ASU Mountaineers Raiding South Charlotte for Baseball Players

The Appalachian State Mountaineers have come down off the mountain to grab a fantastic trio of South Charlotte baseball players in the past week. The Mountaineers have picked up commitments from Tyler Tewell, (Butler), Ryan Stetston (Ardrey Kell) and Tyler Zupcic, (Providence)

These three kids are all super baseball players and quality kids. Sounds like ASU is going to get serious about their baseball with these three players.

As we begin to look at the 2009 baseball season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see any of these three players as a finalist for the Greater Charlotte Hot Stove League Player of the Year. The award will be given on January 24th at the 2nd Annual Hot Stove League Dinner.

Congratulation to all three players!

Pineville Legion Team down 2-1 in Series, Must Win tonight

Coach Edwards and his American Legion players for Post 337 Pineville face a must win game tonight versus Cherryville. After 2 straight losses, the Best of 5 series now stands at 2-1 Cherryville. Pitching could be at a premium tonight as Pineville will bot have Jordan Darnell, Daniel Glenn or Mac Hunter available to start as they have all started a game in the last three days.

The bats must also come back alive for Pineville after falling silent the last two evenings. Someone for Pineville must step up and be a leader at the plate tonight.

It's time to get back to playing the type of baseball that got the team this far. If that happens, Pineville wins and heads to Cherryville for a decisive game five, possibly with Jordan Darnell on the mound.

No plans tonight? Come join me at Ardrey Kell to cheer on the home team. Cherryville will have plenty of fans there, hopefully Pineville will as well

Huge Game 3 tonight for Pineville Legion Team

Tonight's game 3 in the 5 game series between Pineville and Cherryville should be a big one. Both teams have been on opposite sides of blowouts in games 1 and 2. The winner of the Series moves on to the State Championship Tournament.

Last night at Ardrey Kell High School, the Pineville squad seemed to be way out of sync, committing tons of errors and baserunning mistakes. It was so out of character for this super talented team.

So what happens tonight in Cherryville? It could come down to pitching. Both teams are now a little deeper into their pitching rotations, so the first 4-5 innings will be very important. The Pineville defense must stay away from the errors and mistakes from last night. If they can do this and the bats of Jordan Darnell, Matt Crump and other stay hot, I can see Pineville returning home on Tuesday night with a 2-1 lead.

Regardless of what happens tonight, Tuesday night will be a great night for area fans to join me at the ball park at AKHS for an outstanding evening of baseball. Tyler (my 5 year old) can't wait to see his two favorite players, Jordan Darnell and Matt Crump one more time.

Good luck tonight Pineville!

South Charlotte Sports Action Sports Photography

Our Action Sports Photography company is now scheduling the fall sport season. Call us to come visit your games this fall. At no cost, we provide first class sports photography for the South Charlotte community. From action photos and posters to the team and player posed photos, our company provides the best level of service around.

You can rely on the South Charlotte Sports Report Photography division to provide the same positive results as you find in each issue of our newspaper.

We offer our services for individual games, tournaments, travel teams, leagues, schools and anyone in between. We can structure a program that will also return money to your organization

Take a moment to view some of our work.

www.scsractionphotos.com


Give me a call at 704-906-5466 or email Tripp@southcharlottesports.com to schedule us for a game this fall.

Can't say it Enough, Think First

Tragic news flows in from nearby Stanly County. Three rising seniors are killed in a car crash. Car was going 85 in a 55mph zone and lost control in a curve. I repeat, three rising seniors, who also played football are dead. There will be no celebrating touchdowns on Friday nights, no Senior Exams, no Prom, no graduation, no college, no families, no kids of their own. Their lives are over.

http://www.charlotte.com/109/story/728068.html


HIgh Schoolers, if you are reading this, please note there is a reason your parents preach to you about being safe and not doing dumb things. They don't want to bury you, they want to continue to enjoy life with you.

Be careful, think before you do something dumb.


Many times, you don't get a second chance

The ESPY's -- My favorite memory

I grew up an NC State fan. It came from the days of David Thompson and Monte Towe. I remember being a mere child and watching those guys win the national title. Jim Valvano arrived at NC State 6-8 years later and I attended 3 of his basketball camps. He was so charismatic and passionate about the game. While NC State quickly fell to the wayside when I chose East Carolina for college, I kept a special feeling about Jim Valvano.

It was crushing news to hear about his cancer. I was lucky enough, along with my friend Chip Hutchinson to attend a basketball game near the end of Jim Valvano's life. It was a game versus Duke and Jim was there to announce it for ABC Sports since he had already left coaching. He was barely hanging on at this time, but at halftime they held a special event for Coach V. Almost all of his players were in attendance from the past, he talked of his love of NCSU, he knew this was one of his last times in public and he took full advantage of it to entertain the crowd. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

I don't remember is this was before or after his famous Never Give Up Speech at the ESPY's. That speech was one of the greatest speeches of all times and I encourage you to go to You Tube and watch it if you have never had the opportunity. I still have my bumper sticker that says DON't EVER GIVE UP!

Watching the ESPY's tonight reminded me of Coach V and his legacy.

His lasting words should be remembered by all DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T EVER GIVE UP

Rest on Sunday

After 9 tee ball games in a 5 day period, I was exhausted. As many of you know, tee ball may require more coaching than any level of baseball. The kids and parents in this organization were super to work with, but I was on empty after Saturday's final game.

I fell asleep late Saturday night and didn't wake up until 10:00am on Sunday. I don't think I have slept that late since the days of waking up at noon while in college!

My first USSSA baseball tournament

I have a feeling a lot of you will be able to relate to this posting.

We concluded our run in the USSSA Tee Ball World Series last night at 10:30pm, yes 10:30pm...

Stepping back a few days, I received a call from Don Mason at Crystal Carolina Sports last week. He said, "Tripp, I need some help. I have a tee ball team coming down from Pennsylvania for the World Series and we don't have anyone for them to play."

Don knew I had a tee ball all-star team full of kids between the ages of 4 and 5 years old. We had tried to play some other teams earlier this summer, but they were all 6 and 7 years old. Needless to say, those games were not pretty.

Don told me the team from PA was mostly 5 and 6 year olds and asked me for a favor. So I gathered 10 of my kids and we showed up at Olde Providence on Tuesday. A team from Thomasville, NC had joined the affair as well. They were loaded with older kids including a couple that were clearly a little to old to be qualified for the event (that's another story for another day)

Our group of determined little boys and one girl took the field twice on Tuesday and another two times on Thursday. We were outmanned for sure, but our kids played hard, showed great sportsmanship and became better with each inning. By the final game, we took the World Series winner, Thomasville, to the final inning in a very close game.

I was so proud of all my kids. Their tanks were on empty as the tournament times were not conducive to 4,5 and 6 year old kids, but they tried their best every play. The experience is something everyone will remember and as I told each of the parents, "your children learned more in these 4 games than they did in the entire regular season."

I had a ball coaching the kids, it was mentally draining for sure, but I will always remember it.

The kids each received a great trophy and that made it all worthwhile to see their smiles at 10:30 at night.


Side note -- We can always tell people we finished third in the Tee Ball World Series!!!!! We don't have to tell anyone that there were only 3 teams playing!

SHE'S BACK!

Yes, one of the top volleyball coaches in the state is heading back for the sidelines. Zoe Bell has left her job as the AD of Providence to join the Ardrey Kell High School roster of coaches. After a 2 year break from coaching, Zoe will return to the court and build a team for the Knights.

She has a nice group to work with , led by Samantha Gosling. Give her a year or two and watch the Knights become one of the top teams in the state.

Good luck Zoe!

Wrigleyville

I really enjoy going to historical sporting venues. One of my favorite places in the world is Yankee Stadium. You can feel the history all around you as soon as you step off the train to walk into the House that Ruth built. Last year I added Fenway Park to my list of great places. I am no Red Sox fan, but it was easy to recognize how special of a park it is. I even had a first row seat on the first baseline.

On Wednesday night, my friend Jeff Schaeffer of CBC BAseball hooked me up with a ticket to see the Cubs and the Reds at Wrigley Field. I was in Chicago and had an open evening for the game. What a special place it was. Any of you that have been will relate to some of the things I am going to mention.

It all starts with the parking, there are no parking decks or standard lots around Wrigley. Its in a community full of old duplexes and quad houses and everyone seems to have an alley behind their home. These alleys are used as parking spots and you pay someone between $20-40 to use their parking spot for the night. I ended up parking inside an old two car garage four blocks from Wrigley Field. Everything looks alike there, so I was careful to write down that I was at the corner of Racine and Newport.

I picked up my ticket at Gate 10 Will Call and walked to my seat behind home plate for the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning.

What a neat place, the Cub fans love their team! Carlos Zambrano pitched a 1 hitter through 8 innings and the Cubs won 5-1

Wrigley is a special place and I hope to return again! They don't build ballparks like they used to, thats for sure!