Page B2-The Chronicle, ThuYsday, April 5, Spring Sports Ramette sof the future m By ROBERT ELLER a Chronicle Sports Editor Winston-Salem State women's Softball Coach Tim Grant was hoping for a betterthan-.500 year when practice began for the 1984 season. With the loss of his pitcher, two outfielders and his second and third basemen, Grant had to pencil five new starters into the lineup and hope the team would come around in time for postseason play. "When the season began, I knew we would be young and inexperienced," Grant says. "We had five new starters and I hoped we would develop over the season and play .500 ball." But 12 games into a 26-game regularseason schedule, Grant finds his team with a 9-3 overall record and wins in both its conference contests. And his tune has changed as he looks "We are ahead of the schedule I set for the team before the season. I have been blessed with some new _. ./ i _ ?-- f - gins wnu nave a ioi oj latent. " r ? WSSU women's softball Coach a Tim Grant ____________ 1 c ahead to both the District 26 and CIAA tournaments later this month. g "We are ahead of the schedule I set for ?s the team before the season," Grant says. s "I have been blessed with some new girls a who have a lot of talent. " r Heading the list of gifted newcomers is - t pitcher Donna Johnson. Johnson has pitched every inning of the Rams' 12 games r this season, hurled three shutouts and sur- v rendered only five walks. In addition, she f leads the team in hitting with a .606 average and is tied for the lead in runs " i batted in with 19. The freshman from e Madison-Mayodan High has also belted three homers. r Yet, Johnson is only one of a number ( of new players who have sparked the 1 team's early-season success. Junior Faye s Strother, in her first year of softball, is hitting .451 and has 16 RBIs.She is the 5 team's starting center fielder. t Other starters in their first year of ac- 1 tion include second baseman Kim Camp- 5 bell, a local product hitting at a .387 clip. 1 The team's only senior, she returns to the squad after sitting out the past two t seasons. i Sophomore short fielder Cindy i Pompev is batting .473 while freshman i right fielder Tammy McNair is hitting < .363. Senior catcher Cynthia Kemp, Sports People From CIA / BET . ~ I rrrrr-? I ^>"1 m -^-vv-' ^bh ^5?sHoly. ' . WktM^^ ^Pc s.ii^^SNKix'v Mr. Congeniality Sauls, a well-known, well-liked man at 1984 s __s< tball team: ay be now mother newcomer, is hitting an even 300. i ne nnai new starter is f reshman third >aseman Myra Cobb. An outstanding lefensive player, she's batting .366. Though he's been duly impressed by tellar play from the new members of the earn, Grant says, the performance of his etuming veterans has been even better. The top returnee is shortstop Faye Dobb. The older sister of Myra, the ophomore is tied with Johnson for the earn lead in RBIs and is hitting .482. Last eason, she was the CIAA's Most /aluable Player while earning all-league ind all-district honors. She also paced the :iAA in home runs with 14. Sophomore first baseman Kenan denefee is the team's second-leading bat- j er with a .580 average. She was also all- < :iAA and all-district last season. Another returning all-ClAA player is eft fielder Beverly Bowden, who's batting 380. Grant says" the biggest problem the earn now faces is developing consistency. 'If we can develop consistency, there is to team in the league or district that has nore talent," he says. "But right now, we ire still inexperienced." Grant, now in his third year as the eam's coach, says consistency is hard to :ome by in women's Softball. "In women's Softball, there just isn't a ;reat deal of consistency on offense," he | ays, sounding slightly bewildered. "I've pent three years trying to figure out why ind I don't have the answer yet and teither do the other coaches I've talked o." Grant speculates that concentration nay oe tne Key. "(Jt the three games ve've lost we've carried shutouts into the B inal inning of each only to lose," he says. 21 'Maybe it's the difference between pjayng high school and sandlot ball as opposd to college ball." - f Last year's team finished with a 17-13 ecord and was runner-up in both the- d ZWA and District 26 tourneys. But Grant C ikes his chances for both titles this h eason. t "We are stronger defensively this Is ;eason than last," he says. "We have i hree shutouts already. In the past, I have r iad a strong infield but not a fine defen- s ;ive outfield. This year we are strong s :hroughout." / Grant prefers an aggressive style of play o and says he has spent a lot of time on base v running. "We have good speed and we 4 >vant to put pressure on the defense to i: -nake the good throw and the good \* :atch," he explains. it Please see page B4 i to IRS: The ^Hbjji ^jgM ^K p V# ^KH ^F a^Hl' '" :^l PF fMfiBfl mS^^.: *m |k VP2K A * ^ <> '--jt -iS f WSSU, makes a point in the dining hall < portsWe :ores, Standings, Columns, F* BP: ^ IFJ^vK' ^vr-, m |PP"*H HUH' ^,:jB - '*w .*>^ ' iiL* JsL*, sJjtiMiu?^ ^e^j I Titan Talent West Forsyth speedster Zeke William vide veteran leadership for the Titan t Hack On Sports 'Hoya Joya': y ROBERT ELLER ftronicle Sports Editor Who was it that said, "Good guys always inish last?" I don't recall, but he was dead wrong Monlay night. Now that John Thompson's }eorgetown Hoyas way - to the . ng forward to eading the works of uch staunch Hoya upporters as Sports |||& Ilustration and even ?ne local sportswriter |HKBp 1 /ho jumped on the m 'these-guys-belong- WtKKm lam mm n-prison" band/agon when mention- Ellcr ig Georgetown. But, before I sit down to take in their r v : JuaVifiUliUg JUi mm Staff Writer J I often rewarded 1 ' "' * brains, Winstonj Sauls is an except |impressive to complement hit several months, S 1 awards, includinj from BEfe^l outstanding defer H But, there's m KpMflSB^^kv-'- currently content plans for the futi with the his deg only three and a h in political scienci An outgoing, p I example of the ax will pay off in the H^5 an over-achiever. X that gave him a c made the most of "I sort of stun Sauls says. "Whe (photo by James Parker), was football. I w f i ek tat u res I |fl M|||l^^ > v ^RMHPPH^K. .jjtffl kci > w i wt ^^^bpbbpb^^ [tete^jSwHtev N ^PM IKL ^-Sr ^ - VMtiMtt^jtt $Mgmm r feats on the field. Within the past didn't I auls has received several academic Sauls sa g an NCAA scholarship and a to impi the CIAA as its Male Scholar- (B-plus] ir. In addition, he was named to the Since II team and tabbed the league's each se isive player. consecu ore... While most college seniors he has i plate job prospects and uncerain made o ire, Sauls already is busy at work Whil< Revenue Service. sports 11 attend graduate school. Having academ ree requirements in December after in his c alf years, Sauls will receive his B.A. "I th j next month. become >ersonable young man, Sauls is an time w iom that hard work and dedication amount long run. Plainly speaking, Sauls is then prj He took the football scholarship ding to hance to further his education and socializi it. do with ibled into being a good student," "It is n 1 came to State, my first priority schedul as determined to do whatever was BipP* Bk ^m ^B .^n^Lum ^ B 1BH ^B :^S^ jh^ ^ppB^^^j^BT ^^B^^^B S ^bl Jj^^^Ri^B jH?' B 1 .^BB| jJF . B Br jjBF ^B9& bbbbr? ason (photo by James Parker). 'eigns supreme ings on that fact -- which is that it ought not be something to be proud of, since our country has allowed so few black men chance to win a national title. Musburger also gave Graham a chance to respond to his charges that the freshman star was a little too rugged. And Graham handled the opportunity nicely, simply saying he didn't want the reputation of being a bad guy. Thompson put the cap on things when Musburger asked him if he felt vindicated after winning the championship. Big John, who thinks first and foremost of his players, didn't resort to the cliche responses most coaches and athletes give. Instead, he went right to THE point -- a point that, amid all of the criticism of Thompson and his players, has been mysteriously overlooked: "These kids get an education and they graduate." Enough said, John. Now that the season is over, I'd like to see CBS, with Musburger doing the narrating, go Please see page B3 Sauls ry to keep my eligibility." , ring good enough grades to stay on the team roajar concern, - sayfc frauifcp mha adaite hg?i? y^anraveragie" ^HHZ. ayes emphasized from the first meeting when lere that, in order to play, we had to keep our JP." first semester I came out with a 2.6 average t really understanding the grading structure, I think that was enough to stay in school," tys. "The second semester I tried a lot harder ove upon that and I came out with a 3.3 I." that time, Sauls has seen his average increase mester until it reached a perfect 4.0 in two tive semesters last year. More impressively, *i_I complied a j.v average in ms major, having nly one B in political science. ^ 5 most people believe competing in college prevents students from achieving their ic potential, says Sauls, the opposite was true ase. link playing college football enabled me to more organized and forced me to budget my isely," says Sauls. "Knowing exactly the of time that's required for going to class and actice, I know how to allocate my time accor? priorities. There's only so much time to e and you have to decide what you're going to it." ; extremely difficult to maintain such a tight e," Sauls_says. "Playing college football is Please see page B3