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Winston-Salem Chronicle C PORTS WEF IT THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1996 Page 17 JKL SL Photo by John Hitton Shavonda Smith takes a cut dur Denettra Parker practices sliding into htutTe plate during a recent WSSL7 practice. Rams Softball Team Hoping To Make Title Run R V Sum hn i? Special to ihe Chronicle Could this be the break through year for the Winston Salem State Softball team? With an infusion of talented young players and the return of several outstanding veterans. Coach Mike Winbush hopes the Rams will have a chance to play for the CIAA softball champi onship this spring. The Rams have gotten off to a 4-2 start thus far. But the real tesl for WSSU won t come until early next month when the Rams get into the heart of their schedule. "Right now 1 think we're making progress," Winbush says. "With a few breaks we could be a very good team. But we need a lot of things to go our way." After finishing near the .5(X) mark last year, Winbush hit ? re>miiting trail hard and signed a tal^nud, group of freshmen to go along with a solid nucleus that returned from last year. ' "This team is a mixture of young and old," Winbush says. "We have a very outstanding veteran outfield, but our infield is almost totally new." The Rams' outfield is anchored by Bridgette Speaks, who finished the 1994 season as the Division II RBI leader. Speaks'.673 batting average is currently the tops on the WSSU squad. Speaks is equally talented on the defensive end from her centerfield position. Not far back are Letitia Jones and Kelly Alburry. Jones, who is hitting .474, captured the Division II national title in RBI's and batting average last year. Alburry, a transfer from Univ. of Nebraska, is batting .462. "The three of them are all tremendous outfielders and hit ters," Winbush says. "Kelly might be one of the best baserunners in college Softball." The most noticeable change in the Rams' roster this season is the presence of an outstand ing pitcher. Winbush brought in Vanessa Nieson to shore up the Rams' pitching corps and she has been impressive thus far. Nieson, a freshman from Detroit, lost a doubleheader at" the start of the season, but has produced a 4-0 record since^ then. "The biggest thing we have going for us right now is we have a good freshman pitcher/' Winbush said. "She has really kept us in some games and given us a chance to win." Nieson isn't the only new comer in the Rams lineup. Ajila Thomas, a freshman from Carv er High, has started at both sec ond base and shortstop Michelle Woedard, a freshman from Winnsboro, S.C., has taken over the duties at short stop. "Michelle and Ajila have stepped in and done a good job for us,"* Winbush savs. "Michelle has a lot of talent and Ajila has the heart of a lion." Rounding out the Rams' starting lineup are NaKendra McGee at catcher and Shavonda Smith at first base. Smith has played a key role thus far with her leadership and sawy. "Shavonda has played with a lot of heart and played through some injuries," Win bush says. Denettra Parker, who start ed nearly every game at pitcher last year, joined the team this /^?ek. Winbush allowed Parker to take time off after a demand ing basketball season, in which she led the Rams in rebounding and was second in scoring. IfWTnbush can get all of the players to form a cohesive unit, it just might be the league's surprise team. "This team is going to be pretty good," Winbush says. "We just have to jell as a unit and hopefully by tournament time we'll be ready. "We have to learn to make the right plays at the right time. We have to stop playing to the level of our competition. We have a tendency to get very lackadaisical out on the field. The key for us is going out and doing everything in a positive way." The Rams begin a crucial stretch of the season next Mon-_ day when they play host to Fayetteville State at Civitan Park at 2 p.m. "We have the kind of play ers who can be successful," Winbush says. "Now 1 think we can compete with anyone in the league and we need the support from the people in the city. I thTftk that would be a big boost for us." Twin City To Kick Off *96 Season With Pig Pickin' ?Fundraiser Coincides With Final Registration Bv Sam Davis Special to ilit' Clironii It Twin City Little League will officially begin its 35th season when it hosts a Pig Pickin' Bar becue at East Winston Shopping on Saturday. - ^ League officials will also be wi^apd to register players for the *iljpc<5fning season. Parents can register their children betweerr the ages of six and 18 years-old at Saturday's festivities. League president Melvin "Rip" Wilkins says that fundrais ing events such as the one being held on Saturday is vital to the success of the program. "This is one of the methods we use for fundraising," says Wilkins. "We are totally depen dent upon donations to keep this program in operation, so we have to have events like this one on Saturday to make sure we will have an operating budget for the season." This year, the organization is hoping to increase its number of volunteers, coaches and support ers commensurate with its increase in participants. The pro gram now has a total of 40 teams. When the program began in 1961, it only had eight teams. ? "You can see the number of kids that have come through this program over the years and lately the number of participants has increased tremendously," Wilkins says. "But the involvement from the community has not increased the way we would like. We really need umpires, coaches, sponsors and other volunteers." ? Wilkins is in his second stint as the president of the league.TTe says this tenure, now in its third year, has been the most produc tive. The organization has a per manent home at its complex on Waterworks Road, but now it needs to look to upgrade for the future. 'There's a lot still left to be done," he says. "People don't understand the kind of impact this program has on the kids! We're talking about a program with jzfver 600 kids. That's touch ing the lives of a lot of people." One of the emphasis of this year's program will be on improving girl's Softball. "We really feel that this is an area that needs to be improved upon," Wilkins says. "This is something that can really help them as they move on to the high s schools and beyond." Wilkins says the league is stronger than ever because of the work being performed by the members of the Board of Direc tors. "We have a lot of expertise and we have people who don't mind going the extra mile to help these kids," Wilkins says. "That's the big thing this league has going for it. It's not about us, it's about the kids." Alfred Mitchell, who has been with the organization nearly a\l of its 35 years, is the vice president. Patricia Jacobs serves as executive secretary and Gai Hayes is the treasurer. Each divi sion of competition has a vice president responsible for baseball operations. Th^y are: T-Ball David DuncarfTMajor and Minoi League - Stanley Mitchell; Senior League: David Duncan; "I couldn't ask for a better group," Wilkins adds. "They make it easy on me." But ultimate^ Wilkins says, the tale will be told on the com munity's input. "We have to have more spon sors and supporters." Spring Football Underway at WSSU + Candidates Line Up To Replace Huntley at Tailback B> Sam Davis Special to the Chronicle Spring football has begun at Winston-Salem State and Coaeb Kermit Blount has a lot of ques tion marks surrounding the team for the 1996 football season. First and foremost on his mind and the mind of Ram fans is Finding a replacement for Richard Huntley, the All-American run ning back who finished his career as the No. 2 rusher in the history of NCAA football. But not only did the Rams lose Huntley, they also lost Hay wood Cloud, who backed him up at tailback and also started at full back. A host of prospects have lined up for the vacant backficld posi tions already and, with a talented freshman class entering WSSU next fall. Blount said he feels con fident that he will be able to find competent players to carry the football next fall for WSSU. "Obviously you don't replace a player like Richard Huntley very easily," Blount sank "But I think Richard Huntley carried the hall most of the time in Coach Blount's tailback-oriented system for the past three seasons. This spring Blount and the Rams look to find his successor. watch Richard work out, they're going to he motivated to work harda "With Richard vacating the tailback spot, I look for a strong competition to see who'fTgoing to step in." Tyrone Murphy heads the list of returnees from last year's team. Murphy, a redshirt freshman, has shown a lot of progress, according to Blount. "We expect Tyrone to step up and he productive for us this season," Blount said. "He's gotten a lot we'll ffave a bunch of guys jock eying for the opportunity to play. "1 think they have a lot of motivation because of the success that Richard had,'' Blount added. "When the players look up and see 28 or 29 different (NFL.) teams coming to the weight room to stronger and he\s had a full season under our system." / Murphy's stiff est cornppiition in the spring will cbme frfton two newcomers, who will hav^ their first opportunity to get on the practice field at WSSU; 4 v. Shawn Dorley, a 6-0, 210 pounder might be the most physi cally imposing runner. Dorley, who transferred from Western Carolina, runs the 40 in 4.6 and bench presses more than 400 pounds. But Blount isn't sure whether he'll get his first shot at tailback or fullback. "He coufdTie a combination player for u.s," Blount said. "He's a bruising type runner." Although it has been more than two years since he's put on a uniform, Chris Petty, who played at Eden Morehead. might be the most impressive prospect. Petty has tremendous speed (4.4 40 vard dash) and is also among the strongest running backs on the team (360 bench press). The 5-10, 185-pound Petty was one ofthe most highly recruited backs in the state as a senior, but didn't qualify academically. Petty sat out the 1994 season and was sef*to back up Huntley last season. But Petty returned home prior to the 1995 see SPRING page 20 'J < v'" i ,u^ $* ,. ,., -?? ? -1 ?W '-H<r ?fcV* -\ , V r* ?*V; ?. ??. i ? * ??? : . 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 21, 1996, edition 1
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