Gryphons Win Conference Opener

If you wanted to see weird baseball tonight's Nash Central- Rocky Mount conference opener was a good place to be. Matthew Berry doubled to open the game and came around to score on a fielder's choice by Collins Cuthrell. The next five innings nobody touched home place.

Hobbs Johnson carried a no hitter into the sixth inning helped by a missed play pop up in fair territory in which the Gryphons were able to throw to second and get a force play. Two other pop ups in foul territory were not caught and the second wound up scoring the tying run for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Jeremy Sloop held the Gryphons to three hits over the first six innings but ran out of gas in the seventh when the Gryphons had seven straight runners reach base, six with hits an one base on balls. Johnson now sporting a seven run lead gave up his third hit of the night to lead off the bottom of the seventh and Parker Helms came in to close out the Bulldogs.

Michael Whitehead had two hits and two rbi's. Matthew Berry had two hits and a ribby. Spencer Bell's double in the seventh drove in a run. Collins Cuthrell had on hit on the evening and two rbi's. Thomas Berry a couple of hits and two rbi's. Parker Helms also had two hits.

The Gryphons win their tenth game of the year and are now 1-0 in the Big East. They travel to Hunt Thursday night before they open the South Johnson Baseball tournament Saturday morning at 11.00am.

Hobbs Johnson struck out twelve and gave up three hits in getting the win. Parker Helms shutout Nash Central in the seventh but does not get the save even though the game was tied going into the seventh.

Up the hill Nash Central Lady Bulldogs beat the Lady Gryphons in softball 16-0. Gryphon softball has a 4.30 game Wednesday afternoon against SouthWest Edgecombe which was rained out Monday.

Duke's Women Fall Short

If you watched the Duke women's game last night for the chance to go to the final four then you missed one of the best games this year. Duke took on Baylor lead by Brittany Briner a six feet eight inch player who can play. Briner last night had fifteen points eleven rebounds and nine blocked shots.

This was a game of Duke trying to go inside to get Briner in foul trouble. The first eight minutes Duke couldn't get close enough to see the goal much less make a shot. Finally when Duke started hitting from beyond fifteen feet they got into a rhythm and had as big as a nine point lead. Midway in the second half Briner finally got some help from her teammates and Duke stopped making the outside shots. Baylor 51 Duke 48.

The big question is, is Briner good enough to upset Connecticut and stop their at this point seventy some game winning streak? I think she is good enough but I don't see Baylor as a team being good enough to stay with the Huskies.

Rain washed out Rocky Mount girls softball Monday. That game has been moved to Wednesday night at home. Tonight softball and baseball begin conference play with a trip to Nash Central.

Spring sports like winter has the vacation for Easter Which is next week. School is out starting Friday and all of next week. When it is over it's all conference games until early May when the seasons are over and playoffs begin.

I failed to say any thing about this yesterday but wasn't that a great picture of Mike Gainey all smiles in the paper Sunday?

There is one thing about the NCAA basketball championship tournament I really like. There is no Dick Vitale doing the games. The NCAA tournament's best announcer is Gus Johnson. I don't know how he always gets the down to the wire buzzer beaters.

The best color guy is Mike Giminski. The G man is a Raycon guy during the season and CBS picks him up during the playoffs. Vitale has for so many years been the lead ESPN color analyse. He has always been hype and high fives. Don't look now but Jay Bilas is the best at ESPN. He knows every player in the country and gives you the facts not the hype like the over the hill Vitale.