Gainey Named NCBCA Coach Of The Year

The North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association has named Rocky Mount High School  boys basketball Mike Gainey as the coach of the year.  This is not and award as the 3-A coach of the year but for all levels of high schools  boys and girls in North Carolina.

Gainey who has lead Rocky Mount to two State Championships in the past three seasons finished this year with a 27-3 record and beat Hickory in the 3-A championship game 68-54.    Gryphon senior Terrill Hilliard has been named to the first team NCBCA All State team.  Hilliard is the only player from this area to make the all State top three teams.

This afternoon Rocky Mount baseball played the host team South Johnston in the fifth place game of the South Johnston Tournament.  Gryphons lose 9-5.  They will now not play again until next Thursday nines days from now as they will travel to Northern Nash to start the second go round in conference baseball play.

Prayer Time:  Speaking of Northern pitcher Hunter Watson has been involved in a four wheeler accident and is in Greenville under going treatment and has probably been lost for the season.  I understand he has multible injuries but I don't know the extent.

During my years either doing play by play on radio or TV I have come across many friends who have no idea who I am but because they have heard me and I covered something they wanted to know about we have become friends with many people.

One of those people is Greg Pierce who graduated from Rocky Mount High in 1987,  Greg now lives in Fuquay Varina and has a property Investment Company.  Greg still loves his Gryphons and any time he can pick up a game on radio he has listened and over the years we have corresponded with each other.  Once coming to a Gryphon football game he made a visit to the booth just to meet me.  He and I have become E-mail buddies and he is all the time asking me about the Gryphons.

Ten days a go Greg's son Drew who plays soccer on one of the select teams in the Raleigh area broke his leg in two places and went to Rex Hospital to get it reset.  By Wednesday it was discovered that his leg was dying  and blood flow was cut off to his feet and toes.  He was transferred to UNC Hospitals where Drew has undergone  several operations in the last week to save his leg.

A week has past and Drew is not out of the woods yet but signs are improving.  I hope you are like me and believe that prayer works and when a mass of people pray the Lord will listen. Drew and Hunter need our prayers.  Please join me in a prayer for these young men.

You know sports is vital to our society.  Whether it's a little leaguer getting hit in the head or a football player having a spinal injury, injuries occur in our pursuit of enjoyment.

News And Views

Gryphon baseball won today in the South Johnston baseball tournament 5-2 over Cleveland.  They meet South Johnston at 2.30pm Tuesday in the fifth place game.

Alex Pearce needs to get all his pitching days to be moved to Monday's.  That would require the Braves to start their series on Saturdays and end on Monday.  Two straight Mondays now Alex Pearce is the winning pitcher on a Monday game for UNC Pembroke as they won today in Florence SC 5-2.  Pearce is now 5-3 on the season and today was the only win the Braves had this weekend against Francis Marion.

Brian Goodwin will be starting out his first full season in pro baseball in Hagerstown Maryland.  This is the A level in the South Atlantic league.  This has to be a major disappointment for Brian.  Signing the multi million dollar contract with the Nationals as he did last August he was expected during the winter and spring training to hopefully start at AA.

The Nationals have shown to be a club that doesn't mind spending money and their top prospect Bryce Harper has been sent to AAA to begin the year.  The Nationals have signed many veteran players this off season and finding slots to play just may have push Brian back to A ball.

2pm Tuesday afternoon the new Carolina Mudcats of the Carolina League will play their first game  as the A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.  The first team they will play will be the home club the Cleveland Indians.  I heard they were still advertising tickets this afternoon on the radio so if you are free you can't get the majors to come to you any  closer than 35 miles away Tuesday.  The Mudcats this year are the team that use to be in Kinston.

Tonight the National Championship of College basketball is underway and I find that I have no interest in watching this game.  No local team any where near the game I doubt whether I will even watch fives minutes.

So You Forgot What Day It Was

I would like to thank each and everyone of you that called, sent a text or e-mailed me about winning the half million on the lottery over the weekend but you all forgot what day it was.  I will be at work this morning if God is willing.  I bought two tickets for Friday's drawing and only had two numbers altogether on both tickets.  So you have been duped.

Northern's Tyler Joyner pitched a complete game for the Pirates of ECU Saturday as the Pirates handed Alabama Birmingham a ten run loss 12-2.   Tyler has worked his way to the ECU Saturday starter.

Sunday Benton Moss left the Carolina game after pitching five innings with the lead but did not get the win when the Demon Deacons tied Carolina in the Ninth.  The Heels won in the bottom of the ninth.  Pitching for Rocky Mount Benton had high strike out totals but I never expected this as a freshman.  Adding the five innings Sunday Benton has pitched 31.1 innings on the year and has struck out 40 batters.

Last year Hobbs Johnson was Carolina's designated pitcher to one left handed batter per game.  This year has average outing is over an inning at a time and his ERA has dropped all the way down  to 1.15.

Alex Pearce will once again pitch today for the Braves of UNC-Pembroke.   They missed a weekend game with rain and have been pushed to Monday again.  Alex will try for win #5.  Alex pitched and played practically very position at Nash Central.  After his freshman year at UNC-P and he was behind the plate catching who would have ever thought he would have a shot at five wins by early April in his senior season.

You know all four of our local players pitching in  Division one and two  baseball play  within a very comfortable drive.  You can count of Tyler pitching on Saturdays for the Pirates.  Benton and Alex pitching on Sundays and Hobbs could be in any weekend game for the Heels when the game is tight.

This is the last weekend of Spring training.  Minor league players  probably already know where they will spending  the summer up to the point where they are moved up or down.  Where Brian Goodwin and Xavier Macklin  will call home for a while will be known shortly.

  This weekend Lander College comes to Pembroke and of course that is the Team that "Baseball" Britt Johnson is assistant coach with.  Thomas Berry will also be  on the field as Thomas will square off against Alex Pearce next weekend.

The Not So Big-BIG Money

I would assume I am like you and you spent a dollar or two on the MEGA 640 million jackpot that was won by three different tickets on Friday night.  Sometimes we forget the other prizes that go along with playing the lottery.

I actually got 5 of the six right on one of my tickets and I plan to be in Raleigh when they open the lottery doors on Monday to pick up the 1.2 million I won getting 5 of the six numbers correct.  There were five other people in the lottery somewhere in the USA that got five of the six.  I hear that after taxes I will get about $525,000.

After I pay all my bills and hear from all my fifth cousins two times removed and if there is any money left I will be heading out of town for an extended period of time.  While I am in hiatus I do not plan to have any thing called a communication device with in my hearing or sight.  So while I am out of the area there will be no blog for a while starting as soon as the lottery office opens.

Yesterday the Gryphons were beaten 8-0 in the South Johnston Baseball Tournament.  The lone Gryphon hit belonged to Micah Varnell.  Sam Lilley was the Gryphon starter and pitched the first five innings and Andy Morris finished the 6th.  The Gryphons play Cleveland at 7pm Monday night.

There is no doubt Gryphon baseball has taken their lumps this season with five sophomores in the starting lineup.  Saturday's lost was #10 on the season for the Gryphons but five have come at the hands of 4-A schools.  Twice to Rose, once each to Riverside, East Wake and Clayton.  However I don't know of anybody who has the Gryphons on their schedule throwing a pity party.  The 4-A schools out of the picture the Gryphons are 4-5 against all others.   That would put them at average and when young is added in that makes for a long season.

As these sophomores are getting their feet wet they may make life miserable  for everyone over the next five weeks that they face up with the rest of their schedule.  Funny thing but they are not out of the playoffs yet and there are signs that this team is learning.  They may be down this year but next year they will all be seniors and juniors.

It is down to Kentucky and Kansas.  Kansas winning last night knocked me out of any money in the pool I'm in.  Best I can do now is fourth.  But with my half mill I think I can get by.

Quirkie Schedule

I have spent the last 48 hours dreaming of how I was going to spend the 640 million dollars which I did not win, so it is back to reality.

It's kind of bad for baseball today but if the weather allows Gryphon baseball plays Clayton at 2pm today in Four Oaks in the South Johnston Baseball tournament.  If this tournament is like most I am sure they want to be finished by Wednesday so if they are rained out today might find a day where they play two.  That would be more likely if they were to lose the first game when ever it is played.

Whenever the tournament is over they Gryphons don't play again until Thursday April 12th and it is at Northern Nash.  Talk about messing up a schedule.  Didn't they just play Thursday night?  My only thought is all this Nash County schools out the week before Easter and Wilson County out the week after, you do the best you can to get all the games in by April 26th trying to mix and match each county school and their Easter schedule.

Today is semi final day in New Orleans.  My pick Kentucky is still alive but I tell you this is a powerhouse of big name college basketball programs.

If all of the pre draft talk shows that they will all be first round draft picks Carolina is going to lose not only the graduating  Zeller but Henson, Barnes and Marshall.  That sounds awful but the corral at Carolina is still full of race horses waiting their turn. This week has been quiet in Raleigh as they wait on C J Leslie's decision. 

Just two years ago Harrison Barnes was heralded as the greatest player since sliced cheese.  He was named preseason All American.  C J Leslie came to Raleigh vowing in his news conference that State was back with him on the team.  Last weekend Barnes was biggest weakness was exposed as he can't dribble and Leslie can't score face to face against  seven foot big men.

I believe in the NBA that one on one basketball the style of the NBA requires dribbling and the NBA is loaded with seven foot 300 pound inside players.  They both need to come back and improve.

It is hard to believe with or without Leslie the Pack may be the preseason favorite next year in the ACC now that the first shift at Carolina is gone.  They just might be a preseason top ten and if they happens they have not been rated that high in the preseason since David Thompson's senior season 1974-75.

Big Day For Gryphon Sports

North Carolina saw this past weekend what an injury can to  a team that expect greatness but an injury pops up and all the expectation go down the drain.  That is what happened to Lady Gryphon soccer last year after an outstanding 2010 year and just about the entire team returning in 11.  Injuries not to just one but several  made Lady Gryphon soccer a year to forget.

Tonight the Lady Gryphons battled Fike at home with the winner in sole occupation of first place  in the Big East as the conference has reached the back stretch in the season's  the halfway point. Tonight Rocky Mount defends the home turf and comes away with a 4-2 victory  over Fike and now stand at 5-0 in the conference while Fike falls to 3-1-1.  More importantly Rocky Mount is on a hot streak and have now run off 12 straight wins  and this years team looks more like what coach Drew Nick thought last year would look like.

A couple of blocks down the street North Nash  made what possibly could be their last visit ever to Gryphon Stadium.  The Gryphons in losing their first four conference games had scored but 7 runs but tonight the Gryphons double that out put and add one more to it as the Gryphons win their first conference game 8-4 over Northern.

You know  there must be something in the air when the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first for the Gryphons Jeremy Johnson  hits a home run to left field to give the Gryphons a 1-0 lead.  Northern responded by getting two hits  and a run in the second.

The Gryphons scored in the third on a walk to Johnson a line drive single by Will Edwards that get underneath the diving center fielder and rolls all the way to the wall to score Johnson.  Edwards scored on a sac fly by Andy Morris.  The Gryphons never trailed from there.

The Gryphons got eight hits on the night but got credit for only five rbi as five Knight errors help a appreciative Gryphons.  Rocky Mount did their part as only two of Northern's four runs were by rbi as  the Gryphons had three errors.

Will Edwards picked up the win going five innings  and he also had three hits and a rbi.  Andy Morris had two rbi on two sacs.  The fourth rbi was the Jeremy Johnson Home Run.  Northern collect six hits but David Williams had an rbi single and a rbi on a force play was credited to Jordan Braswell..

Northern drops to 2-3 and the Gryphons are 1-4 in the Big East

Rocky Mount opens play Saturday 2pm  in the South Johnston tournament against Clayton