearly single-handedly winning the Div. II national championship for the Barton College men's basketball team in 2007, Pittman's day ranks as the best I've heard of a Wilson County athlete have in my six years on the job.

NCPreps.com releases 2009 state baseball and softball stats

NCPreps.com has posted the final 2009 high school baseball and softball statistics.

Hunt senior Jake Strickland tied for 15th in RBIs with 36 but wasn't listed in the home run totals. Strickland ended with 11 which should have tied him for fifth. I've notified NCPreps.com of the oversight so hopefully it will be amended.

Pat Smith retires as Rocky Mount baseball coach

My friends in Rocky Mount, Charles Alston and Bernie Capps, let me know this week that Rocky Mount High School baseball coach Pat Smith is retiring.

Smith led the Gryphons to the 2008 N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A championship. This is his seventh year at Rocky Mount.

Probably not a bad time for Smith to leave considering this was Brian Goodwin's senior season. Goodwin was just named the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year and is likely to be drafted fairly high in Major League Baseball's June draft.

Is it Fike or Ragsdale?

The team to beat, it seems, the past two years in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A baseball playoffs was Fike.

After all, the Golden Demons lost to Charles B. Aycock in the Eastern semifinals in 2007 on the Golden Falcons' way to the state title. Then last season, Fike was defeated by eventual state champion Rocky Mount in the Eastern semis.

So it stands to reason that West Brunswick should be celebrating a state title in a week or so since the Trojans eliminated Fike in the third round Friday night.

Well, maybe not.

Our good friend and high school sports guru Charles Alston points out that for the past three years at team which has lost to Jamestown Ragsdale has gone on to win the state title. In addition to Rocky Mount last year and CBA in 2007, D.H. Conley fell to Ragsdale in 2006, the same year current UNC star Alex White lead the Vikings to the state championship.

That puts Northern Nash in the limelight as the Knights lost to Ragsdale early in the season.

Bang! Bang! He's out!

Fike junior right-hander William Prince came pretty close to pitching a no-hitter in the Golden Demons' 6-0 win at Charles B. Aycock in the first round of the state 3-A baseball playoffs Friday night.

How close? Well, Prince allowed one hit on a controversial play at first base on the Golden Falcons diamond.

From these photographs below taken by Wilson Times senior staff writer Tom Ham, CBA's Tyler Ruffin appears to be out at first base as Fike's Tripp Sauls gets the throw before Ruffin's left foot hits the bag.

But hey, umpires are human, too, and this apparently blown call didn't really affect the outcome of the game. And the photographs suggest the play was extremely close.

I just want to give Ham a little credit for his often under-appreciated ability with the camera. And I'm happy to say this picture was taken without the sticky residue of Diet Mountain Dew on the lens!

Strickland breathes rare air with big day at the plate

When Hunt junior Sam Strickland lit up Southern Nash for nine runs batted in during the Warriors' 17-2 win Monday, he came mighty close to the state record for RBIs in a game.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association record book lists Shawn Gallagher of Wilmington New Hanover and Hope Mills South View's Jason Huffman as the co-holders of the mark with 11 each.

Here is the list from the NCHSAA Web site:

11- Shawn Gallagher (New Hanover), April 28, 1995 (New Hanover 16, Southern Wayne 4)
11- Jason Huffman (South View), March 24, 1999 (South View 23, E.E. Smith 4)
11- Sam Simpson (Croatan), March 2, 2006 (Croatan 31, Jones 0)
10- Tony Lee (Garner) vs. Athens Drive,1983
10- Blake Adams (Four Oaks) vs. Meadow, 1964
10- Ricky Howard (Southern Nash) vs. Louisburg, March 15, 2002

Sam was 3 for 4 and I don't think there was anyone on base when he grounded out in the third inning so he pretty much maximized his RBI chances in the game. It might have helped if it was a five-inning affair but that's the way it goes.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Strickland's nine RBIs are almost certainly a school record and could be a county record as well as a 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference record.

Impact Baseball preseason polls are out

Rocky Mount, the N.C. High School Athletic Association defending 3-A state champion, is atop the preseason poll issued by ImpactBaseball.com.

The 2007 state champion, Charles B. Aycock, is No. 9 while the Golden Falcons' Eastern Carolina Conference rival Eastern Wayne is No. 5.

CBA keeps churning out Div. I baseball players

The Pikeville pipeline to the NCAA Division I baseball ranks is still humming.

Charles B. Aycock head baseball coach Charles Davis confirmed to me Monday that two more of his players have given verbal commitments to Div. I programs.

Rising senior outfielder Will Edgerton has chosen UNC Wilmington and will make it official this fall while rising junior shortstop Connor Narron has verballed to North Carolina. Narron, of course, has another year of high school before he can make it official. He is the son of former MLB player and manager Jerry Narron, who was a high school star at Goldsboro High several decades ago.

This past season, CBA had catcher Zach Wright, who wil attend East Carolina University in the fall on a baseball scholarship. From his 2007 3-A state championship squad, Davis had Garrett Davis and Grant Sasser, who just finished their freshman seasons at UNC and N.C. State University, respectively.

Garrett Davis had to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery this spring but CBA's Davis said the rehabilitation is going well.

Coaching moves of interest in Nash County

Matt LaWell of the Rocky Mount Telegram reported in Saturday's edition that Nash Central has hired former assistant coach Kevin Crudup as the Bulldogs' new football head coach. Crudup replaces Kenneth Grantham, the school's first football coach who left to take the job at Greene Central, his alma mater.

I guess that ends speculation in some quarters that Nash Central would look southward to find its new coach.

LaWell was a busy man yesterday as he also reported the Bulldogs lost their varsity baseball head coach, Chris Huffman, after one season. Huffman, who is moving to Fayetteville with his family, will be replaced by assistant coach Jeff Mizzelle.

Huffman's wife, Michelle, was the Rocky Mount High School softball coach.


Nash Central hires Crudup

Huffmans leave Nash County schools posts

No spit! Nygard needs your vote

Justin Nygard, the soon-to-be a 2008 Hunt High School graduate, is up for an impressive award.

Nygard is a finalist in the N.C. STEP "No Spit" All-Star of the Year competition among some of the best high school baseball players in the state who have pledged not to use "spit" tobacco.

The campaign is dedicated to promoting awareness among young people about the dangers of spit tobacco. (I thought the term was "smokeless tobacco" but I guess I'm an old fogey.)

According to the information provided by the Oral Health of America's 2006 Spit Tobacco Report Card, this country received a "D" for the use of spit tobacco.

There are campaigns underway in Kentucky, North and South Carolina.

In any event, it would be cool if Justin (who is currently in third place in the online voting) can win this competition. For those of you who don't know, Justin was one of the top pitchers in Wilson County last spring at Hunt and now is a starter for the Wilson American Legion Post 13 baseball team.

Vote for Justin

Rocky Mount wins 3-A baseball crown

Rocky Mount bounced back from a 6-2 loss in Game 2 of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A baseball championship series to defeat East Rowan 8-6 in the decisive third game Saturday in Zebulon's Five County Stadium.

Junior center fielder Brian Goodwin, who has verbally committed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was named the tournament MVP. It is the fifth state title and first in 28 years for the Gryphons, who won all four previous ones at the 4-A level.

Rocky Mount (27-6) took a 6-1 lead after two innings and held off East Rowan (29-5). Freshman Benton Moss earned the victory on the mound but needed help from Nick Hahula to finish it.

In other state championship series, Greenville Rose swept Charlotte Ardrey Kell in the 4-A series, also at Five County. Two of the four state titles were won by true eastern N.C. teams.

In the 2-A series, Hillsborough Orange, the East Regional king, swept East Rutherford for its first baseball state championship. Orange rallied for two runs in the seventh to pull out a 3-2 win at UNCG Baseball Stadium in Greensboro.

Cherryville was the lone West Regional king to be crowned state champion as it swept Topsail in the 1-A series, also at UNCG.

In the softball championships at Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh, South Central defeated Southwestern Randolph 3-0 in the 3-A final. Other finals were Charlotte Butler 5, North Davidson 3 in the 4-A classification; Central Davidson 2, South Lenoir 0 in the 2-A ranks and East Surry defeated Swain County 6-0 in the 1-A championship.

NCHSAA baseball finals set

In Saturday night's action, East Rowan defeated Belmont South Point 3-2 in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A West Regional final to win the best-of-3 series.

In the 2-A West final, East Rutherford beat Ledford 13-4 to win that series.

So the championship series are set in all classifications but not the sites. The NCHSAA should announce Monday or Tuesday who plays where. Five County Stadium in Zebulon is one site but N.C. State University's Doak Field will be used for the NCAA tournamtion sub-regional hosted by the Wolfpack next weekend. So an alternate site must be found.

In any event, here are the matchups:

1-A — Topsail (Coastal Plain Conference No. 1, 22-6) vs. Cherryville (Southern Piedmont No. 1, 22-7)
2-A — Hillsborough Orange (Mid-State No. 1, 25-3) vs. East Rutherford (Southwestern No. 1, 25-8)
3-A — Rocky Mount (NEW 6 No. 2, 25-5) vs. East Rowan (North Piedmont No. 1, 28-3)
4-A — Greenville Rose (Coastal No. 1, 26-3) vs. Charlotte Ardrey Kell (Southwestern No. 1, 28-4)

NCHSAA baseball (and girls soccer) update

Rocky Mount stopped D.H. Conley 3-2 Friday night behind the right arm of freshman starting pitcher Benton Moss to sweep the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A East Regional championship series.

Rocky Mount won the opener 11-1 at Conley on Thursday night.

The Gryphons (25-5) await the winner of the West Regional series between East Rowan and Belmont South Point, which is tied 1-1 after East Rowan's 17-2 win Friday night. South Point won the opener 1-0. The final game of the best-of-3 series is tonight at East Rowan.

In the 1-A East finals, defending state champion Princeton (coached by Beddingfield graduate Bruce Proctor) was knocked out by Topsail in two games, 6-0 and 6-5.

Here's what happened in other NCHSAA semifinals series.

1-A West finals — Cherryville-South Stokes series tied 1-1
2-A East finals — Hillsborough Orange sweeps Whiteville, 3-2 and 15-5
2-A West finals — East Rutherford 7, Ledford 2 in the first game; Ledford 5, East Rutherford 3 in the second game. Championship is tonight.
4-A East finals — Greenville Rose sweeps Raleigh Sanderson 5-0 and 10-3. Rose lost twice during the regular season to Rocky Mount.
4-A West finals — Charlotte Adrey Kell 5, Charlotte Providence 2 in the first game. No score yet on Friday's game.

NOTE: Ardrey Kell in just its second year of existence will play East Chapel Hill for the 4-A boys dual-team tennis title today. The girls soccer team lost 3-0 to Raleigh Leesville Road in the 4-A championship Friday night and the baseball team is in the hunt for the 4-A crown. Not bad.

Gryphons look good for No. 5

The season ended again in the fourth round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A baseball playoffs for Fike.

This time, it was NEW 6 Conference archrival Rocky Mount that sent the Golden Demons home. A year ago, Charles B. Aycock got past Fike on the way to the 3-A state title.

My money, if I had any, would be on Fike being ousted by another state champion.

I felt that going into Wednesday night's East Regional semifinal at Fike was the best matchup of remaining teams. Granted, I do plead a certain amount of ignorance about the West Regional semifinalists. But recent history has taught me the East might have the better baseball teams in the NCHSAA.

While I was thinking Fike had a championship-caliber team, I knew that Rocky Mount does for five reasons — pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching.

You see, as the NCHSAA playoffs turn into best-of-3 series at the regional and state championships, pitching depth becomes the single biggest factor in a team's success, in my humble opinion.

There's no doubt a team can ride a couple of hot bats and obscure mediocre pitching through the single-elimination part of the playoffs. But in order to win four games in five or six days (as is the case with the regional semifinals and finals) and then play a best-of-3 in two days in the state finals, you'd better have more than one good pitcher.

Fike had two pretty good pitchers in senior Bentley Massey and sophomore William Prince. I have to believe that if Demons head coach Will Flowers called on them, either Tripp Sauls, Matthew Pittman, Jacob Davis or Mitchell Wheeler could have given a credible effort on the mound.

But that's a moot point now.

It's the Gryphons who are headed to Winterville on Friday night to play D.H. Conley, a 1-0 victor against South Central on Wednesday night.

And Rocky Mount has four solid arms with more than 30 innings pitched this season plus junior Nick Hahula who emerged at midseason as a hard-throwing option.

Gryphons head coach Pat Smith can use Hahula, Benton Moss, Chris Berry or Dillon Cockrell in the first two games and still have ace Jim Leggett, Wednesday night's winner, for some innings Saturday.

If Rocky Mount makes it to the 3-A finals, its mound quintet will have seven days of rest.

That's why I'm taking the Gryphons to win the fifth state title in school history.

By the way, the starting shortstop on Rocky Mount's 1973 4-A state champion was none other than Phil Ford, who opted to play basketball in college.

Flowers has his own cheering section

Taking in the action at the Fike-Triton 3-A playoff baseball game are former Fike players Robin Rose, center, and Dennis Wilkerson, right, along with Jerry Rose, left.
Following his team's 3-0 defeat of Erwin Triton in the second round of the state 3-A baseball playoffs, Fike head coach Will Flowers called a few of his players over to meet a couple of guys they had probably never heard of.

While current Demons Bentley Massey and Jacob Davis might not have been aware of who they were, the sight of Flowers standing alongside his former teammates Robin Rose and Dennis Wilkerson was a treat for me.

Those names are recognizable to anyone familiar with Fike baseball in the early 1970s. Wilkerson, Rose and Flowers all played for Gilbert Ferrell in 1972.

Wilkerson, now a Wilmington resident, is best known for his feats on the football field. He is one of three Fike players to achieve All-America status, doing so in his senior season in 1971. One of five brothers who left their marks on Wilson sports, Wilkerson was a standout on the basketball court and baseball diamond. He is a member of the Fike High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Rose, graduated in 1973, a year behind Flowers and Wilkerson, Rose's first cousin. He played at Louisburg College and was an NAIA All-American at Atlantic Christian (now Barton) College. Now living in Cary, Rose is a member of the Barton sports hall of fame. Rose and Flowers were teammates at Atlantic Christian.

I grew up reading about them playing for Fike and AC. Rose grew up across the street from me on Thurston Drive, not far from Wilkerson's house on Third Street.They were both physical education student-teachers at Vinson-Bynum Elementary School and me and some of my buddies would go to Fleming Stadium to watch them play way back in the wood-bat era.

There's at least a touch of gray on the heads of all three men but I could easily picture Rose firing a tennis ball at Flowers holding a bat in front of the bricks of the Rose home, as I saw them do so many times way back when Richard Nixon was president.

First high school baseball rankings released

And here we go with the first high school baseball polls, as provided by the Web site IMPACTbaseball.com.

In what I feel is a bit of a surprise, Rocky Mount is listed atop the 3-A rankings. Northern Nash is ranked No. 6 but Fike is nowhere to be seen. I know that the Gryphons have some good players in Brian Goodwin and Ben Fish, to name a couple, but they lost some quality seniors. To be considered No. 1 in the state seems to be a stretch right now, given how they completely fell apart at the end of last year.

Southeast Guilford, which lost to Charles B. Aycock in the 3-A final in June is No. 2 while Jamestown Ragsdale is No. 3

The top-ranked teams in the other classifications are 4-A North Davidson, 2-A First Flight and 1-A Princeton. The Bulldogs are the defending N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A champions and coached by Beddingfield graduate and Saratoga native Bruce Proctor.

For the three Wilson County high schools, Beddingfield opens first when the Bruins welcome SouthWest Edgecombe on Monday, Feb. 26, for a 4:30 p.m. encounter. Fike visits Aycock on Tuesday, Feb. 26, also at 4:30 p.m. while Hunt launches its season at Nash Central on Friday, Feb. 29, at 4:30 p.m.

IMPACT Baseball high school preseason polls

Flowers out of the hospital

Alton Britt sent some good news came today concerning Fike High School baseball head coach Will Flowers, who was hospitalized last Tuesday.

Will has finally been released from Pitt Memorial Hospital, Alton said, and is at home and "progressing nicely."

Let's hope for a full recovery because I know Will will be itching to get on the diamond in a few weeks.

From the Hot Stove to the cold field

Did you know the Barton College baseball season is nearly upon us?

Less than two weeks after the annual Wilson Hot Stove League banquet, baseball is back on the field.

The Bulldogs open their 2008 campaign Friday, Feb. 1, in sunny Boca Raton, Fla., as the guest of Lynn University for a three-game set. The home opener will be Tuesday, Feb. 4, against Wingate. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

As usual, Todd Wilkinson has enlisted a sturdy list of non-conference opponents for his Bulldogs, including Kutztown (Pa.), Francis Marion, Catawba, USC-Aiken and UNC-Pembroke.

2008 Barton baseball schedule

Look for a season preview on the Bulldogs in the Wilson Daily Times early next week.

Sticking with the summer game in the dead winter, Fike will be one of high school baseball teams playing the IMPACT Baseball Invitational on March 1 in Cary.

The IMPACT field has doubled since four teams, including eventual N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A champion Charles B. Aycock, played in Fleming Stadium last March.

Joining the Golden Demons at the USA Baseball National Training Complex will be their 3-A NEW 6 Conference rivals Northern Nash and Rocky Mount.

IMPACTBaseball.com has the schedule for the 2008 Invitational.

Warriors, Firebirds to spend another Easter in Rocky Mount

From our good friend in Rocky Mount, Charles Alston, comes the schedule for the 2008 Rocky Mount Invitational Baseball Tournament and once again, Hunt and Southern Nash return as participants.

However, the eight-team format will not return as just six teams make up this year's event, including host Rocky Mount, Northern Nash and Nash Central. They are joined by South Carolina 4-A school Fort Mill.

Because a single-elimination format won't work with six teams playing 3 games in 3 days, the tourney has become a round-robin deal and the championship will be awarded to the team that goes undefeated. In case of a tie, the tiebreakers are, in order, fewest runs allowed, head-to-head competition and runs scored.

It could make for an interesting — and possibly anti-climactic — finish.


Rocky Mount Invitational Baseball Tournament

2008 Schedule

Saturday, April 5

Game 1: Southern Nash vs. Nash Central, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Northern Nash vs. Fort Mill, S.C., 4 p.m.
Game 3: Rocky Mount vs. Wilson Hunt, 7 p.m.

Monday, April 7

Game 1: Rocky Mount vs. Fort Mill, S.C., 1 p.m.
Game 2: Southern Nash vs. Wilson Hunt, 4 p.m.
Game 3: Nash Central vs. Northern Nash, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, April 8

Game 1: Nash Central vs. Wilson Hunt, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Southern Nash vs. Fort Mill, S.C., 4 p.m.
Game 3: Rocky Mount vs. Northern Nash, 7 p.m.

Past champions
2007 - Rocky Mount def. Southern Nash, 13-1
2006 - Rocky Mount def. Northern Nash, 6-2
2005 - Rocky Mount def. Northern Nash, 5-2
2004 - Wilson Hunt def. Washington, 5-3 (5 inn., rain-shortened)
2003 - Morrisville Green Hope def. Rocky Mount 6-1
2002 - Kernersville Glenn def. Durham Riverside, 7-3
2001 - Kernersville Glenn def. Wilson Fike, 4-1
2000 - Durham Jordan def. Rocky Mount, 8-6
1999 - round-robin w/6 teams - no champion
1998 - final day of tournament rained out (RMHS, Beddingfield made the finals)
1997 - Rocky Mount def. Durhan Jordan, 6-2
1996 - Rocky Mount def. Northern Nash, 8-5
1995 - Rocky Mount def. Wilson Beddingfield, 6-0
1994 - Rocky Mount def. Wilson Beddingfield, 7-2
1993 - Northern Nash def. Southern Nash, 6-5
1992 - Greene Central
1991 - Greene Central
1990 - Greene Central def. Roanoke Rapids, 8-2
1989 - Southern Nash
1988 - Rocky Mount
1987 - Roanoke Rapids
1986 - Southern Nash
1985 - Roanoke Rapids
1984 - Roanoke Rapids
1983 - Roanoke Rapids
1982 - Northern Nash
1981 - Rocky Mount
1980 - Rocky Mount
1979 - Rocky Mount
1978 - Sanderson
1977 - Garner

Flowers condition improves

The latest word I've received on the condition of Fike baseball coach Will Flowers is that his condition has improved and that's great news.

Will was admitted to Wilson Medical Center on Tuesday morning with a possible stroke. He has since been transferred to Pitt Memorial Hospital.

Fike Athletic Director John Gay said Flowers has regained mobility in his limbs and could be released as early as this weekend.

A group of Fike coaches and baseball players visited Will on Wednesday evening which I'm sure made his day.

Let's keep him in our thoughts and prayers.