Fundamentals

Recent Rocky Mount High School graduate Hannah McMillan is in Sun drenched skies and oil laden beaches of Mobile Alabama today competing in National Junior Miss Pageant. 51 girls are competing for the title. I think the TV coverage is Saturday night on TLC. Here is a circumstance where a good light is being shone on Rocky Mount. We need to all be behind Hannah. If she could make the top ten or what ever Junior Miss calls their cut list, it would gives us good news instead of what we have most of the time. Good luck Hannah!

Baseball is considered a sport that you may see something in any game that you might never see in a game again. Here is a few examples’ of plays you don’t see everyday.

The recent little league finals a ground ball was hit to the short stop with a runner on second base. The short stop faked at if he was going to throw to first, instead he held on to the ball and the runner on second took off and ran right into the short stop holding the ball to tag him out. If I remember correctly Whit Casper was the short stop and that was a nice play on his part to get the runner at second.

The home Rocky Mount Legion game against Wilson there was a ground ball hit between first and second base and first baseman Matt Berry and second baseman Michael Whitehead were not able to come up with the ball which rolled to right field. Spencer Bell who was covering first from the pitcher’s mound was on the base after the runner rounded first and right fielder Fuller Weatherly threw back to Spencer Bell who caught the runner off base after getting a single. This was a clear case of a player Spencer Bell doing the fundamentals of the game and Weatherly executing a good throw and was able to get an out after just giving up a hit to the same batter.

Even last night in the Edenton-Rocky Mount Legion game how many times to you see a steal of home. You see this on the high school level that a runner is on first and takes off to second. A base runner is on third and the runner going to first tries to get into a run down where the runner on third takes off for home. If the runner from third scores that is considered a steal of home. Rocky Mount pulled that off last night, later in the game an Edenton base runner actually stole home the old fashion way beating the pitchers pitch to home before he could be tagged out. When was the last time that you saw both teams steal home in one game?

We all in life have fundamental things we do everyday that go unnoticed because they are basic things The ball field the team that does the basic’s the best most of the time wins games. There are other times when we don’t do basic things in life and they cost us dearly.

We have heard about the young man from Alexandria Virginia who didn’t have a license this past weekend in the Big Rock Fishing Tournament and got his team disqualified. In the process his team lost the $912,000 first prize, plus a bonus of over $300,000 for catching the first Blue marlin in the tournament that weighed over 500 pounds.

The license could have been bought for $10. Fishing without a license in North Carolina is $35 plus $125 cost of court. The young man did buy a license two hours after their boat got back to shore. The Tournament found out about it when the winning boat members had to take a lie detector test to prove that they didn’t cheat during the tournament.

A ten dollar fishing license basic fundamentals of fishing.

Post 58 blows 10-run lead

Edenton Post 40's Daniel Oliver hit a solo homer leading off the top of the ninth inning to bring Edenton back to dead even with Post 58 at 11-11. It would get runners on first and third before Brandon Denton shut the door on Edenton.

The first two Post 58 batters went quietly in the bottom of the ninth and Spencer Bell coaxed a walk to get on runner on base. Collins Cuthrell forced a 2-1 count when Chad Whitehead, the Post 40 hurler, threw a wild pitch that rolled around the backstop area. It was enough to allow Bell to make it all the way to third. Edenton intentionally walked Cuthrell and up stepped Thomas Berry, who drills a ball to right center and the game is history as Post 58 outslugs Post 40 12-11

Edenton got its lead runner on in eight of the nine innings and seemed to threaten every inning. Lost in all the late-inning scoring was that Jeremy Sloop pitched six good innings for Post 58 and left the game leading 11-4 with only two runs earned. Not only did Brandon Denton get Post 58 out of a ninth-inning jam, but he wound up as the winning pitcher.

Post 58 had 17 hits to 16 for Post 40.

Kyle Norville led the hit parade for Post 58 gong 4-for-4. Thomas Berry not only had the winning hit, but two others to boot. Bell, Matthew Berry, Mike Smith and Cameron Ramsey each had two hits. Tyler Clark and Parker Helms had a hit apiece.

Post 58 finishes up it conference play Sunday with a doubleheader at starting at 5 p.m. at Historic Hicks Field in Edenton. All Post 58 needs is one win in the doubleheader to collect the No. 1 seed when the playoffs start on July 5.

Edenton plays Wilson Post 13 Saturday night and then plays 58 Sunday. If 58 loses both games and Edenton beats Wilson Saturday night then a three-way tie for first will occur and don't ask me how we pick the top two teams. First and second place in our division will play the third and fourth seeds, respectively, from the Goldsboro-Kinston-Greenville area at home in the first game of a best of five series. Third place starts on the road at the No. 2 seed from that same area.

Post 58 is 6-1 in conference play and 13-4 overall. Wilson Post 13 is 4-2 and now Edenton is 3-3 setting up the big weekend finish. If we tie Wilson, we own the tiebreaker since we beat its squad two of three.

Life will be made much simpler if we win one game Sunday.

Legion Wins Again-Then Loses

Rocky Mount American Legion Post 58 disposed of Ahoskie Post 102 last night 13-2 in eight innings. Post 58 is now 5-0 in conference play with four games this week remaining against the teams that could dethrone them at the top spot in the league.

Tonight at 7.00pm Post 58 host arch rival Wilson Post 13. Rocky Mount has already beaten Wilson twice this season but Wednesday night Edenton Post 40 will be at Gryphon Stadium and next Sunday at 5.00pm Rocky Mount travels to Edenton for a 5.00pm doubleheader. Any combination of losses in any of these four games could knock Post 58 from the top spot.

Post 58 started a stretch of four games that could mean first place if they win two out of four, lose all four and they drop to third place. Tonight Post 58 held a 6-1 lead in the top of the sixth and give up six runs the most they have given up in any inning this year and lose to Wilson Post 13 7-6.

Matthew Berry had three rbi's while Collins Cuthrell, Kyle Norville and Michael Whitehead chip in a run batted in.

Avery Harper came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth when Rocky Mount scored four times on starter Zac Lee and shut the door on Post 58. Kyle Shields came in in the eighth to finish of Post 58.

Spencer Bell gave 58 five good innings but ran out of gas in the sixth. Jeremy Trevathan came in to hold Post 13 after his first batter got a hit and eventually scored what was the winning run.

Post 13 had fourteen hits to twelve for Post 58. This loss Makes 58 5-1 in conference play. Wilson is now 4-2 and Edenton comes to Gryphon Stadium Wednesday night with a 3-2 record and they have one game left with Wilson and three with Post 58.

The top two seeds get home games in the first round of the playoff while the number three starts on the road. To say the least this game Wednesday night is huge.

Prime Time Golf

If there is one advantage to playing golf on the west coast those of us back here in the east can watch golf to bedtime. I liked Saturday night's prime time coverage. Sunday the golfing world wants to make sure if there is any weather delay they can still finish on Sunday so Sunday finished an hour sooner than Saturday night.

I played golf a lot during my earlier years. This time of year when you can get and extra thirty yards from a hard ground on good days I could make 82 or 83. Five times in my life I broke 80. twice I shot 75, once 76, 77 and once 78. When I had scores like that those were the days that I played like Tiger played on Saturday or Phil Mickelson on Friday. I could knock the pin down or make fifty foot putts. Everything went in.

The next time I played I was lucky to break 90. There were three 66's shot this week at the U S Open. Phil Mickelson shot his on Friday and backed it up with a 74 on Saturday. Tiger Woods sent electrical charges through the crowd in prime time Saturday night and followed up Sunday with a 75. Little known Dustin Johnson match Tiger with a 66 on Saturday and followed his greatest round with the second worse final round score from the leader going into the final round 82.

Golf is a hard game to play relaxed. While you are on the course you don't have to worry about any problems of the world only that little ball that I can hit out of sight sometimes will not go where I want it too. You see when I hit it out of sight it is in the woods.

The last time I played golf which I think was in 2002. A business friend from California was at work with me and wanted to play golf on a North Carolina Course. We went to Northgreen during the period it was not in it's best shape. I had not played before that day in three or four years.

Number one at Northgreen is a par five. I drove my first drive about 240 yards making a nice easy swing hoping not to knock out a window of a home on the first hole. I don't have a club in my bag that off the ground I can hit 200 yards so I layed up nicely short of the green with my second shot. I pitched to fifteen feet from the hole and two putted for par.

You would have thought I had won the US Open. Hadn't played golf in three years but I haven't lost a thing. I'm going to show my friend a 80 today. The second hole I was in the fairway 200 yards short. Now remember I can't get on the green 200 yards away but todayI could. I hit a three wood about 120 yards deep in the woods on the right leading to a triple bogie. Boy, my dream of shooting 80 turn into a fifteen foot putt on the last hole for 100.

I haven't played golf since.

Why is it some days the ball knows where to go and then others it does what it wants to do just like today's teenagers.

I loved playing golf. Wish I could play now. I love being miserable on the golf course, because every fifteen shots I play like Tiger.

Weekend Warrior

Hobbs Johnson is now a freshman at UNC as he is in summer school at Chapel Hill. Hobbs played right field in yesterday's first game of the double header with Ahoskie. He was 0-3 in the game and looked as if he was rusty. Today Hobbs toed the hill for Coleman Pitt Post 58 in a match of two power eastern North Carolina legion programs. He was rusty batting but he looked like Hobbs Johnson the Carolina pitcher for more than six innings today as Coach Hank Jones shook his hand as he took in out of the game in the seventh. Johnson allowed seven hits in six and one third innings but struck out seven and walked only two batters. He left the mound leading 6-4 with a runner on third and relief pitcher Jeremy Trevathan shut the door in the seventh and only allowed one base runner in two and two thirds innings of relief work earning the save.

Collins Cuthrell got Post 58 rolling in the first with a two run homer. Spencer Bell who open the game with a hit scored ahead of Cuthrell. The third inning Post 58 plated three runs on rbi's by T J Taylor and two by Kyle Norvelle. A single run scored in the fifth after back to back singles by Taylor and Norville put runners on first and third and Parker Helms hit a sac fly to center. Post 58 close out their scoring adding two extra runs in the eighth on a two rbi hit by Spencer Bell.

Post 58 pounded out twelve hits to eight by Wayne County. Spencer Bell , Collins Cuthrell, T J Taylor, Kyle Norvelle and Parker Helms all had rbi's in the game. Kyle Norvelle had three hits, Spencer Bell and Tyler Clark and T J Taylor had two each. Collins Cuthrell, Jeremy Sloop and Michael Whitehead all had one hit.

Post 58 begins their last week stretch run as they have five conference games this week and it starts Monday night at Ahoskie. Tuesday and Wednesday will be the last home regular season games as they host Wilson Tuesday and Edenton Wednesday. Sunday night they play in Edenton a double header which will close out conference play. They finish the regular season Monday June 28th at Wayne County.

There was talk today that the rain out with Post 39 may be made up during the week waiting for the playoffs which begin July 5th to keep from being idle for a whole week before the playoffs.

Post 58 is now 11-3 and 4-0 in conference play but as far as seedings is concerned this is the week with five games.

Heat,Pitching and Hot Dogs

Rocky Mount American Legion Post 58 swept a doubleheader from Ahoskie Post 102 Saturday afternoon at Gryphon Stadium.

Post 58 score eight runs in the bottom of the first inning in game one on seven hits and all but ended game one. Cameron Ramsey's bases loaded double cleared the bases. The Berry boys Thomas and Matthew both had rbi's along with Jeremy Sloop, Parker Helms pitched a five inning two hitter as Post 58 ten rule ruled Ahoskie in the opener 11-0 in five innings.

T J Taylor, Tyler Clark and Jeremy Sloop had two hits in game one. Matthew and Thomas Berry had a hit as well as the Cameron Ramsey's Double. Helms struck out five and walked two and also hit a batter but kept Post 102 at bay.

Between games both teams enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers which were cooked by Steve Trevanthan. All any of us needed in game two was a recliner with the heat of the day and the hot dogs both teams were in Slow motion.

Brandon Denton who tested his shoulder for the first time since the Clayton game pitched four good innings for Hank Jones before Jones used three other pitchers for an inning a piece Trellis Ashley, Kyle Norvelle and Bill Clark. Denton had six strikeouts and Norvelle struck out the side his one inning and Ashley stuck out one in his inning for a total of ten on the game. Denton gave up four hits which would be all the hits Post 102 would get.

T J Taylor had a pop up double that nobody for Post 102 wanted to catch which plated two runs. Kyle Norvelle backed Taylor's double with a three bagger to produce the only rbi's in the game. The heat pouring down both teams managed to get through seven innings which was agreed by both coaches prior to the start of each game. Post 58 5 and Post 102 zero.

Fuller Weatherly was the only 58 player to get two hits. Tyler Clark had a single,T J Taylor's double, Kyle Norvelle's triple and the other hit was gotten by Michael Whitehead.

Post 58 hits the diamond Father's day Sunday afternoon playing Wayne County at 3.00pm at NC Wesleyan College. Post 58 is now 10-3 on the season but are 4-0 in conference play.

Post 58 Wins Showdown

Just Wednesday Greenville Post 39 and Rocky Mount Post 58 lost a game with each other due to a rain out but fair skies prevailed in Greenville on Thursday. Kyle Norville pitch three scoreless innnings of relief to preserve an 8-5 victory for Post 58.

Norville helped the cause with a two run homer and three hits in the game but 58 had plenty of help as Matthew Berry and Collins Cuthrell also reached base safely three times. This non-conference victory ups Post 58 record to 8-3 while Post 39 suffered only their second loss of the season.

Post 58 will host Ahoskie Post 102 Saturday at 1.00pm in a double header which is a conference battle. heading towards Saturday Post 58 is 2-0 in conference play.

What in the world has happened to basketball. I sat through one of the worse games I have ever tried to watch last night with the Lakers beating the Celtics 84-79. If you remember I complained that the NCAA championship game was a football game and I think last night was closer to a rugby game. There is no art to the way that officiating has taken basketball any more. The worse part of all is I was watching at the end. Stupid me.

I am trying to put together information on all our college players and what they are doing this summer. I understand that Brian Goodwin is playing in the Cape Cod league. The Cape Cod league is considered the premier summer college baseball league. Ben Fish and Xavier Macklin are in the Coastal league. I will try to find out about all our guys.

While the NBA was in commercial last night I was clicking the dial and ran across the Wilson Tobs. Channel 20 on the cable was doing the game live last night from Wilson. I say bravo to the station. We need more live local programming and I am not just talking about sports