I'm on the road, blogging from beautiful, sunny Palo Alto, Calif., home of Stanford University and birthplace of Hewlett-Packard (and the Grateful Dead!). But I've still got an item, thanks to former Wilson Times colleague Nick Livingston, now in Lawton, Okla.
Donovan Jones, former Greenfield School star, will transfer from UNC-Asheville to NCAA Division II member Cameron University. Jones earned a spot on the Big South Conference All-Rookie team but injuries decimated his sophomore season.
Glad to hear Donovan is back on his feet and going to continue his collegiate career. He had to overcome a devastating leg injury in the summer before his senior season at Greenfield and remains one of the most intense competitors I've had the privilege of covering.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Thanks for the memories, Post 13
Ah well, it was fun while it lasted for Post 13.
The Wilson nine bowed out of the American Legion baseball playoffs Friday night with an 11-10 loss in the decisive game 5 of their Area One Eastern Division championship series against Rocky Mount Post 58. Probably a little painful for Post 13 to take about now considering they were up 2-0 in the series and had a 10-8 lead going into the bottom of the ninth Friday night.
But Rocky Mount is just one tough team from which to get three outs in a row. Post 58 showed exactly how formidable its bats could be with a 32-5 thrashing it laid on Wilson in game 3. Rocky Mount scored 59 runs in its last three games, easily overcoming what some of its supporters told me was its shaky pitching staff.
I didn't think Post 58's pitching was that bad but it wasn't spectacular. Still, as true as is the common thinking in baseball that pitching wins pennants, hitting is more likely to win American Legion state championships. Assuming Rocky Mount gets past Cary Post 67 in the Area One finals, I have to like Post 58's chances in the state tournament in Greenville.
That black-and-red-clad crowd wields some pretty mean metal, especially in the cozy confines of the Northern Nash High School field, where Rocky Mount plays its home games. But even if Post 58 played in cavernous Fleming Stadium, they'd just have more doubles instead of home runs.
None of this will mean much to the Wilson players and coaches now but they had a heckuva season. One that began with four straight losses and ended with three straight losses. But in between there were some memorable moments as Wilson went deeper than anyone would have imagined at the beginning of the season.
For any team from Wilson, losing to Rocky Mount is never fun (and it definitely goes both ways) but I guess the Post 13 players from Fike are even more disappointed. After all, this series was in some way a continuation of that great Fike-Rocky Mount High rivalry from the 2008 high school season. The Gryphons and Golden Demons (which included Post 13 players Bentley Massey, Zac Crumpler, Tripp Sauls, David Gibbons, Michael McLawhorn and Mitchell Wheeler) had some great matchups but Rocky Mount got the last laugh with a playoff win on its way to the state 3-A championship.
Now it seems Rocky Mount might get a chance to win an American Legion state title, or at the very least, play for one.
But Wilson players showed their mettle and a few, such as Wheeler and Zack Lee, demonstrated abilities that could very well carry over into a career at the collegiate level. The ones that are already college will take back valuable lessons from the summer, which ended up being a memorable one after all.
Now I'm out of here for a couple of weeks for my long-awaited vacation but I will be checking in from time-to-time as we get ready for football season. Can you believe high schools can start practice two weeks from today?
The Wilson nine bowed out of the American Legion baseball playoffs Friday night with an 11-10 loss in the decisive game 5 of their Area One Eastern Division championship series against Rocky Mount Post 58. Probably a little painful for Post 13 to take about now considering they were up 2-0 in the series and had a 10-8 lead going into the bottom of the ninth Friday night.
But Rocky Mount is just one tough team from which to get three outs in a row. Post 58 showed exactly how formidable its bats could be with a 32-5 thrashing it laid on Wilson in game 3. Rocky Mount scored 59 runs in its last three games, easily overcoming what some of its supporters told me was its shaky pitching staff.
I didn't think Post 58's pitching was that bad but it wasn't spectacular. Still, as true as is the common thinking in baseball that pitching wins pennants, hitting is more likely to win American Legion state championships. Assuming Rocky Mount gets past Cary Post 67 in the Area One finals, I have to like Post 58's chances in the state tournament in Greenville.
That black-and-red-clad crowd wields some pretty mean metal, especially in the cozy confines of the Northern Nash High School field, where Rocky Mount plays its home games. But even if Post 58 played in cavernous Fleming Stadium, they'd just have more doubles instead of home runs.
None of this will mean much to the Wilson players and coaches now but they had a heckuva season. One that began with four straight losses and ended with three straight losses. But in between there were some memorable moments as Wilson went deeper than anyone would have imagined at the beginning of the season.
For any team from Wilson, losing to Rocky Mount is never fun (and it definitely goes both ways) but I guess the Post 13 players from Fike are even more disappointed. After all, this series was in some way a continuation of that great Fike-Rocky Mount High rivalry from the 2008 high school season. The Gryphons and Golden Demons (which included Post 13 players Bentley Massey, Zac Crumpler, Tripp Sauls, David Gibbons, Michael McLawhorn and Mitchell Wheeler) had some great matchups but Rocky Mount got the last laugh with a playoff win on its way to the state 3-A championship.
Now it seems Rocky Mount might get a chance to win an American Legion state title, or at the very least, play for one.
But Wilson players showed their mettle and a few, such as Wheeler and Zack Lee, demonstrated abilities that could very well carry over into a career at the collegiate level. The ones that are already college will take back valuable lessons from the summer, which ended up being a memorable one after all.
Now I'm out of here for a couple of weeks for my long-awaited vacation but I will be checking in from time-to-time as we get ready for football season. Can you believe high schools can start practice two weeks from today?
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Crazy stuff happens in Legion playoffs
What is it about game 3 of an American Legion baseball playoff series?
On Wednesday night, Wilson Post 13 was humbled 32-5 by Rocky Mount Post 58 in game 3 of their Area One Eastern Division championship series. It was a very uncharacteristic (and historical) loss for Post 13, which still has the upper hand after winning the first two games of the series. No one, including Post 13 General Manager Bob Walston in his 24th season with the program, can remember such a brutal loss for Wilson.
Rocky Mount possesses a powerful offense, averaging double-digit scoring in its regular-season home games. But Wednesday night was ridiculous. Post 58 swatted five home runs, including three by right fielder T.J. Taylor who ended up with eight RBIs. Catcher Ben Fish, an all-state player at Rocky Mount High and headed to Division I Elon University on a scholarship, cracked the other two longballs and had seven RBIs. You'd expect that output from Fish and some of the other Post 58 heavy hitters.
"Yeah, but not from me," Taylor said after the game.
Granted some, if not most, of those homers (including Wilson third baseman Mitchell Wheeler's solo shot in the second) probably would have not left Fleming Stadium. But in the cozy confines of Northern Nash High School's field, they ended up in the pine trees hugging the outfield fence.
It was just that kind of night for Rocky Mount, who looked better at the plate than most teams do in batting practice. Wilson starter Richard Carr, who has been solid in a relief role all season, struggled with control early and then Post 58 made him pay for his later accurate deliveries. Wilson head coach Rusty Dail sent Alex Howard, Michael McLawhorn and Tripp Sauls to the mound but each ended up giving up at least one run.
The craziness of the night made me recall another game 3 in which Post 13 was involved three years ago during the second round of the playoffs. Under a bulging full moon on the Fike diamond, Wilson dropped a 27-21 decision to Edenton Post 40 and I was there for every pitch. I was there for every pitch Wednesday night but I have to admit that during the 40-minute bottom of the third, I was tempted to drive back to Wilson to catch a little of the Tobs game.
But for all those runs, the scoreboard will read 0-0 at the beginning of Thursday's game 4 in Fleming Stadium. With Wilson sending No. 1 starter Justin Nygard (and No. 2 Bentley Massey ready for game 5 if necessary) to the mound, I still think Post 13 is in the driver's seat.
However, the winner of this series won't be guaranteed a spot in the state tournament. In the past, the winner of the Eastern and Western Divisions met for a purely ceremonial best-of-5 series since the top two teams from each of the four areas advanced to the state tournament. Not so for Area One this season which has an automatic bid going to Pitt County Post 39 for being the state tournament host.
So Wilson will have to win one more series, against either Cary Post 67 or Durham Post 7, to claim the Area One title and land in the state tournament for the first time since the N.C. American Legion went to that format. And Post 13 will have to do it without the services of its leading hitter, David Gibbons, who is currently on a cruise ship. The trip was a graduation present, apparently, and booked well before the season began.
I wonder if David is wishing he were back here for the rest of the series but I can't blame him. After all, I doubt there are many folks who predicted Post 13 would still be playing this late in the summer.
On Wednesday night, Wilson Post 13 was humbled 32-5 by Rocky Mount Post 58 in game 3 of their Area One Eastern Division championship series. It was a very uncharacteristic (and historical) loss for Post 13, which still has the upper hand after winning the first two games of the series. No one, including Post 13 General Manager Bob Walston in his 24th season with the program, can remember such a brutal loss for Wilson.
Rocky Mount possesses a powerful offense, averaging double-digit scoring in its regular-season home games. But Wednesday night was ridiculous. Post 58 swatted five home runs, including three by right fielder T.J. Taylor who ended up with eight RBIs. Catcher Ben Fish, an all-state player at Rocky Mount High and headed to Division I Elon University on a scholarship, cracked the other two longballs and had seven RBIs. You'd expect that output from Fish and some of the other Post 58 heavy hitters.
"Yeah, but not from me," Taylor said after the game.
Granted some, if not most, of those homers (including Wilson third baseman Mitchell Wheeler's solo shot in the second) probably would have not left Fleming Stadium. But in the cozy confines of Northern Nash High School's field, they ended up in the pine trees hugging the outfield fence.
It was just that kind of night for Rocky Mount, who looked better at the plate than most teams do in batting practice. Wilson starter Richard Carr, who has been solid in a relief role all season, struggled with control early and then Post 58 made him pay for his later accurate deliveries. Wilson head coach Rusty Dail sent Alex Howard, Michael McLawhorn and Tripp Sauls to the mound but each ended up giving up at least one run.
The craziness of the night made me recall another game 3 in which Post 13 was involved three years ago during the second round of the playoffs. Under a bulging full moon on the Fike diamond, Wilson dropped a 27-21 decision to Edenton Post 40 and I was there for every pitch. I was there for every pitch Wednesday night but I have to admit that during the 40-minute bottom of the third, I was tempted to drive back to Wilson to catch a little of the Tobs game.
But for all those runs, the scoreboard will read 0-0 at the beginning of Thursday's game 4 in Fleming Stadium. With Wilson sending No. 1 starter Justin Nygard (and No. 2 Bentley Massey ready for game 5 if necessary) to the mound, I still think Post 13 is in the driver's seat.
However, the winner of this series won't be guaranteed a spot in the state tournament. In the past, the winner of the Eastern and Western Divisions met for a purely ceremonial best-of-5 series since the top two teams from each of the four areas advanced to the state tournament. Not so for Area One this season which has an automatic bid going to Pitt County Post 39 for being the state tournament host.
So Wilson will have to win one more series, against either Cary Post 67 or Durham Post 7, to claim the Area One title and land in the state tournament for the first time since the N.C. American Legion went to that format. And Post 13 will have to do it without the services of its leading hitter, David Gibbons, who is currently on a cruise ship. The trip was a graduation present, apparently, and booked well before the season began.
I wonder if David is wishing he were back here for the rest of the series but I can't blame him. After all, I doubt there are many folks who predicted Post 13 would still be playing this late in the summer.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Report: Atkinson signs with Louisburg
I was told today by a reliable source that Jeremy Atkinson will not sign a basketball scholarship offer from Barton College but has signed to play with Louisburg College.
Atkinson, who scored 2,001 points during his Fike career, told me a week ago he was planning to sign with NCAA Division II Barton but apparently has changed his mind in favor of Louisburg of the National Junior College Athletic Association ranks. I guess he's hoping to land a Div. I scholarship in two years.
Look for Tom Ham to have a story on this as well as a story on all the changes in the Fike athletic department this summer.
Atkinson, who scored 2,001 points during his Fike career, told me a week ago he was planning to sign with NCAA Division II Barton but apparently has changed his mind in favor of Louisburg of the National Junior College Athletic Association ranks. I guess he's hoping to land a Div. I scholarship in two years.
Look for Tom Ham to have a story on this as well as a story on all the changes in the Fike athletic department this summer.
Sports on TV are tough to watch at times
I was surprised the Major League Baseball All-Star Game didn't end sometime Wednesday morning. The game, a 4-3 win by the American League, finished in a respectable 2 hours, 31 minutes which made it only slightly longer than the pregame fluff.
You know, I'm all for having the all-stars introduced one-by-one before the game and it's great the President of the United States can throw out the first pitch (by the way, President Obama definitely takes a back seat to his predecessor when it comes to tossing the ol' horsehide!), but the production by Fox Sports was too much to stomach at times.
The introduction of the broadcast was melodramatic, to say the least, with the poignant background music and voiceover proclaiming baseball's virtues. The telecast began at 8 p.m. but the game didn't start until nearly 9.
This might sound like a weird thing to say since I'm the sports editor, but I've gotten to the point where I can barely stand to watch sports on TV. For one thing, because I'm either out covering an event or working on the desk, I rarely have the opportunity to watch a game on the television and when I'm not working, I usually have other things to do besides watch sports on TV — unless it's a pretty big event. Atlantic Coast Conference basketball remains an exception, for the most part.
This is somewhat ironic because I used to watch sports on TV nearly all the time before I became a sports writer. I went from watching three editions of ESPN's Sportscenter daily to watching it once every 6 months. However, one thing I've gleaned by watching ESPN Classic is how much televised sports has changed over the years. When I was a kid in the 1970s, the broadcast began with a few minutes of the broadcasters talking then straight to the game and when it ended, maybe an interview and that was it.
Now you've got to endure so much hype that it numbs me to the event. And the latest thing, these onfield postgame interviews — especially after a championship contest — conducted over the stadium PA system, drives me batty. It's lame. It's goofy.
While I appreciate the up-to-the-second graphics offered by the modern product compared to the sparse graphical information one would get 30 years ago, sometimes it's too much. I actually enjoy listening to a game on the radio, no matter the sport, more these days than watching on TV. I just wish radio announcers would get in the habit of giving the score every 30-60 seconds since you never know when someone just tuned in.
Anyway, that's my midsummer rant. How about that Post 13 baseball team one win away from its first American Legion Area One Eastern Division title since 1990?
You know, I'm all for having the all-stars introduced one-by-one before the game and it's great the President of the United States can throw out the first pitch (by the way, President Obama definitely takes a back seat to his predecessor when it comes to tossing the ol' horsehide!), but the production by Fox Sports was too much to stomach at times.
The introduction of the broadcast was melodramatic, to say the least, with the poignant background music and voiceover proclaiming baseball's virtues. The telecast began at 8 p.m. but the game didn't start until nearly 9.
This might sound like a weird thing to say since I'm the sports editor, but I've gotten to the point where I can barely stand to watch sports on TV. For one thing, because I'm either out covering an event or working on the desk, I rarely have the opportunity to watch a game on the television and when I'm not working, I usually have other things to do besides watch sports on TV — unless it's a pretty big event. Atlantic Coast Conference basketball remains an exception, for the most part.
This is somewhat ironic because I used to watch sports on TV nearly all the time before I became a sports writer. I went from watching three editions of ESPN's Sportscenter daily to watching it once every 6 months. However, one thing I've gleaned by watching ESPN Classic is how much televised sports has changed over the years. When I was a kid in the 1970s, the broadcast began with a few minutes of the broadcasters talking then straight to the game and when it ended, maybe an interview and that was it.
Now you've got to endure so much hype that it numbs me to the event. And the latest thing, these onfield postgame interviews — especially after a championship contest — conducted over the stadium PA system, drives me batty. It's lame. It's goofy.
While I appreciate the up-to-the-second graphics offered by the modern product compared to the sparse graphical information one would get 30 years ago, sometimes it's too much. I actually enjoy listening to a game on the radio, no matter the sport, more these days than watching on TV. I just wish radio announcers would get in the habit of giving the score every 30-60 seconds since you never know when someone just tuned in.
Anyway, that's my midsummer rant. How about that Post 13 baseball team one win away from its first American Legion Area One Eastern Division title since 1990?
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