Tigers, Patriots look strong ... again
By Dan StillwellRegister-Herald Sports Writer
Shady Spring
New coach Angela Bostic takes the reins from Johnny Pachuta and Carol Foust, who called it quits after leading the Tigers to seven consecutive state tournament appearances, six finals and two championships.
“It’s been challenging, to say the least, but it’s been fun,” said Bostic, who played softball for Shady Spring back in the mid-1990s. “The team is looking very good. They’re strong and very determined.”
The Tigers return five starters from last season’s 20-10, state tourney squad, including senior pitcher-second baseman Whitley Hayhurst, a second-team all-stater who batted .349, junior catcher Brandi Phillips (.220), senior first baseman Sam Daniels (.200), sophomore shortstop Tia Via (.340) and senior right fielder Jessi Chapman (.240).
Hayhurst will share pitching duties with fellow senior Amanda Lilly. They were second and third on the mound last season behind all-stater Mandy Parkulo, who now pitches for Glenville State.
“We’ll use them both,” Bostic said. “Amanda has accuracy and a couple of good balls she can throw on demand. Whitley is just quick. She’s got some speed.”
The Tigers also have Alex Albright back in center field. The hard-hitting senior started as a sophomore but moved out of state last season.
Junior Lyndsay Stalnaker will play third while freshman Lydia Honaker will alternate with Lilly in left field. Sophomore outfielder Jayna Sayre and junior catcher-outfielder Julia Smyth should also get some starts.
Independence
The Patriots return five starters from last season’s 25-7 squad, including all-staters Brittany Meadows and Sarah Brown.
Meadows batted .424 as a junior while Brown, a sophomore, had an 11-3 record with a 1.21 ERA as the Patriots’ No. 2 pitcher behind Nicole Sexton.
“Brittany has a strong bat and her usual good glove. She leads by example,” coach Tom Poe said. “Sarah has worked on different pitches and has location. She won’t give in to the hitter.”
Junior catcher-first baseman Ashley Justice (.363), senior second baseman Ashley Lacy (.319) and sophomore center fielder Sheena McKinney (.317) are also back for Independence.
“We’ll be strong up the middle,” Poe said.
Other top players include first baseman-pitcher Jacinda Ward, third basemen Shasta Huybert and Summer Adkins, pitcher-shortstop Corey Moles and outfielders Scarlett Lawson, Summer Hicks and Jessica Hylton. Adkins and Moles are freshmen while the others are sophomores.
“We’ll get better as we go along,” Poe said. “The kids just need some game time.”
Liberty
A young Raiders team won just four games last year, but coach Kathy Daniel is enthusiastic for the new season.
“I’m getting to coach them more instead of having to break everything down,” she said. “We only lost one girl and nearly the whole team played together in the summer.”
Junior Channing Daniels is showing a lot of promise on the mound.
“Channing works 52 weeks of the year,” Daniel said. “She’s picked up a lot of speed and is more accurate with her throws.”
Other returnees include seniors Nikki Scott (catcher), Alyse Barnes (first base), Megan Acord (third base) and Sarah Murdock (center field), junior Heather Shrader (left field) and sophomores Kahra Daniel (second base) and Savannah Holsinger (right field).
The one newcomer, freshman shortstop Courtney Griffith, has been a pleasant surprise with her bat and glove.
“I’m tickled pink with them,” Daniel said. “Each practice you can see them growing.”
Rogers named new head football coach at Richwood
By Randall JettRegister-Herald Sports Writer
There’s no place like home.
That was how Jason Rogers felt when he applied for the head football coach position at Richwood.
“I just wanted to get back home and back to my old high school,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll do some good things. I saw the job open up, applied for it and got it. You can’t really pass up that kind of opportunity, to get back to your home school and take over as the head coach.”
Rogers was recently selected for the position by the Nicholas County school board, replacing veteran Pat Whitlock, who is retiring after 30 years of coaching at Richwood.
“I’m real excited,” Rogers said. “This is what I always wanted to do. I know it’s going to be a lot of work though, but I’m ready for it.”
Rogers is the son of Webster County head coach A.J. Rogers and has been coaching as an assistant for six years.
He spent his first five years in the coaching ranks on his father’s staff at Webster County before coaching at Northside High School in Jacksonville, N.C., last year.
The 28-year-old feels he is up to the challenge of his first head coaching job.
“It’s going to take a lot of work to turn it around,” Rogers said. “I think they have good kids. I know from coaching against them at Webster County that there are some good kids over there. We went to the playoffs and we struggled to beat them.”
Rogers feels he has cleared the first hurdle as 55 kids showed up at a meeting to introduce him to the students interested in playing next season.
“I just met with the boys for the first time last week,” he said. “We had quite a few sign up. If I can get at least two-thirds of them out, I’ll be happy.”
While nothing is etched in stone, Rogers plans to be creative on the sideline.
“I know offensively we’re definitely going to run multiple formations, possibly a lot of shotgun,” he said. “I think that will be different for the boys because they’re used to the I, pro and split backfield.”
Rogers played football at Richwood from 1993-96.
“We went to the second round of the playoffs my sophomore year,” he said. “My junior year wasn’t real great. I think we were 2-8. My senior year, we were 5-5.”
Rogers played football for three seasons at Fairmont State before transferring to Glenville State for his senior year. The move gave him the opportunity to join his father’s staff at Webster County.
“I ended up graduating from Glenville so I could be an assistant at Webster County,” he said.
Now returning to his alma mater, Rogers is anxious to get started on his first season. The Lumberjacks finished 4-6 last season and Rogers would like to better that mark.
“We’re real excited,” he said. “I know I have a good staff coming back and I think they’re willing to jump in and get some new things going and try to turn it around a little bit.”
He’ll get that chance, opening the 2007 season against his father’s team in Upper Glade.
— E-mail:
rjett@register-herald.com
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