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.
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Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts will be without former Tar Heel and current Colts center Jeff Saturday for a while after the veteran had knee surgery. The Pro Bowler had arthroscopic knee surgery to remove a "loose body" and has now started rehabilitation. The announcement was made about 2½ hours after practice Tuesday afternoon after Saturday had missed Monday and Tuesday's practices. The team didn't say how long Saturday will be out, but it's believed he could miss anywhere between two and six weeks. Saturday is one of the most durable in the game, having missed just six games since he won the starting job in 2000. He has been to four Pro Bowls and is the second-longest tenured Colts player behind Peyton Manning.
Well, speaking of track athletes, the UNC track and field family lost a coach and gold medalists this morning when Antonio Pettigrew was found dead in Chatam County. According to reports, the UNC assistant track coach's body was found in his car. Pettigrew was part of the 1,600-meter U.S. relay team that won the gold medal in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but the International Olympic Committee stripped the team of the medals in 2008 after Pettigrew admitted to using drugs during a trial against former coach Trevor Graham. Pettigrew had spent four seasons at North Carolina and focused on sprints, hurdle and relays. He graduated from St. Augustine's in Raleigh in 1992. The cause of death is unknown at this time.
Former Clemson standout and first-round draft pick C.J. Spiller has finally reached an agreement with the Buffalo Bills. Spiller agreed to a five-year deal potentially worth $37 million today. The running back's contract includes just under $21 million in guaranteed money. Spiller was selected ninth overall out of Clemson after joining Reggie Bush as the only two players to finish their college careers with 3,000 yards rushing, 1,500 yards in kickoff returns, 1,000 yards receiving and 500 yards in punt returns. Spiller has already missed 11 practices since the Bills started training camp on July 29th, but he was expected to be participating with the team today after agreeing to the contract. The ACC's player of the year last season finished his four-year college career with 51 touchdowns, including 32 rushing. Listed at 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds, Spiller has dynamic speed and has showed that he's unafraid to run the ball up the middle, which could be vital to the Bills after Buffalo's offense has ranked 25th or worst in yards gained in each of the past seven seasons.
Indoor track within the state of North Carolina may not have a home for the state meet this coming year after the original site, the University of North Carolina Indoor Track Facility, won't be available because of renovations. Without the use of the indoor track facilities at UNC Chapel Hill, indoor track is left without a place to hold their state meet. Since going out-of-state is not an option, the Holmes Center is the only other option in the state. The Holmes Center is the only other indoor facility in North Carolina, but since the state indoor meet is usually held around St. Valentine's Day weekend, conflicts would have to be sorted out with the ASU men's and women's basketball teams.
Stephen Curry continues to make a name for himself, this time for the USA National team. Curry, the former Davidson College basketball standout, recently joined the USA National team. The man who is almost single-handedly responsible for taking Davidson to the Final Four in 2008, is trying to follow up on a strong rookie campaign in the NBA for the Golden State Warriors. After being drafted last year with the seventh pick in the first round last year, Curry was a runner-up for rookie-of-the-year honors. He averaged 17.5 points-per-game, shot 46% from the floor, 44% from the three-point line, and 89% from the foul line. He will join 21 other players for Team USA at training camp in Las Vegas July 19-24. Curry will be joined on the National team roster by Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets, Gerald Wallace of the Charlotte Bobcats and Lamar Odom of the champion Los Angeles Lakers. 27 players in all complete the roster, including 11 Olympians.
After being named to various honors, completing successful senior seasons, and getting drafted, Wes Hobson and Chris Patterson have something else to add to their list of accolades. Hobson and Patterson were both named to the second-team ABCA/Rawlings all-Atlantic Region recognition from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). The ABCA's Atlantic Region includes Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Appalachian was one of only five schools with multiple all-Atlantic Region selections, joining national powers Georgia Tech, Virginia, Coastal Carolina and Miami (Fla.).
Hobson had a record-breaking year in every way imaginable, winning the Southern Conference batting title with a .404 average, recording 95 hits, a school-record 69 runs scored, 22 doubles, 11 home runs, 54 RBI, a .655 slugging percentage, .474 on-base percentage and 17 stolen bases en route to third-team all-America and first-team all-state and all-conference accolades. In 206 career games, Hobson hit .362 and set ASU all-time records with 318 hits, 879 at-bats, 223 runs, 78 doubles and 504 total bases. He was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 40th round of this month's MLB Draft and began his professional career earlier this week with the Arizona Giants of the rookie-level Arizona League.
After setting up for all-American Zach Quate last season, Patterson established himself as the SoCon's premier closer this year. His SoCon-best 13 saves broke his predecessor's year-old school record of 11 and led the nation for much of the season. He finished his senior campaign with a 4-4 record, 1.67 ERA, .213 opponents' batting average and 60 strikeouts in 29 appearances. He surrendered just eight earned runs on 34 hits and walked only 13 over 43 innings of work. Patterson was especially impressive in 26 regular-season appearances, going 3-2 with a 0.96 ERA, .182 opponents' batting average and 55 strikeouts. He allowed just 25 hits and four earned runs and issued only nine walks in 37.1 innings en route to first-team all-conference recognition. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 26th round of the MLB Draft and has begun his professional career with the nearby Johnson City Cardinals of the rookie-level Appalachian League.
Congratulations to both Wes Hobson and Chris Patterson on the all-region honors and good luck to both of them in their professional careers, we all will be watching for them!
Recognize this guy? Yeah, Coach Capel, amidst hosting camp, beginning the July recruiting period, oh yeah, and just trying to get acclimated to being the head coach, sat down with ESPN's Dana O'Neil. The article, which discusses his first two months on the job as well as his family ties to the coaching business, was posted on ESPN's home page for a while and is a good read. Here's the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=5316101.
What has happened to our ASU baseball team? Somebody needs to change up their pre-game rituals or something because the Mountaineers have been scuffling as of late. Appalachian had no answer for the red-hot Wake Forest offense as they lost 10-3 to the Demon Deacons on Tuesday evening at Wake Forest Baseball Park. The loss was the eighth in the last nine games for the Mountaineers and ruined their bid to finish tied for the nation's fewest losses in non-conference play this season. ASU wrapped up the non-conference portion of its regular-season schedule with just two defeats in 23 games, one more than No. 3 Arizona State, which has finished its non-league slate at 27-1. Wake Forest at 16-36, came into Tuesday's contest fresh off of taking 2-of-3 games from No. 19 Clemson last weekend. The Demon Deacons continued their torrid pace by torching six Mountaineer pitchers for 10 runs on 14 hits. The Demon Deacons did all of the damage in the middle innings, plating two runs in the third and fourth frames, five in the fifth and one in the sixth en route to scoring in double-digits for the third time in their last five contests. One of the few bright spots for the Mountaineers was that Jerod Faggart hit his 13th home run of the season, which is the fourth-most in school history and the most by a Mountaineer since Kenny Osborne hit 15 in 1997. It was also the 28th of his career, which moves him into a tie for fifth all-time at ASU. Another bright spot was that Jack Myers collected three of Appalachian's eight hits in a 3-for-4 effort, which was a career-high. Appalachian closes the regular season with a three-game Southern Conference series at Wofford this weekend. The series begins with a single game on Friday at 7 p.m. and concludes with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday at King Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Mountaineer baseball team opens the final week of the regular season on Tuesday evening when it travels to Wake Forest for its final non-conference contest of the campaign. The game is set for 6 p.m. at Wake Forest Baseball Park (formerly Ernie Shore Field) in Winston-Salem, N.C, as ASU attempts to go for their 2nd season sweep of the Demon Deacons in the last three years. Appalachian (32-15-1) has struggled following a week-long break for final exams, losing seven of their last 8 contests since finals wrapped up on May 5.
Appalachian could reach some significant milestones though with a victory. With a win, ASU would complete the non-conference portion of its regular-season slate with a sterling 22-1 record, which would clinch it for no less than a tie for the fewest non-conference losses in NCAA Division I baseball this year. No. 3 Arizona State (27-1 in non-conference action) is the only other team among 301 Division I clubs nationwide with only one non-conference setback. Also, a win would be ASU's 33rd of the season, giving the program its most regular-season wins since it won 40 games in 1986.
Following Tuesday's ballgame, the Mountaineers wrap up the regular season with a three-game Southern Conference series at Wofford. The teams will square off in a single game on Friday at 7 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. at King Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
