Photos by Craig T. Greenlee
Winston-Salem State's Chyna Riley slides into second base during the second game of a doubleheader against Bluefield State last Saturday.
RILEY
font page B1
A key factor behind
Riley's development as an
offensive threat is the
change she made three
years ago as a freshman.
Hilliard-Gray asked her to
switch to hitting from the
left side to take full advan
tage of her speed on the
base paths. It wasn't the
smoothest of transitions to
make, but during the
course of the season, Riley
emerged as an effective
"slapper," who excels at
hitting balls up the middle
and to the opposite field.
"At fust it was a little
shaky because I wasn't
used to it," said Riley. "But
Coach Gray pushed me
every single day. The other
'slappers' on the team real
ly worked with me. So, I
got comfortable and picked
things up pretty quickly.
When I listen to what
Coach Gray tells me and
use the technique, it always
works."
Given Riley's ability to
get on base, it comes as no
surprise that Hilliard-Gray
wants her to become more
of a base stealing threat. Up
to this point in this season,
Riley hasn't been given the
green light very often (two
steals in four attempts).
That's subject to change as
the season progresses.
"We're looking to give
Chyna more opportunities
to steal bases," Hilliard
Gray said. "That's one area
we haven't been able to uti
lize her speed as much as
we need to. It's just a mat
ter of her becoming more
comfortable stealing bases
and understanding what
she can and can't do in dif
ferent game situations."
While Riley is satisfied
with the progress she's
made at the plate, she's
especially pleased with
how she's developed as a
pitcher. Even though she's
not overpowering on the
mound, she's more than
held her own by changing
the speed and placement of
her pitches.
"Since I'm a slower
pitcher, it's easier for hit
ters to pick up on my pitch
es," said Riley, who's inter
ested in pursuing a career
in the medical field. "I
work a lot on my spins and
it shows on the field. As
long as I have (ball) move
ment, then I'm good."
In the CIAA's pte-sea
son balloting, Winston
Salem State (20-15 as of
April 5) was picked to fin
ish second behind Chowan.
So far, the Rams are 7-1
against conference oppo
nents. Riley is confident
that her team has what it
takes to make a strong run
at the conference crown
this spring.
"As long as we stick
together as a team, I
believe we can win it," she
said. "If we're in a bad sit
uation, we can't get down
(on ourselves) because
we'll stay down. So, if we
encourage each other to
stay up, then we'll be fine."
From a coach's per
spective, perhaps the
biggest plus about Riley is
that she's a little over half
way through her career as a
college softball player.
Hilliard-Gray has a lot of
reasons to be optimistic
about what the future holds
for Riley.
"Chyna is a great asset
to the team and I'm glad
that she's only in her junior
year," said Hilliard-Gray.
"We have more things to
work on that will allow her
to grow and become more
of a dominant player in her
senior year."
As a pitcher, WSSU's
Chyna Riley keeps
opposing hitters off bal
ance with an assortment
of breaking pitches.
RAMS
from page B l
the deepest playoff run
ever for a CIAA team.
"We're making too
many mental mistakes,"
said coach Kevin Ritsche.
"Probably our biggest
struggle right now is that
we're not
playing
well offen
sively. It's
tough on
your
defense
when
KUsch* y ? u r e
only scor
ing two or three runs a
game. It puts a lot of pres
sure on our pitching staff,
which for the most part is
doing their job (3.92 ERA).
We just have to step things
up offensively."
In a 7-3 loss to Lenoir
Rhyne last week, there
were three innings in which
the Rams came up empty
with runners in scoring
position. That's been an
on-going trend that started
on opening day of the sea
son.
"From the very first
game when we opened up
with Millersville, we had
guys in scoring position in
five of the nine innings,"
said Ritsche. "We failed to
do the job and get those
guys in. If we could've got
ten one or two hits in those
situations, we'd be a 20
win team instead of a 12
win team."
With no home games
scheduled for April, the
Rams figure to learn a lot
about their team identity
over the next three weeks.
They do play Saint
Augustine's four times as
the designated home team,
but those games will be
played Asheboro Ritsche
is eager to see if playing on
f
the road for an extended
period of time will help his
team in the coming weeks.
"I'm looking for us to
do things a little bit better
on somebody else's field,"
he said. "It comes down to
simple things like our hit
ters not getting down 0-2
(in the count) at the plate,
and our pitchers not going
down 2-0.
"Our approach in those
situations is something
we've been working on, to
try and get our guys in a
better situation to be
more successful. Over the
first half of the season, we
haven't done things the
way the game is supposed
to be played."
In spite of the Rams
sluggish first half, Ritsche
is confident that his team
will make amends in the
coming weeks. Much of his
optimism is based on the
quality of competition that
?I
WSSU has faced in the first
two months of the season.
"We have over 20
games left (in the regular
season)," he said. "And I
feel like we're going to win
17 or 18 of those games.
We're done with the hard
est part. After the first half,
we were a little below 300
against a pretty difficult
schedule. In our upcoming
games, we have a real good
opportunity to make a few
mistakes against some of
the teams and it won't hurt
us so bad. With the teams
we played over the first
half, when you make a mis
take, they make you pay."
"So, I'm confident that
for the remainder of the
season, we have an oppor
tunity to start doing some
things right. Once we get
the ball rolling again, win
ning will become conta
gious again."
Photoa by Craig T. GnoUee
Kanoa Hironaka of the Rams pitched a two-hit shut
out over Virginia State last Saturday.
Cummings
Steger
Burton
Split
from page B1
fourth and one in the fifth
inning to jump out in front
4-1.
Winston-Salem State
tried to mount a comeback
in the seventh, as Randy
Norris doubled, followed
by a Phillip Page single.
Orlando Cannon brought
home Nonis on a single,
and Page would come
home on a Baytop single,
but the rally would come
up short, as the Rams
dropped the fust game 4-3.
Uftensively, Randy
Norris finished game one
going 2 for 3 with a run
scored and a double, and
Phillip Page went 1 for 2
with two runs scored.
Orlando Cannon went 1 for
2 with a run batted in,
while Landon Seiner and
Ivan Acuna each went 1 for
3. Jason Baytop finished 1
for 4.
lyier Scearce took the
loss for the Rams, going
4.1 innings, allowing four
?
runs and nine hits, while
walking two and striking
out five.
In game two, the Rams
once again scored first, this
time in the first inning,
when Nathan Steger sin
gled home Jason Baytop to
give WSSy a 1-0 advan
tage.
WSSU scored again in
the second inning, this time
Nathan StegeiVcame
through again at the plate,
singling home Jason
Baytop to give the Rams a
2-0 lead.
Virginia State scored in
the fourth inning to cut the
Rams lead in half at 2-1.
Winston-Salem State
would give themselves
some breathing room in the
sixth, as Emilio Abreu got
things started with a RBI
single, scoring Willie
McRae. After a Nathan
Steger single and Landon
Steiner was hit by a pitch,
the Rams got a big hit from
Randy Norris who tripled,
scoring both Steger and
Steiner, to give WSSU a 5
ft '
1 lead.
Virginia State would
add one run in the seventh,
but could not overcome the
Rams lead, as WSSU
would take game two, 5-2.
Nathan Steger went 3
for 4 with a run scored and
two runs batted in, while
Randy Norris finished 2 for
4 with a triple and two runs
batted in. Emilio Abreu
went 2 for 3 with a run bat
ted in. Ivan Acuna was 2
for 2 and Phillip Page went
1 for 3. Landon Steiner
went 1 for 3 with a run
scored and Jason Baytop
finished 1 for 4 with two
runs scored. Willie McRae
also scored a run for the
Rams.
Jordan Cummings
picked up the win in relief
for WSSU, pitching the
final three innings, allow
ing one run and three hits,
while striking out three.
Sam Burton went the first
4j0 innings, giving up just .
one run on five hits, while
striking out one and walk
ing three.