Well, Watauga High School continues to experience losses on their coaching staff this year, as the high school announced that Brittany Ross, the cheer-leading coach, is resigning due to personal reasons. Brittany's last game will be tomorrow night's football game against Avery Co, and the cheer-leading coaching position will be filled by Co-Coaches Dyan Kincaid and Lauren Salisbury. Both currently teach at Green Valley Elementary School in Watauga County. Watauga wants to thank Brittany for her hard work and dedication to the athletic program. MTN also wants to wish Coach Ross the best in her future.
A.C. Reynolds High School is forfeiting their season-opening win over West Forsyth this week after the North Carolina High School Association announced that the Rockets had an ineligible player in the line-up in its season opener against the Titans. The unidentified player reportedly started for Asheville High School in 2006, and according to state bylaws, athletes are only eligible for athletics for four years or eight semesters, beginning on the first day an athlete is enrolled in high school. In addition to that, the rules state that if a player dresses for a game, then they have participated in that game, whether he steps on the playing field or not. The Rockets, who play Black Mountain Owen Friday night, are expected to appeal the NCHSAA ruling.
From the football field to the classroom, ASU had some encouraging news this week as 197 ASU student-athletes were named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll for the 2009-10 academic year. Over 1,900 student-athletes in total were honored from the conference's 12 institutions, making it the most honorees since the inception of the honor roll. The academic honor roll consists of student-athletes who participated in varsity sports at member institutions and posted a 3.0 grade point average or higher while passing at least 24 hours in two semesters of classes or its equivalent for other academic calendars. The average GPA of the 1,921 student-athletes honored was 3.46, and of those, 858 student-athletes had a 3.5 GPA or better, earning them the Commissioner's Medal. Seven Mountaineers were honored with the Commissioner's Medal, representing seven different ASU varsity sports and all posted a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Those student-athletes include field hockey's Kate Garnet, softball's Maria Gulas, Caroline Lowe of the women's soccer team, women's tennis' Caroline Mauch, Hannah Parks who competed for both the women's cross country and track and field teams, volleyball's Maggie Seeds, and baseball's David Towarnicky. We at MTN want to congratulate all the student-athletes honored for the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.
ASU was busy this week signing head baseball coach Chris Pollard to a three-year extension. Pollard had one year remaining on his contract, but with the extension he is now locked up through the 2014 season. As the coach of the Mountaineers the last six years, Pollard has engineered the program's turnaround from back-to-back 10-win seasons to its current string of four-straight 30-win campaigns. This past season, Pollard turned in one of the nation's finest coaching efforts when he led Appalachian to the second-highest win total in school history with a 38-18-1 campaign. After losing seven players in two years to the Major League Baseball Draft, Pollard's club jumped out to the best start in program history at 10-0 and was one of the final four remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I when it finally lost its first game of the year nearly a month into the season. ASU's RPI climbed to as high as No. 7 nationally and the Mountaineers capped the season with three victories at the 2010 Southern Conference Tournament, falling just one win shy of playing for its first NCAA Tournament berth in 24 years. Pollard has compiled a 170-165-2 record in six season's as ASU's head coach. His 170 wins are the second-most by any coach in ASU's 107-year baseball history while his .507 winning percentage ranks third.
Sticking with ASU baseball, junior southpaw Will Helms capped a successful 2010 by being named the Southern Collegiate Baseball League's Most Valuable Pitcher this week. Helms went 5-0 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 outings to help lead the Lake Norman Copperheads to a SCBL championship this summer. He struck out 38 and walked only eight in 51.2 innings of work, limiting opposing hitters to a .236 average. In addition to the SCBL MVP honor, Helms was also named to the National Alliance of Collegiate Summer Baseball all-star team. Helms also went 5-0 with the Mountaineers last spring, serving primarily as the set-up man for all-conference closer Chris Patterson. He surrendered one earned run or less in 26 of his 30 appearances for ASU in 2010, posting a 3.86 ERA and .259 opposing batting average.
In addition to the honors, ASU also found out at least one series of their 2011 schedule this week. The Mountaineers schedule includes a three-game series at perennial national power Miami (Fla). Appalachian will take on the Hurricanes at Miami's Alex Rodriguez Stadium on Feb. 24th, 25th and 26th. ASU has squared off with the 23-time College World Series participants just once previously, which resulted in a 13-6 loss that eliminated the Mountaineers from the 1973 NCAA District III playoffs in Starkville, Miss. The Mountaineers' entire 2011 schedule, which includes 26 games at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium, and four additional contests at neutral sites in western North Carolina, will be announced in the near future.
The Hickory Crawdads got back on the winning track on Wednesday night as they beat the Asheville Tourists, 10-3. The win was not just an ordinary win though, with the Lakewood BlueClaws win and a Greensboro Grasshoppers loss on Wednesday night, the Hickory Crawdads clinched the final Northern Division playoff spot. The 'Dads will face the BlueClaws in Game 1 of the Division Championship Series at L.P. Frans Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 8th at 7 p.m. Of course we wouldn't be talking about the playoffs had the Crawdads not won on Wednesday evening, and they cruised in the win, jumping out to a 7-0 lead with four tallies in the third and three more in the fourth inning. With Jonathan Roof on at second and two outs in the third, Jared Bolden grounded an RBI double down the right field line to plate Roof and crack the scoreless tie. Travis Adair then followed with an RBI single, before DH Jared Prince belted an RBI double and LF Yefry Castillo grounded an RBI single to account for the 4-0 lead. Hickory kept swinging away in the fourth, plating three more runs on back-to-back RBI singles by Adair and Zaneski and an RBI fielder's choice by Prince. RF Guillermo Pimentel then made it an 8-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the fifth. The Tourists got on the board with a two-run homer by 3B Nolan Arenado against RHP Jake Brigham in the bottom of the sixth, but those were the only two runs surrendered by Brigham in his six-inning start, while he racked up six strikeouts. Hickory stretched the lead back to eight runs at 10-2 on another RBI single by Castillo and an RBI sacrifice fly by 1B Mike Ortiz in the top of the eighth. RHP Kyle Ocampo tossed his second straight scoreless frame in the bottom of the eighth, before giving way to RHP Joe Van Meter, who just joined the team from the Arizona League Rangers. Van Meter surrendered one unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, but closed out the 10-3 win for the Crawdads. Brigham earned the win for Hickory, while RHP Nick Schnaitmann (8-10) was tagged with the loss for Asheville.
MTN will be broadcasting this Friday's Avery-Watauga High School varsity football game on Saturday and Sunday at 8:30pm, so make sure to mark your calendars.
The Avery Middle School football team traveled to East Yancey in Yancey County for the opening of the Toe River Conference season on Tuesday night. Avery Middle had not defeated East Yancey since 2002, and East Yancey looked to continue that after jumping out to an early first quarter lead. But Avery stopped the all-important two-point conversion. Late in the first quarter, Avery running back Tre Jackson broke loose for a 50 yard touchdown run to tie the score at six. In the 2nd quarter, Avery quarterback Austin Phillips completed a long fly route to wide receiver Kobe Pittman to set Avery up in East Yancey territory, and then Tre Jackson again carried the football around the left end for 25 yards down to the 3 yard line, before Wade Smith weaved his way and dove over from the 3 to give Avery its first lead of the game. Avery quarterback Austin Phillips then sprinted around the left side for the crucial two-point conversion that gave Avery a 14-6 lead. Late in the 2nd quarter, East Yancey scored on a quarterback run around right end, but Tre Jackson intercepted the crucial two-point conversion pass to keep Avery in front 14-12 as the two teams went into halftime. The 2nd half became a defensive battle as the Avery defense time and again stopped East Yancey without a first down. The only drive that East Yancey put together came in the 3rd quarter as they got to the Avery 25 yard line, but Avery's Wade Smith intercepted an East Yancey pass and ran it back across midfield to give the field position battle back to Avery. From that point on, the Avery defense dominated up front and did not allow another East Yancey first down for the rest of the game. Avery had to punt with 3 minutes remaining, but a great punt coverage tackle by Avery's Luke Crowe forced East Yancey to start from deep in their own territory. The Avery defense was magnificent on all 4 plays, with linebacker Kobe Pittman making a big hit on 3rd down, and defensive lineman Andy Hughes finishing them off with a 4th down quarterback sack. Avery took a knee on the final 2 plays, and then the Avery players celebrated together excitedly as the clock ran out and Avery had defeated East Yancey for the first time since 2002, winning by the final score of 14-12. The win moves Avery to 1-0 in the Toe River Conference and a tie for first place.
Meanwhile, the other Avery County team, Cranberry Middle School, also opened their season with a win at Bowman Middle School in Mitchell County. Cranberry lost their star player Tyler Pittman on the game's first play with a broken collarbone, and we hope that Tyler makes a full recovery. But even without Tyler, Cranberry was not to be denied as they played well together as a team, and Cranberry won by a score of 26-20 over Bowman. With the win, Cranberry moves into a tie for first place also with a 1-0 record. The win by both Avery Middle School teams is the first time that the two Avery teams have both won on opening day in many years. And in other Toe River Conference action, Cane River defeated Harris Middle School 38-0. MTN wants to congratulate both Avery and Cranberry Middle Schools for their big Conference wins.
Fresh off two exciting wins over the weekend, the ASU field hockey team now has more to celebrate after freshman Emily Knapp received the NorPac East Rookie of the Week honor. Knapp made her collegiate debut on Saturday, and she made it count, tallying two goals, including the game-winner, to defeat Ball State 4-3 in overtime. The Great Falls, Va. native notched her first career goal in the second half, which at the time tied the match 2-2, before winning it in overtime. For the first-time in seven years, the Apps are 2-0 to begin the year. The Black and Gold's 7-1 win over Siena on Sunday also marked its largest victory since a 7-1 thrashing of St. Francis on September 20, 2003. Appalachian takes to the field again on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Towson at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Fresh off their 1-0 exhibition win over UNC Asheville, ASU's men's soccer team was picked to finish seventh in the SoCon by the league's head coaches this week. College of Charleston was tabbed to win the league crown this year. They will be making a bid to become the sixth different team to claim the SoCon regular season championship in six seasons. College of Charleston collected five of eight first-place votes and 47 points overall. Meanwhile, Elon was predicted to finish second, tallying 40 points and one first-place vote. Furman came in at third place with 34 points, while grabbing one first-place vote. Wofford, who won both of the 2009 regular season and tournament titles, was predicted to finish fourth, with Davidson rounding out the top five with 25 points and the last first-place vote. The top five was followed by UNCG (21), Appalachian State (19) and Georgia Southern (8). Third-year head coach Shaun Pendleton and the Moutaineers open the 2010 regular season this Friday at 5 p.m. against Bowling Green as part of the Davidson Adidas Classic.
The Hickory Crawdads finally righted the ship after they took the opening game of their series against the Asheville Tourists, 6-5, on Monday night. Facing a 4-2 deficit with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, the Crawdads (71-60, 31-30) came storming back with four runs in the frame. The 'Dads got the rally started when Jared Prince smacked a two-run double off the left-center field wall, tying the game. Prince then moved to third when C Zach Zaneski struck out on a wild pitch and was able to reach base safely. 1B Jared Bolden then struck out on a wild pitch and reached first base as well, enabling Prince to charge home and Zaneski to move to second. 3B Matt West dealt the final blow with an RBI single to bring in Zaneski and put Hickory ahead, 6-4. Asheville inched closer with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth, but Neil Ramirez then struck out the side in the fifth before retiring three straight in the sixth. He then got the first out in the seventh inning, before giving way to RHP Johan Yan, who loaded the bases with only one away. Yan then induced a low liner to 2B Jonathan Roof, who made the grab right before it was about to land and then fired it behind the runner at first to turn the inning-ending double play. LHP Joseph Ortiz took over for the eighth and ninth, retiring all six in a row to close the Crawdads 6-5 win and pick up the save. Ramirez meanwhile, became the first Crawdad of the season to reach 10 wins, while LHP Wes Musick (7-7) was tagged with the loss for Asheville.
