Make Or Break Week For Baseball

The Rocky Mount Gryphons open their conference schedule this week and they play three games. All three will be at home. This could be an advantage playing home if they win all three but if they lose say two of three they would be in a major hole to dig out of the rest of the season.

Nash Central has been pointing to this game since the end of last season as they have their top two pitchers returning and most of the offense back from last year. The short history of the Bulldogs they have only beaten the Rocky Mount varsity once and they feel this is their best opportunity ever.

The Bulldogs had better expect to see Benton Moss Tuesday and I can't see any reason why not pitch your ace against a team that totally expects to beat you. This game to me is almost like when Rocky Mount and SouthWest played the opening conference game in football when they were in the conference with us. The loser has to play catch up all season and can't afford to lose again.

My thinking on pitching Moss on Tuesday is what if it rains Thursday-Friday and Saturday and you don't play another game this week. I want my ace to get me off to a 1-0 conference record and we will go from there.

I suspect Jeremy Johnson will get the call Thursday against Hunt. Yes Hunt is the favorite but who does Hunt wait and pitch on Thursday. They start with Northern Nash and that is a easy game to lose if you hold back your best and save them for Rocky Mount.

Friday Kent Cox can go with his entire staff if he is able to get by with Moss and Johnson going almost all the way on Tuesday and Thursday. Fike will be just like Rocky Mount by Friday and will struggle to find quality pitching. A ace in the hole for Rocky Mount is if it comes down to the seventh inning and they are trying to hold on to a lead. Benton Moss is schedule for bullpen work Friday and if needed could pitch the seventh inning for a save if that was to come about.

I believe the Big East is only guaranteed three spots this year in the playoffs and losing twice this week will almost put anybody in the can't lose any more this year mode. Like football and Basketball it doesn't look like anybody will go undefeated but if you want to insure a playoff spot you had better not lose more than twice in conference.

Basketball Season Is Over.

If you follow the ACC your season is over no need to even watch next Saturday or the following Monday night's National Championship game.

Carolina ran into a team that could stop John Henson and with it slowed Carolina down enough that they could never get the lead late in the game. Kentucky and John Calipari head to the final four. I wonder what skeleton will be found in Calapari's closet this time to have his team stripped from the record book. This is the third team that he has taken to the Final Four but the other two were stripped of ever being mentioned as going because of violations.

This has been the most exciting tournament ever. If there is one area that I wish the NCAA would improve is the three point shot. The line is so close that twice Friday night teams called time out with about 25 seconds to go one was down by two and and the other was tied. When they came out of the time out neither tried to go inside the three point line at all and ran the clock down to try a wild three point shot.

N C State has said nothing about any possible candidates for their coaching job which Debbie Yow has said would happen until she was ready to make an announcement. Shaka Smart at VCU has to be the leading candidate the way VCU has played. He's off limits for another week now that VCU is in the Final Four. I can see the same type players as N C State has written all over the VCU Rams. The biggest difference is VCU has discipline where State these past five years have had none of that.

I have filled out brackets way back in 1971 when working at the Radio station in Ahoskie. The Associated Press would send out the tournament when they only had 22 teams in the field. Since 1979 when it went to 64 teams this is the first time I don't have at least one team in Final Four. I will not win any brackets this year. I just looked at one in which there is nearly 70 people in and there is not one person on the list that can get the championship game right.

Cousin Lauren shot 75 today and finished 65th. Believe it or not she moved up today as she was tied for 74th going into today's final round of the Futures Tour event in Florida.

I hope you had a chance to watch the Stretchlon Sport Show tonight. Kenny Dickerson the head of SEAM spoke about the sport missions that he leads. They have a fund raiser at the Pizza Inn Monday Night from 5-8. Hope you can make it.