World Series wrap-upPosted May31, 2008 at 09:00 PMMark Berman back here in Oklahoma City, where Angela Tincher has pitched her last game for the Virginia Tech softball team. With Florida beating the Hokies 1-0 in nine innings to send Tech home with an 0-2 World Series record, tribute must be paid -- because who knows when and if Tech will ever get back here again. You don't get pitchers like Angela Tincher all that often, especially if you're Virginia Tech. "I'm excited about some of the kids we have coming in, and I'm excited in particular about some of the offense we have coming in, but you don't lose an Angela Tincher and just [reload]," Tech coach Scot Thomas said. "She makes coaching a lot easier. "She's been unbelievable for us. There's been so much thrown on her. ... There's been no other female athlete in the history of Virginia Tech that has had that much attention drawn to her, and the way she has handled it with the media and everything, she's just been a tremendous representative of the university. ... It'll be a big loss." Tech might be back in the NCAAs before too long, considering the ACC is a weak league but still gets multiple bids. But if it took until Tincher's senior year to get out of the regionals for the first time, don't hold your breath for another Series appearance. It's rare to have a national player of the year who has the third-most strikeouts in NCAA history. Credit Tincher's supporting cast for getting the clutch hits and playing the good defense to back Tincher in the regionals and Super Regionals. But they really let her down in the Series. No runs for the Series, geez. Tincher pitched a two-hitter on Thursday and struck out 19 today, when she didn't struggle until the 9th. She certainly pitched well enough to get Tech a win both times. But both times, her backup group let her down. On Thursday in the 1-0 loss to Texas A&M, Tech left six runners on base because it couldn't get clutch hits off All-American Megan Gibson or lay down bunts. And Charisse Mariconda had the big error to let in the run. Today, Tech mustered just 2 hits off All-American Stacey Nelson. In 9 innings. But still, Tech should have won it. The Hokies had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. How could Tech screw that up? Well, Kelsey Hoffman grounded into a double play -- one double play is rare in softball, let alone the 2 in one game that Tech had today -- and then Jess Everhart grounded out. Poor, poor, poor. "I was able to command both sides of the plate, which keeps them off-balance, and my changeup also (worked)," Nelson said. "Coming into that game, I knew how good of a pitcher she was and I knew I had my work cut out for me to not let them score until we score." "What a great game between two outstanding teams and even more impressive, two outstanding pitchers," said Florida coach Tim Walton, whose team later eliminated UCLA. "What a heck of a way to pitch out of the seventh." Florida beats HokiesPosted May31, 2008 at 02:40 PMMark Berman back in Oklahoma City, where Florida beat the Hokies 2-0 in nine innings to end Virginia Tech's stay in the Women's College World Series. Tech, which left the bases loaded in the seventh, failed to score a run in its two Series games. Mary Ratliff had a two-RBI double in the top of the ninth off Angela Tincher, who had 19 strikeouts. Tech had just two hits in the game. Florida, UCLA in Tech's wayPosted May31, 2008 at 11:41 AMMark Berman here in Oklahoma City, where Virginia Tech must win twice today to survive Losers' Bracket Saturday. The top two seeds in the NCAA tournament -- and two All-American pitchers -- stand in the Hokies' way. First up is top-seeded Florida (67-4) at noon on ESPN. Florida's ace is Stacey Nelson, a first-team All-American and the SEC Pitcher of the Year. But she did lose Thursday in eight innings to Louisiana-Lafayette, 3-2, so she could be vulnerable. And the Gators' defense wasn't great Thursday. If Tech eliminates Florida, next up is second-seeded UCLA at 7 tonight on ESPN. The 10-time Series champs also have a first-team All-American pitcher, Anjelica Selden. But she gave up 4 runs to Arizona State last night. And UCLA has scored just one run in its two Series games, so it is not proving itself to be an offensive dynamo. Keep in mind, though that UCLA faced Arizona ace Taryne Mowatt on Thursday (and beat her) and Arizona State ace Katie Burkhart last night - two very good pitchers. Can Tech survive? Will the Hokies get the clutch hits that eluded them Thursday? Will they lay down the bunts they failed to do on Thursday? Will Angela Tincher outduel her fellow All-Americans? Florida isn't used to great pitching like they will see in Tincher today. Don't be surprised if Tech prevails. Franklin County alum pitching for national titlePosted May30, 2008 at 05:51 PMAnother pitcher from Timesland will be pitching on a national stage Saturday. Casey Hodges, a senior from Franklin County High School, will start for Mount Olive College of North Carolina in the NCAA Division II national championship game against the winner of Friday's game between Ouachita Baptist and Sonoma State. And Hodges will be pitching on TV as well. The game will be telecast on CBS College Sports and MASN. Hodges is 9-1 this season with a 2.67 ERA. He has three complete games and 81 strikeouts in 81 innings. Mount Olive is 55-6. -- Jeff Gilbert Hokies discuss World Series lossPosted May29, 2008 at 08:49 PMMark Berman here in Oklahoma City, where the Virginia Tech softball team fell to Texas A&M 1-0 on the opening day of the Women's College World Series. The Aggies scored in the bottom of the sixth on third baseman Charisse Mariconda's errant throw to first. "When you've got two kids like [All-American pitchers] Angela Tincher and Megan Gibson going at it, one mistake can make the difference," Tech coach Scot Thomas said. "We're going to be down for a little while but I don't think it's anything that we can't overcome," first baseman Beth Walker said. The Hokies would have been in great shape if they had won. Their next foe would have been the only other unseeded team in the Series, Louisiana-Lafayette, which upset Florida today. "Any team we're going to play right now is going to be tough," Tincher said. "They've had a great season and they've got the No. 1 spot, but .... we both lost a couple tough games. They went extra innings." Florida also has an All-American pitcher, Stacey Nelson, who gave up an 8th-inning homer Thursday. "We're going to find a way to score runs," said Thomas, overly confident considering his team's lack of clutch hits against Gibson today. "it's just a matter of kind of refocusing and battling and going up there with the mind-set that ... we're going to put the ball in play and make things happen." Florida has only lost four games all year. Although the Hokies did see Florida lose in 8 innings and give up 3 runs on Thursday, so that has to give the Hokies some confidence. Tech will practice today but won't have a game to play. "I think it's good in some ways. [The day off] gives us time to adjust and kind of step back from things and focus," Tincher said. Tech fallsPosted May29, 2008 at 07:49 PMThe Hokies lost to Texas A&M 1-0 on Thursday. They will play Florida on Saturday at noon. Hokies earn World Series berthPosted May25, 2008 at 08:22 PMMark Berman here in Ann Arbor, where Virginia Tech beat Michigan 6-1 in the third and decisive game of the series to earn the school's first trip to the Women's College World Series. The Hokies will play fifth-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday, the first day of the Series. "I'm just really proud of ths team," coach Scot Thomas said. "Some people would probably call us overachievers, but the blood and guts of this team is walk-ons and people that were passed over .. and we were fortunate enough to have them, people like Angela [Tincher]. ... People like Whitney [Davis, a former walk-on] stepped up. "We're going to have fun [at the Series] and enjoy our time and be appreciative of the privilege we've got.... The last couple days, my mornings been spent with a lot of butterfiles. I think I can relax a little more and just have butterlfies of excitement." Tech needed to beat Michigan twice on Sunday because it lost to UM on Saturday. "We just wanted to leave everything on the field," said Davis, who homered in the final game. "We didn't want to fall short. We knew that this was elimination Sunday, that we potentially could be going home. But we didn't want that to happen. We wanted to obtain our goals, and we were so close to doing it, we didn't give up." Tincher threw a pair of three-hitters Sunday, winning the first game 1-0 and the second 6-1, after throwing 107 pitches Saturday. "I'm starting to feel a little bit [tired] now but I definitely wasn't tired during the game," she said. "Everything was working a lot better today..... When my drop started working better today, we threw that a lot more, and we mixed in the changeup." Tincher owned Michigan's best hitter, Samantha Findlay, who did not get a hit off Tincher in the series. "Two years ago, she'd have probably walked and tried to get around some of those people, but she went right at these kids," Thomas said. "It was an incredible feat for her to do what she did there against those hitters." Tech was shut out by Jordan Taylor on Saturday, so the Hokies moved to the back of the batter's box against her on Sunday. It worked. "After watching the video and stuff last night, we felt like we weren't aggressive enough in the middle of the zone, and we were chasing ... with Taylor the off-speed pitches and swinging at a lot of non-strikes," Thomas said. "We made the adjustment towards the back of the box to get her to throw the ball a little further. It worked out, to see the ball a little longer from the back of the box." Coach Carol Hutchins didn't like how Taylor threw in Sunday's first game, which she started and lost, so she went with Nikki Nemtiz to start Sunday's second game. Nemitz had thrown the final inning of Sunday's first game. Hutchins yanked Nemitz after Davis got on in to start off the third inning, and Taylor gave up three walks, a two-RBI double to Misty Hall and an RBI grounder before being pulled for Nemitz with VT up 4-0. Tincher with a 4-0 lead? Bad news for UM. "It's fun to pitch when it's like that and you can just relax and have fun," she said. Davis hit a solo homer in the fourth inning - her first one of the year. Assistant coach Al Brauns "always makes fun of me and tells me if I ate one more biscuit, it's going to go over [the fence]," she said. Hokies force Game 3Posted May25, 2008 at 02:37 PMMark Berman here in Ann Arbor, where the Virginia Tech softball team has just beaten Michigan 1-0 to force a decisive Game 3 in the NCAA Super Reigonals. Game 3 will start at about 3:15, with the winner going to the Women's College World Series. Angela Tincher, who lost Saturday's Game 1 by a 1-0 score, owned Michigan in this game. She struck out 15 and allowed three hits and two walks. Tech scored in the very first inning off Game 1 winner Jordan Taylor, whose team committed a whopping four errors today. Two of those came in the first inning. With one out in the first, Erin Ota walked. Charisse Mariconda reached on a fielder's choice; Michigan opted for the play at second, but Ota was safe on a fielding error by the shortstop. Misty Hall singled to center to load the bases. Kelsey Hoffman grounded to the third baseman, who threw home for the force out. But the catcher then threw to first for the potential inning-ending double play, but the throw was wild and Mariconda scored. Tincher had some clutch strikeouts. She struck out Roya St. Clair with runners on first and second to end the top half of the second. She struck out Angela Findlay, who had the game winning hit Saturday, with a runner on second to end the top half of the third. She struck out Alessandro Giampaolo, who had the big double Saturday, with a runner on second to end the top half of the fifth. Michigan had a runner on first with one out in the sixth, but Samantha Findlay flied out to center fielder Jessica Everhart, who not only made a nice catch but doubled up the runner at first base to get out of the jam. Festival Run results Men 5KPosted May24, 2008 at 05:49 PMMen's 5K Overall 1, Dave Baxter (Roanoke) 16:31.2 Festival Run results 5K womenPosted May24, 2008 at 05:31 PMwomen - overall 1, Stacie Maguire (Roanoke) 20:44.2 Festival Run results 10 K menPosted May24, 2008 at 05:14 PMMen overall 1, George Probst (Blacksburg) 33:44.6 Festival Run results 10K womenPosted May24, 2008 at 04:57 PM
VHSL Spring State TournamentsPosted May19, 2008 at 03:22 PMBASEBALL GROUP AA GROUP A SOFTBALL GROUP AA GROUP A BOYS SOCCER GROUP AA GROUP A GIRLS SOCCER GROUP AA GROUP A BOYS TENNIS GROUP AA GROUP A GIRLS TENNIS GROUP A Hokies win regional titlePosted May18, 2008 at 09:34 PMMark Berman here in Knoxville where the Virginia Tech softball team beat Tennessee 4-2 in Game 2 of the NCAA regional finals to advance to next weekend's super regionals against Michigan in Ann Arbor. Tech won a regional for the first time after losing in the regionals the past three years. "Finally moving on," coach Scot Thomas said. "It's exciting." Look for a game story in Monday's paper and online Monday, Lady Vols up 1-0 in 4th inning of Game 2Posted May18, 2008 at 06:22 PMMark Berman back here in Knoxville, where Tennessee scored a run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead on Angela Tincher and Virginia Tech. The score remains 1-0 after 3 innings. Is that all the run support Megan Rhodes will need? Could be - she has pitched 3 perfect innings so far. IIn the first inning, the Lady Vols' leadoff batter reached all the way to second on a a Tincher throwing error, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice. Lady Vols force Game 2 of finalsPosted May18, 2008 at 05:34 PMMark Berman back here in Knoxville, where the Tennessee softball team squashed Virginia Tech 7-1 to force Game 2 of the regional finals. The outcome was expected ever since Angela TIncher was pulled with Tech down 3-0 in the second inning. Tincher gave up four runs, four hits and three walks. The Lady Vols finished with 11 hits, including two Erinn Webb homers off reliever Kenzie Roark. Tech had four hits, incluidng a Beth Walker homer off releiver Ashton Ward. The bright spot for Tech was that Megan Rhodes pitched 6 2/3 innings, coming back in after Ward faced just three batters in the fifth. So Tincher should be much fresher in Game 2 than Rhodes. It's do-or-die time for Tech in Game 2, which should start about 6 pm Hokies delayed until 3:15 pmPosted May18, 2008 at 12:34 PMMark Berman here in Knoxville, where because of rain, Tech's NCAA softball regional final with Tenn. has been pushed back from 1:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Lady Vols preview rematch with TincherPosted May17, 2008 at 07:56 PMMark Berman back here in Knoxville, where Tennessee beat Louisville 8-1 in the losers' bracket final tonight to advance to Sunday's NCAA softball regional final against the Hokies. Virginia Tech beat Tennessee 4-0 on Saturday afternoon to advance to its first regional final. The game will be at 1:30 p.m. today, followed by a second game, if necessary. The Lady Vols will have to beat Tech twice. The Lady Vols seem confident they can have success against Angela Tincher today, even though she threw a 3-hitter to beat them today. Tincher struck out 14. "After seeing her for awhile today, it gives you a better feeling," said Lady Vols 1b Jenn Lapicki, who struck out, flied out and struck out. "As the at-bats go on, I started to feel a little bit more comfortable with her." "We were thinking a little too much [against Tincher]," Lady Vols co-coach Karen Weekly said. "Sometimes when you game plan for something they can go up there with too much in their head. Anybody who knows anything about hitting will tell you you can't think and hit at the same time. I think we need to be a little more reactive tomorrow and just see the ball and hit the ball and certainly get the ball off our shoulder a little bit earlier than we did today." Tennessee had plenty of trouble with Tincher's riseball, but the Lady Vols say having faced her today will help them Sunday. "I was trying to focus on looking down on her riseball and got fooled," said Lady Vols CF Erinn Webb, who struck out twice and flied out. "But I think seeing her today in three at-bats is going to be to my advantage because my last at-bat, I felt I saw the ball well. So I'm excited going into tomorrow." "As you saw the game go along earlier, I felt like we were having a little bit better at-bats, a little longer at-bats and putting the ball on the bat on the ball a little bit more, and hopefully we'll come out and pick up where we left off," Weekly said. Hokies beat Lady VolsPosted May17, 2008 at 02:20 PMMark Berman back here in Knoxville where Virginia Tech beat Tennessee 4-0 in the winners' bracket final of their NCAA softball regional. Tech advances to the finals Sunday, where Tech needs to win just 1 of 2 to win a regional for the first time ever. Angela Tincher pitched a three-hitter, striking out 14 and walking one. Caroline Stolle belted a grand slam for Tech in the top of the fourth. Grand slam for StollePosted May17, 2008 at 01:20 PMMark Berman here in Knoxville, where Caroline Stolle hit a grand slam with two outs in the top of the fourth to give Virginia Tech a 4-0 lead over Tennessee. That should be all the run support Angela Tincher needs. She has eight strikeouts through three innings and has yet to give up a hit. Lady Vols preview game with TechPosted May16, 2008 at 08:08 PMMark Berman back here in Knoxville, where the Virginia Tech softball team will face Tennessee at noon Saturday on ESPN2 in the winners' bracket final of this NCAA regional. "It's great exposure for us," Tech coach Scot Thomas said of getting to play on ESPN2. The Lady Vols struggled at the plate in their 3-0 win over Liberty High grad Cari Wooldridge and Winthrop tonight, failing to score off her until the bottom of the sixth. So they could have even more trouble against Tech ace Angela Tincher, who struck out 19 and pitched a one-hitter to beat Louisville 1-0 in 10 innings in today's first game. The Lady Vols intend to be choosy against Tincher. "What we need to do as batters, what we've been working on, is just staying in the strike zone -- just hit the balls that are strikes," said SEC player of the year Tonya Callahan, who was hitting .473 entering today. "We know she's a great pitcher going into this, so we're not expecting to go out there and kill the ball," said Shannon Doepking, who homered today. "We do expect to stay in the strike zone. We do expect to get hits off her. And if we stay with our game plan, I think we should be successful." Tennessee has been to the Women's College World Series the past three years, but the ace of those teams, Monica Abbott, has moved on to the Olympic team. But the Lady Vols have a good lineup featuring 6 hitters batting .292 or better. Tech has just 3 hitters in that category. Tincher is the best pitcher in the country, though. "She's definitely got our respect," Lady Vols co-coach Ralph Weekly said. "The key to hitting against her is staying in the strike zone. If you swing at everything she throws and she's got a ton of movement, you're going to have a problem." Tech wins on walkoff homerPosted May16, 2008 at 04:46 PMMisty Hall homered in the bottom of the 10th to give Tech a 1-0 win over Louisville in an NCAA softball regional. Angela Tincher had 19 strikeouts and threw a one-hitter. Tech, Louisville tied 0-0 after 7Posted May16, 2008 at 04:13 PMMark Berman here in Knoxville, Tenn., where the Virginia Tech softball team is headed to extra innings in its NCAA regional opener against Louisville. The score is 0-0. Angela Tincher has 14 strikeouts and has allowed just one hit. But the Hokies have again had trouble getting clutch hits. They have stranded 10 runners against Louisville's Kristen Wadwell, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth. Piedmont District track resultsPosted May15, 2008 at 12:47 AMHere are the final results of the Piedmont District track meet At Laurel Park H.S. (Wednesday) Girls team scores Mountain Empire District track meetPosted May15, 2008 at 12:44 AMFirst-day results of the Mountain Empire District track meet at Fort Chiswell H.S. (Wednesday) Timesland stretches northPosted May14, 2008 at 07:08 PMIt turns out Frederick Keys manager Tommy Thompson is a fan of the Roanoke Times. Or at least a fan of one particular page --- last summer's Time's sport's page with the picture of Wladimir Sutil slamming his batting helmet to the ground as the Keys beat the Salem Avalanche for the Carolina League championship. Keys broadcaster Adam Pohl (formerly the voice of the Avalanche) reports Thompson has the page posted on the wall of his office in the clubhouse at Frederick's Harry Grove Stadium.
Moresi breaks armPosted May13, 2008 at 07:07 PMHit in the forearm by a pitch from Frederick's Brandon Erbe on Monday, Salem Avalanche outfielder Nick Moresi has fractured his ulna and will be out indefinitely.
$1 Hot chocolatePosted May12, 2008 at 05:59 PMEver the helpful general manager, John Katz sent out an email this afternoon pointing out that hot chocolate is one of the many items on the menu that are available on the dollar menu at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium tonight as part of Dollar Monday. Hot chocolate might come in handy tonight. But Frederick Keys broadcaster -- webcaster? -- Adam Pohl (the former voice of the Avalanche) says the Keys are worth weathering the, um, weather to see. Especially for Orioles fans hoping for an exciting glimpse of the future.
Hokies sent to Knoxville againPosted May11, 2008 at 11:06 PMMark Berman here with some bad news for Virginia Tech softball fans. The Hokies won't host an NCAA regional this year. Tech was hoping to host for the first time but instead was sent packing to Knoxville for the third time in four years. The Hokies are the No. 2 seed in the four-team regional and will face No. 3 seed Louisville at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The host Lady Vols are the No. 1 seed in the regional and will meet fourth-seeded Winthrop at 5 p.m. Friday. At least Monica Abbott has graduated, so the Lady Vols aren't quite as imposing as they were the past three years. But they are still the No. 13 national seed. The exciting news is that Saturday's winners' bracket game will air at noon on ESPN2. So if Tech wins Friday, it will be in for national TV exposure. More info in Monday's paper and online Monday Hokies win ACC softball titlePosted May11, 2008 at 02:59 PMMark Berman here in College Park, Md., where the second-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies beat fifth-seeded North Carolina State 2-0 to win the ACC softball tournament for the second straight year. Angela Tincher threw a two-hitter for the Hokies, striking out 14 and walking one, to earn tournament MVP honors for the second straight year. Tech (44-15) captured an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The pairings will be announced tonight. Check back here tonight for the pairings info, and you can read the game story in Monday's Roanoke Times or online Monday. No Boundaries -- inspirationsPosted May10, 2008 at 09:46 PMWhen we talk about role models, we usually mean rock stars or actors or star athletes. The women and men who completed the No Boundaries course by running or walking or a bit of both in the Gallop 4 the Greenways 5K race in Roanoke on Saturday are regular people with regular lives. They are moms and grandmoms and stepmoms and petmoms and a few husbands and dads. They have jobs and worries and hassles and health issues -- just like the rest of us. They are not more fit than we -- or at least they weren't when they started the NoBo program just 13 weeks ago. Their lives are not less complicated, less busy. They give the lie to all of our excuses. Liz Scribner, one of the NoBos, said her 9-year-old son Ryan told her last fall that he had never seen her run. And she is right. Or make that was right. Scribner's two sons, Ryan and Matthew, and her daughter Catie, have already seen their dad, Dennis, compete in triathlons. Now, they have seen that their mother can be strong and healthy too. As much as kids look to television and sports teams for role models their most important ones will always be right there at home. My own mom worked full time from the time I was in kindergarten but somehow managed to always come to my field hockey games when I was in high school. Now that she's a retired grandmother, she still works out regularly, plays golf, swims and both takes and teaches courses at her local community college. My dad, too, works out almost every day. Both are cancer survivors. They remain role models, not just for my sister and me, but also for my nieces and nephew.
-- Katrina Waugh Jody Gerut makes it big -- againPosted May10, 2008 at 12:16 AMFormer Salem Avalanche outfielder Jody Gerut was called up by the San Diego Padres on Friday, playing in something of a Salemite reunion against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies were Salem's major league affilate for 10 years, and on the Colorado side of the diamond on Friday were starting pitcher Aaron Cook (Avs 2000-01), left fielder Matt Holliday (2000-01), third baseman Garrett Atkins (2001), right fielder Brad Hawpe (2002) and shortstop Clint Barmes (2001). On the Padres' side, was catcher Josh Bard (2000) and Gerut. Gerut, a second round draft pick by the Rockies in 1998, hit .289 with 33 doubles, 63 RBI and 25 steals as an outfielder for the Avalanche in 1999. The Rockies traded Gerut and Bard to the Indians and he made his major league debut with Cleveland in 2003 and played two full seasons before he tore his ACL in Sept. 2004. He was bartered about in 2005 and then was out of baseball for nearly two seasons. He made ripples in the Venezuelan Winter League and was invited to the Padres' training camp this spring.
-- Jody Gerut Interesting words from Phil JacksonPosted May07, 2008 at 08:55 PMAs I drove to work Wednesday morning, I heard Phil Jackson speaking on the radio about Kobe Bryant's NBA MVP award. He said nobody ever deserved and MVP award more or ever worked harder to get one. Jackson is Bryant's coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and once wrote some not very complimentary things about Kobe in a book. But far more strange is that Jackson was Michael Jordan's coach while Michael was winning MVPs and leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. Michael gets credit for playing harder than anyone else and wanting to win more than anyone else. Then Jackson rates Kobe as Michael's equal in working hard and in being deserving of praise. Not sure I would agree, but then who knows Michael and Kobe better than Phil? -- Jeff Gilbert Tech softball on ESPN2 tonightPosted May06, 2008 at 12:08 AMTonight is finally the night. The Virginia Tech softball team's stunning 1-0 upset of the U.S. national team back in March will air on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. (Tuesday, May 6) The rerun will be at 1:30 a.m. The taped broadcast from Oklahoma City, featuring Angela Tincher's no-hitter and the end of the U.S. team's 185-game winning streak on its pre-Olympic tours, will air for two hours. This is the first time the upset will be on TV. Not even highlights have aired on the local news, because the rights belong to ESPN2. |