Volume XXI, Number 8
North Carolina Wesleyan College Rocky Mount. North Carolina 27804
SPORTS
Smith Reflects on First Lacrosse Season
The NC Wesleyan s women’s lacrosse team completed its first season, winning 3 matches and losing 12. Head
Coach Lorin Smith was asked by the Decree sports staff to reflect on the season and look ahead to next year.
What do you take away from this
geason, the first here at North Carolina
Wesleyan College?
I think that the team had a great first sea
son. I personally leamed a lot about being a
collese coach. ITiis is new to me and watching
mv players develop into stellar athletes has
hade me believe that I’m doing something
Inght here. 1 think that team chemistry is the
liogest part of success. If my girls don’t tnist
ach other on or off the field then we can’t be
bccessful. Thankfully this season we learned
to trust in one-another and had a great first
year because of it.
What were the positives in the season?
First off: We won three games and one
Iv'as to a program out of Maryland, a hotbed
for lacrosse! Aside from the obvious wins, I
saw players who had never picked up a stick
before become outstanding lacrosse players.
I^uren Steams, in particular, developed into
[ one of our key defenders and she made many
earns’ scouting reports. I think that is a huge
|:ompliment to our program.
Was there a particular game that was
a high point of the year?
Hood was most definitely a high point
for the girls. The team had to pull everything
ogether to beat Hood in overtime. We had a
roblem in the beginning of the season with
ome of my new players giving up emly in
the game because the other team would puli
head by three or four goals. In lacrosse that’s
"ot abig deal-a team can score three goals in
a minute if they work for it. Tire Hood game
^\vas the first in the season where not one of
|my girls gave up...they fought until the end
and because of it we were able to win.
[What was the low point? Why?
.A. low point this season was probably our
game against Methodist. We had just come off
lof a win from Femmi and we did not show up
[to play in thal game. They ended up beating
•US 21-4. It was the most goals we had scored
lagainst us and the girls just gave up. W'e went
Ithi-ough a three game slump where we just
Ididn’t play up to par and the girls recognized
[it and together we pulled it together...which 1
Iguess led to a high!
[What would you say are the strengths
[of the team that you hope to build on?
Our strength is our bond. These girls treat
leach other with respect and they respect me.
I We work for each other and that’s what made
jus successful. No one on this team wants to
[let a teammate down. I come to practice and
I to games prepared to instnict the team on the
best ways to be successful. If I didn’t do my
job the girls wouldn’t be prepared come game
time. Each of the players does her own job to
ensure the success of the team. When we all
work together we are successful regardless if
the game ends with a win or a loss.
How would you characterize the
chemistry of the team? (You had a lot
of athletes from different sports, as
well as a mix of experienced lacrosse
players and newcomers).
My experienced girls were very patient
with my newcomers. They were helpful and
many times at practice I had a newcomer
paired up with an experienced player in hopes
that my newcomers would le;im some tricks
from my experienced kids.
It took a while to separate my “soccer
kids” from my “cross country' kids.” In eveiy
drill we did in the beginning of the season the
girls had to partner up with someone they had
never played a sport with-it made them make
new friends and by the end of the season
they were partnering up with the players that
challenged them the most. It was great to see
because it meant this group of girls was finally
a team. It was a proud moment for me.
Who are the key returners next year?
Allie Style will retum next season for
certain. I had her play a lot of midfield this
spring, which of course she hated! Based
on the recruits coming in next year it would
appear that she will finally be moving out to a
strictly attack position.
Sarah Smith will return and she will most
likely play in the midfield again. Sarah was a
sleeper this year. I think that she has a whole
lot of talent but she hasn’t blossomed yet.
Next year will be her year to shine!
Alexa Ashworth is an amazing defender
and we will be so lucky if she doesn’t transfer
next fall. She led the conference in defensive
caused tumovers and groundballs. She did
not receive the recognition that she deserved
although that’s the cost of playing defense, I
suppose. She is a true leader out on the field
and the girls listen to her on defense.
Buffy Casto is transfeiring this fall to
Guilford College. It is unfortunate for the
team because she was a huge asset this spring;
however, I have spoken with some of the girls
and we are confident that although she will be
missed as a friend and teammate, the girls will
continue to be successful. I think that a lot of
my girls (Allie, Sarah, and Haley Griffiths in
particular) did not go to goal as much as they
could have because they depended on Buffy
to run the show. With Buffy gone next spring
my other talented players will have to pick up
their games and take more shots. Buffy was
successful because she took a lot of shots. If
you don’t shoot you won’t score and my other
players who were capable of shooting took a
backseat to Buffy. We will be a different team
next year for sure. If my girls step up the way I
expect that they will...we will be a better team.
What are your main goals as far as
recruitment this off-season?
My goal for recniitment is to bring in
as many players as 1 can! I mostly recmit up
north because they breed lacrosse players in
Maiyland and New York. I’m really looking
forward to a couple of players slated to play
next spring. I think that we are going to give a
lot of conference teams a show and we should
finish with a much better record next April.
Libby Fulford provided one of the seasons
highlights for the NCWC softball team, toss
ing a no-hitter in a 2-0 victory over Averett
on April 9, The sophomore walked four and
struck out 11 in the game. During the season,
Fulford won 13 games and posted a 1.78
ERA. She was a second team All-USA South
Conference selection for the Bishops, who
made it to the semi-finals in the conference
tournament and compiled an overall record
of 20-18 and a conference mark of 6-8. First
team all-conference honors went to first
baseman Courtney Tucker (a team-leading
37 RBIs), while shortstop Ashlee Bass and
designated hitter Kari Supple joined Fultord
on the second team.
Trevor’s Golf Diary
By Trevor Seibert
Decree Sports Editor
(Editor's Note: This spring, The Decree has
followed the progress of Trevor Seibert, afonner
Bishops wide receiver, who turned to golf after a
career-ending injury during last summer's football
training camp).
When I left everyone last time 1 believe 1
was on the verge of giving up. I’m very glad that
I did not.
After the Niyrtle Beach tournament I was
feeling very bad about every'thing that had to do
with golf, but I continued working hard at my
game and found that I shouldn’t be trying to hit
the ball as far as everyone else. If 1 can hit my
6-iron consistently 140 yards, then I should do it
instead of-trying to hit it 160-170 yards, which
is about W'hat a solid golfer can hit. Working
with ray new, shortened swing, I found that 1 was
hitting the ball a lot straighter, and my scores were
starting to drop. Little did I know how well 1 was
going to play in my next tournament.
Our next tournament was in Camp Lejuene,
North Carolina and is the best tournament that
our team goes to. It was highly competitive with
over .30 teams in the competition. We played two
different golf courses in a span of 3 days. I was
very excited about playing one particular course
because it was veiy short compared to a normal
course that we play. I felt like I could shoot in
the high 80’s on that course and play well enough
for the team. The first day of the tournament we
played the tougher of the two courses and I shot
a 98. I wasn’t extremely happy about that score
but I kept my head up because I started the round
sluggish and ended up playing the back nine very
v/ell. I shot 53 on the front and 45 on the back
nine. 1 knew that if I played the other course this
well. I was in for a low score.
The second day I came out firing. I knew
1 was playing extremely well as soon as I hit the
first ball of the first tee. I managed to play veiy
well and shoot 43 on the front nine and then came
the back, I played the back masterfully (in my
eyes) and shot a 40 on the back nine for a total
score of 83 on the day. That’s right, an 83. I felt
extremely happy w'ith myself and the day was
sealed when I nailed a 20 foot putt to par the final
hole for the 83, Even Anthony looked like he was
going to pass out when I told him what I shot.
But that score wasn’t enough for me because I
knew I could do better on that course.
The next day I came out playing even better
than the day before and was on my way to shoot
ing a better score until I played the 17th hole,
my eighth hole of the day, I made a huge mental
error and had a two stroke penalty put on me for
hitting my golf bag with the ball I was playing
with, 1 shot 46 on the front and 45 on the back, I
wasn't happy about my score and knew I could
do better, but I kept my head high because I was
playing very well again and knew' that without to
mental errors during the day it could have easily
been an 82,
I was looking forward to playing in the
team’s next two tournaments, but that did not
happen due to a lack of interest from the rest of
the team, Anthony was able to participate in
both of them as he should for being the number
one player, but I would be lying if 1 were to say
that I didn’t want to be out there playing, I have
played a few times at the team’s home course and
I'm still hitting the ball solid, I look forward to
playing the full season next year with new recruits
and hoijefully Anthony, Next year’s goals:
average under 90, no rounds in the hundreds, and
beat Anthony in one round at a tournament; we'll
see how that goes,
Anthony DeGregorio’s Analysis: Trevor
had a good season and has improved on a tot of
aspects of his game, but he still has a way to go
to becoming a complete college golfer. He should
seek Professional help this summer on his swing
and tr}' to take full swings. But his confidence is
back because he know's he can play well again, 1
look to see him shoot consistently in the 80's next
season and be a solid contributor to the team.
I Baseball from pg, 1
"We’ll need to put all our effort into
I every game,” said freshman Tyler Goarck.
I “Every game will be a must win,”
Before the USA South championship,
the Bishops had lost five of their previous
seven games to finish second in-the regular-
I season standings.
Then the Bishops turned up their
intensity. In the opening round, Ben Pearson
set the tone with a four-hit, six-strikeout
complete game, as the Bishops beat Averett,
3-0, In the second game, NCWC defeated
I Shenandoah, 6-5, and in the semi-finals, the
Bishop bats awoke in a 16-10 drubbing of
I Methodist, the regular season champion.
In the title game, the Bishops trounced
I Greensboro. 16-0.
Outfielder Chris Pecora, the tourna
ment s Most Valuable Player after collecting
10 hits, led off the first inning with a single
to left, and later scored on a two-run homer
over the right field lence by Matt Smith to
give the Bishops an early 2-0 lead. That was
really all that was needed, as sophomore
hurler Kyle Robertson pitched a complete
game one-hitter, while striking out five.
All-tournament honors were given to
(IB) Mark Wooten, (2B) Ryan Snyder, (OF)
Pecora, (DH) Kenny Flythe, (P) Pearson and
(P) Robeilson.
With its 27-16 overall record, the team
perhaps isn’t in the same league as NCWC’s
last NV'orld Series champ, which won 42 and
lost 9. But Long likes the current blend of
pitching, speed and timely hitting.
“Our pitching has been excellent. That’s
been the key to our success,” Long said,
noting that the staff has “kept us in a ton of
tight games. I can’t think of but a tew games
where we got blown out and didn t have a
chance to win.”
While acknowledging that the pitching
has been strong. Rice complimented the
team’s hitters. The Bishops hit only 12
homers during the season, but got plenty ol
timely hits from the likes of Snyder, who has
spanked 22 doubles, giving him an outside
chance at breaking the school record of 27.
Long pointed out that two major
contributors to the offense—Flythe and
outfielder Luke Williford— came to NC
Wesleyan as football recruits. ‘T’d like to
thank Coach (.Tack) Ginn for that,” Long
quipped. “Kenny has had some big hits, and
f.uke is a burner.”
The coach added that W'illiford,
together with Pecora and third baseman Rob
Johnson, have “put extra pressure” on other
teams with their speed, laying down bunts,
beating out infield grounders and stealing
bases. Pecora and .lohnson have racked up
more than 60 stolen bases between them,
“Speed kills,” Goark noted.
Many players feel that a big part of
their success derives from the team chem
istry, which was strengthened during a trip
out West to compete in the Greater Phoenix
Collegiate Toumament.
Both Rice and Goarck described the
bonding experience that the team had during
the trip.
“It was the best time I have ever had
on the baseball team” said Rice who talked
about getting to see Bank One Ballpark,
hotne of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“For some of the guys, this was their
first time on a plane” said Goarck. “It w'as
a great experience and another step to
growing as a team and preparing us for the
conference tournament and now regionals.”
Since returning from the conference
tourney in Buriington, the Bishops tallied a
home victory', 9-6, over Lynchburg College
on April 18th.
Long said that his team is healthy
for the playoff run. He thinks the break
bet ween the con ference tournament and the
regional competition has given Rice and his
other workhouse pitchers “time to refresh,”
ffis starting rotation will consist of Rice,
Robertson, Pearson and Ben Moore. Sean
McIntyre is set as the fifth starter.
Said Long, “I hope we’re peaking at
the right time.”
(Decree sports staff contributed to this report)