As we prepare for the ASA National Fast pitch Softball Tournament in Marietta, GA the week of July 25-Aug 3, the Class Action Scrappers played in the ASA Bring the Heat tournament in Burlington, NC. Here are some action shots from that competition.
Submitted by Robin McCoy and photos by Billy Powell.
These Scrappers include Karen Blair and Amanda Radford of Hidden Valley.
Do you have photos involving teams or players from Southwest Roanoke County? You can share at news@swo-co.com
Roanoke County to Maximize Energy Efficiency of its Buildings
Improvements are Part of the County’s Overall Environmental Initiatives
Roanoke County is in the process of renovating County buildings as part of its overall initiative to improve energy efficiency. The renovations will be funded through utility cost savings. The County also plans to use $300,000 of federal stimulus money to fund additional improvements.
Roanoke County selected Trane to perform a detailed study of its facilities, which began last month. After an in-depth building analysis, Trane will develop a plan to update the buildings’ comfort, lighting, and water systems while adding a greater level of control to all of its building systems. The renovations will result in significant improvements to 25 County facilities including fire stations, community centers, and libraries. “We’re thrilled to bring the necessary analysis and improvements to these facilities to improve comfort and save money,” said Ross Atherton, Trane’s Solutions leader for Virginia.
Reducing energy consumption has been a priority for the County for the past eight years. In 2001, the County implemented a System of Environmental Management using ISO 14001 guidelines to research and implement ways to reduce energy consumption and bills. ISO 14001 is an international standard of environmental operation. The work with Trane will complement the work that is already in place.
In 2007, Roanoke County joined Local Governments for Sustainability, also known as ICLEI. As part of its commitment to ICLEI, the County has set a goal for itself to stop increasing carbon emissions by 2012 and to then reduce the County’s carbon emissions by three percent every year thereafter until 2020 as Milestone 2 of the ICLEI program.
Roanoke County has also shown its commitment to the environment through its capital projects. The Western Virginia Regional Jail is LEED certified, and the new fleet service center and multi-generational recreation center (Green Ridge Recreation Center) will also receive certification. “I am proud of our efforts to reduce energy consumption through the programs and projects we have in place and look forward to making our existing buildings even more energy efficient,” said Clay Goodman, Roanoke County Administrator.
You can now surf the Internet for free at Barnes and Noble at Tanglewood Mall (and other Barnes and Noble stores, for that matter.) Business writer Jenny Boone has more details on her retail blog, The Storefront.
For the fist time this year The Yard Baseball and Softball Training Facility, Inc. on Starkey Road started a Wiffle Ball League. Surprised? Well they were too when they realized how much interest it generated.
One of the owners, Ricky Gregg said, “It’s going real well. We are actually two weeks into the season. I didn’t know what kind of response we’d get, but we ended up with 11 teams. I guess I’m happy with that.”
Gregg said that he actually came up with the idea because his son and a bunch of his friends always play the game in Gregg’s backyard.
“Our business gets slow in July each year so we were trying to find something to fill three or four days at The Yard,” he said. “The kids seems to love it and we’ve gotten a lot of adults too.”
Gregg said there are two divisions this summer, a division for ages 14 and under and division for 15 and under. Each team plays everyone in their division twice and the older division once. At the end of the season the winner from each division will play in the championship.
The season kicked off on July 6 and will conclude the last week of August with the championship.
Gregg said they charged only $150 a team. With six players on a team it cost only $25 per person to play.
“You put your own team together. You get five of your buddies and come play.”
Because of the great response, Gregg said he hopes to have the wiffle ball league again next year.
“I’ve actually had a lot of people ask me if we were going to try something in the winter. To be honest, I don’t know, because we stay really busy in the winter with training. I will say we will definitely do this every summer. It seems to be a big hit,” he said.
“It’s fun for the family. Both of my sons have a team and I have a team. We have one team with a man that has five sons so it’s him and all his sons.”
The teams are co-ed. Gregg said that one of the teams is primarily made up of a girl’s softball team.
“We have a team from Patrick Henry, with players from a team, a lady that played at Sandiego State, and a guy from Cleveland that plays. It’s a pretty diverse group.”
Mason Williams, 11, is going into the 6th-grade at Hidden Valley Middles School. He plays for the Cardinals, a 10, 11, and 12-year old team. Williams said he heard about the wiffle ball league because he is a member of The Yard. After hearing about the league through Gregg he decided to ask some his teammates on his rec baseball team to play.
“I do play baseball and I thought it would be a way to keep playing something like it during the summer,” Williams said.
He also thinks that by playing wiffle ball in the summer it will help him continue to increase his baseball ability.
“I get a lot turns at bat. We get practice in running bases, pitching, and catching,” he said.
His favorite part of the game is playing with his friends.
“Playing with my friends and hitting home run. It is played inside so you don’t have to worry about the weather. Wiffle ball is fun because you get to throw the ball at the runner and get him out by hitting him below the waist. You can’t do that in baseball. You get to lead off, but you can’t steal. That’s fun too. It is challenging when you only have three players for a game. There has to be a pitcher, catcher, and one fielder to play. It can be hard to get an out. we do better when we have all six players.”
Gregg said that they do keep stats, like home runs and runners batted in (RBI) and the winners of each category will get a trophy at the end of the season.
“It’s been a huge success,” he said.
Rules of Indoor Wiffle Ball:
-Teams will consist of six players and co-ed
-Players put their own teams together and coach themselves
-Two games are played a week, one during the week and one during the weekend
-Games are umpired
-Leaders in each division receives a trophy at the end of the season
-Each team plays 14 games
-Playoffs are held for the top teams in each division
Game Rules:
-There are five players in the field each inning, all players on the team bat
-Two outs per inning
-Players may be pegged below the waist for an out, if they are not on base
-Players may take lead, but cannot steal
-The strike zone is ffrom the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the knees
-Teams may play a game with a minimum of three players (pitcher, catcher, and one fielder)
-Games are five innings or one hour time limit
For more information, call The Yard at 540-355-1176 or by email at theyardbaseballandsoftball@yahoo.com.
ROANOKE – School days are here again! That’s right! Students across Roanoke County will be returning to school August 24 and they need our help! First of all, Roanoke County Public Schools and Q-99 say “Thank You!” to all who were a part of our Pack the Bus campaign last year. Because of you, many students received the school supplies they needed to start the school year with success.
Our students need your help again this year, and if we all give a little, these students will receive a lot. Here’s how you can help. Join Roanoke County Public Schools and Q-99 on August 12 from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Bonsack Wal-Mart, or from 4:00 p.m. -7:00 p.m. at the Hunting Hills (Route 220) Wal-Mart. We will be accepting your donations of back to school supplies and/or monetary donations for students in need.
ALL funds and items collected will go to benefit the students. Some of the supplies we need include: backpacks, glue sticks, notebooks, 3-ring binders, crayons, colored pencils, notebook paper (college and wide-ruled), pens, pencils, highlighters, rulers, folders, scissors, and construction paper.
Thank you in advance for your help, Roanoke! We look forward to seeing you on August 12 as together we Pack the Bus to help students start the school year with success!
We have a gallery of photos from opening day at the state tournament for the Junior age division of Little League. The Cave Spring American team played Friday, July 24, through Sunday, July 26. To see the photos, view the slideshow above or click here.
These photos and galleries from the three games are all provided courtesy of Mark Brittain. Here’s a guide to our previous posts from the tournament:
* Game 1
* Game 2
* Game 3
Here is a photo gallery of the Cave Spring American Juniors in the team’s third and final game in the state tournament. Photos and information about the game are available thanks to Mark Brittain. You can view the photos in the slideshow above or by clicking here.
The score was:
Essex 18
Cave Spring American 8
This was the final game of the series. Record 1 win and 2 losses.
For an earlier post linking to the previous two galleries, click here.
In the 4 x 100 relay at the 2009 Coventry Commonwealth Games Team Neighbors took home the silver medal. The team was made up of three area boys and one from Chesapeake.
The boys are, from left to right, Aaron Stutz of Chesapeake, Garrison Mayo of Fincastle, Josh Neighbors and Jason White, both of Roanoke County.
Have sports photos? Share them with SWoCo by emailing them to us at news@swo-co.com.
The 14U Roanoke Valley Vipers won the Commonwealth Games Fastpitch Softball Gold Medal on July 19th. Six of the team’s players are from Southwest Roanoke County: Danielle Stump, Kayla Malkos, Morgan Shannon, Lauren Roach, Caitlin Ragan, and Bailey Click.
Front row:(left to right): Caitlin Ragan, Briana Pinero, Taylor Grubb with Madison Porterfield (bat girl), Kayla Malkos, Lauren Roach
Gack row: Bailey Click, Caitlyn Porterfield, Kelsey Jarrett, Morgan Shannon, Danielle Stump, Nikki Brewer. not pictured: Samantha White
Submitted by Karen Stump
Do you have news or photos about people or events around Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com
Courtney Gaddy, Cave Spring HS, has recently been selected to compete in the Queen of Diamonds Showcase South (QDSS) in Rock Hill, SC September 4-6 for the Second year in a row. The QDSS, now in its’ 4th season, is the second largest fastpitch softball showcase in the US. It is held at Winthrop University, attracting athletes from 33 states and 2 Canadian Provinces. Its’ sister showcase, the Queen of Diamonds North, in its 17th season, was the first and largest showcase in the nation. Over 2000 talented athletes apply to the QDSS each year. This showcase is very unique as athletes actually ‘apply to’ this event individually and are selected based on many criteria ranging from ability, potential, academics, grad year, coaches requests and referrals. Courtney, who plays Second Base for Cave Spring HS also plays for the Class Action Scrappers .
“I am excited about attending the QDSS again this Sept. It was an awesome experience last year as I was able to play with and against so many good players”, Courtney said.
Elizabeth Jones is the community journalist for SWoCo and can be reached at 981-3191. You can share your news and photos through the “Share” button below or at news@swo-co.com.
