FRESHMAN JENNY CROWDER pitched North Brunswick to the
state semifinals before a 3-2 loss at Alleghany ended the Lady
Scorpions' season.
EIGHT HOUR ROAD TRIP
North Brunswick
Girls Stopped
In Semifinals
BY DOUG R UTTER
You could say North Brunswick
had two strikes against it before it
even took the field Saturday to play
Alleghany in the western finals of
the state 1A high school softball
playoffs.
Not only did the Lady Scorpions
travel eight hours to get to Al
leghany, they also had to contend
with a tricky outfield featuring a
drop-off in front of the fence.
That drop-off came into play in
the bottom of the seventh inning,
when a fly ball to deep center field
fell in for a hit and allowed Al
leghany to score the winning run in
a 3-2 victory.
"They got a lucky break and we
didn't," explained North Brunswick
Goad! J R. Sholar. "It was a real
good game. It was a tough game for
both teams all the way."
Alleghany (23-1) advanced to
face eastern champion Dixon (25-2)
in the swe chanipiuuuiip Kites.
North Brunswick, which had an
1 1-game winning streak at one point
this season, finished the year with a
22-5 record. It was North's best sea
son since winning the state title in
I960.
"I'm proud of my girls," Sholar
said Monday. "The played a good
ball game. When you get in a situa
tion like that it's a matter of who
makes a mistake or who gets a
break. I feel like they got the break
and won the ball game."
Sholar said North Brunswick
gave Alleghany a better tight Umu
most of the Lady Trojan fans had
expected.
The people up there said they
had never teed nobody like us be
fore," Sholar said. "I feel like we
had an excellent season. I'm very
proud of tbe girls. They've got a rea
son to hold their heads up."
North Brunswick advanced to the
western finals with a 4-3 victory
over host East Sony in the third
round of the playoffs last Wed
nesday.
First baseman Michelle Bennett
went 2-fbr-3 with three RBI to lead
tbe Lady Scorpions.
Bennett had a two-run single and
added n game-winning solo borne
run in the sixth inning. Wendy
Ganey also went 2-for-3 for North
Brunswick.
Sbolar said tbe Lady Scorpions
traveled 1,200 miles last week for
the two playoff games.
"There's no way that you can't be
tired after that. There's no way you
can be 100 percent, bat oar girls
give 110 percent Saturday," Shdar
said.
In first two rounds of the playoffs.
North Brunswick defeated Chatham
Central, 5-4, and Surry Central, 7-3.
The Lady Scorpions won the
Three Rivers Conference champi
onship with a 13-1 record. It was the
second straight league title for
North, which won tbe Waccamaw
Conference crown last year.
Sbolar said tbe team, which will
lose only one senior, is already look
ing forward to next year. The girls
hope to have go undefeated is the
Three Rivers Conference.
North Brunswick will not be eli
gible for the state playoffs next sea
son. North has the enrollment of a
2A school, but school officials de
cided to "play down" to the 1A clas
sification starting this school year.
As a result. North Brunswick
teams are only eligible for the play
offs every other year.
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Toronto Drafts Leiand's Chris McBride
BY DOUG RUTTER
Littk League.
That was one of the tiist things
that went through Chris McBride's
mind when be learned the Toronto
Blue Jays had selected him in the
third round of Major League
Baseball's amateur draft
The telephone call from Sky
dome, home of the two-time defend
ing World Series champions, came
in to the McBride house in Lcland
last Thursday around 2:30 p.m.
"I thought about my days in Little
League," Mc Bride said. "You grow
up dreaming of someday playing
professional baseball and when it fi
nally happens it's amazing It was a
dream come true really."
Mc Bride, who played his high
school ball at North Brunswick and
American Legion ball for Bruns
wick County Post 68, recently com
pleted his junior season with the
UNC-Wilmington Seahawks.
A 6-toot-S-inch, 200-pound, right
-handed pitcher, McBride is the
highest -chosen player ever from
UNC-Wilmington. He had a 4-7
record this season with a 3.56 ERA.
McBride, who limited opponents
"You grow up dreaming of
someday playing professional
baseball and when it finally
happens it's amazing. It was
a dream come true really : "
? Oiris McBride
to a .226 batting average this season,
was drafted as a pitcher. His fastball
has been clocked in the high 80s.
and he was rated the third -best play
er in the state by Baseball America
magazine.
"I won't be swinging the bat any
more," said McBride, who was one
of the area's most feared hitters is
high school and American Legion
ball.
"It's fine with me," he added.
II S ihc tpiackcsi w'SV tO tlaOYC Up.
I'll do whatever they want me to do
as long as I get to the show (major
league). I'll do whatever it takes."
McBride. who most <?couts
thought would last until the fifth
round of the draft, signed a contract
with the Blue Jays on Sunday. He
was scheduled to catch a flight to
Dunedin, Fla., on Thursday.
After a few days of orientation
and instruction, McBride and Tor
onto's other top draft choices will be
given their minor league assign
ments.
McBride said Monday he expects
to be sent to Ontario, Canada, where
he will play for St. Catharines in the
New Ycrk-Penn A League.
McBride said he'll miss his fami
ly and the area. He plans to make a
lot of phone calls and send lots of
letters as he tries to adjust to life
away from home.
Mc Bride learned about life on the
road last year when he played in the
Shenandoah Vaiky League, a sum
mer league for college players. He
was MVP of the league in 1993.
"J gj{ ? *??!? r\t it l?ct v;? wjvn I
went to play in the valley league.
It's going to be hard, but overall I'm
excited about the chance to play pro
fessional ball," he said.
McBride was one of two Bruns
wick County players selected in the
amateur draft. California picked
North Brunswick High School se
nior Paul Mintz in the 30th round.
The left-handed pitcher was 9-0
this season and helped lead the
Scorpions to a 20-6 record and into
the third round of the state 1A play
offs.
Mintz is not expected to sign with
the Angels. Instead, he will likely
play at least one year of college
baseball, possibly at Southeastern
Community College in Whiteviile.
Other area players selected in last
week's draft include Whiteviile
High School senior Anthony Sout
hern, who was picked in the 16th
round by the Seattle Mariners.
0
NORTH BRUNSWICK CATCHER Robert Hcweuheipcd lead the
Scorpions to * 20-6 record this season amd a trip to the state quar
terfinals.
East Montgomery Eagles
Sting North Scorpions 1 3-0
North Brunswick's baseball team
? dreaming of a stale championship
since early March ? got the equiva
lent of a 4 a.tn. wakeup call last
Ttedsy at Montgomery.
The Eagles roughed up North
Brunswick ace pitcher Casey Mc
Bride for nine hits in five innings en
route to a 13-0 victory in the third
round of the state 1A high school
playoffs.
The final score was shocking con
sidering the strong pitching that had
carried North through the regular
season, when McBride hurled two
no-hitters, including one perfect
The Scorpions (20-6) had allowed
five runs or less 21 times during the
season and limited opponents to two
rant or leas in 16 games
None of that mattered to East
Montgomery's Eagles (19-2). The
defcadisg sSatc 1A dumps wen the
battle with McBride (10-3). a junior
right-hander who will he one of the
area's top prospects in 1995.
The Eagles scored nine runs with
McBride on the mound and added
four more on Mickey Mabe's grand
slam off North Brunswick relief
pitcher Jeremy Sullivan in the bot
tom of the fifth.
Meanwhile, North Brunswick was
limited to three hits by East Mont
gomery starter Greg McNeill (10-2),
who struck out 12 and walked none
in five innings of work.
McNeill's two-run double to left
field sparked a four-run second in
ning for the Eagles, who added three
more runs in the fourth and five in
the fifth Matthew Reynolds had
three hits for the winners.
The loss ended an exceptional
season for North Brunswick, which
rolled to a 14-0 finish in the Three
Rivers Conference and carried a 14
game winning streak into the third
round playoff game.
The defeat at East Montgomery
was North's first since an April 6
setback to New Hanover in the fl
ash of the Snvhell Invitational
baseball tournament The Wildcats
have advanced to the stale 4A finals.
N. Brun. 0000000? 0 30
E. Mont. 0 4 1 3 5 OX? 13120
SPORTING SCENE
Eight W8HS Seniors
Left Mark On Gridiron
Every high school graduating class
In each class, there are always a few
individuals who shine above all others
of the fields of play.
In terms of team accomplish
ments on the football field, however,
there has never been and may never
be another senior class that measures
up to the West Brunswick Class of
'94.
Eight young men in this year's
graduating dass were with the
Trojans as they made three consecutive
and won slate titles in 1992 and 1993.
Wayne Branch, Steve Brooks, Steve Holmes, Phillip Johnson, Michael
Lance, Charlie Peele, William Stanley and Kip Young are leaving behind a
legacy of gridiron greatest.
These graduates-lo-bc were just young pups in 1991 when West
Brunswick came out of nowhere and made it past the second round of the
state football playoffs for the first time in school history.
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to make it to the state championship game in Chapel Hill. At Kenan
Stadium, they ran into a tough bunch from Thomasville and lost 21-6.
Unfazed and toughened by the loss. West Brunswick returned to Chapel
Hill in 1992. But only after winning three consecutive playoff games against
undefeated teams ? Clinton, Farmvilie Central and St. Pauls.
The experience of 1991 's title game paid huge dividends in 1992, when
the Trojans capitalized on two mistakes by the Maiden Blue Devils and
posted a 14-6 victory under the bright sunny skies of Blue Heaven.
By the time the 1993 season rolled around, these eight seniors were
chomping at the bit to return to Chapel Hill and prove their 1992 champi
onship was no fluke.
They played well during the regular season, tying for the conference
championship, and turned up the heat at playoff time. Changing classifica
tions from 2A to the tougher 3A division proved to be no sweat
After a pair of easy playoff wins. West Brunswick dumped top-ranked
Rcidsville and held off an outstanding Tarboro squad to win its third straight
eastern North Carolina championship.
The Trojans drew High Point Andrews in the state title game, and
things did not look promising after three quarters in cold, rainy Chapel Hill.
West Brunswick trailed 14-0 heading into the final period, but some
how swiped momentum from the Red Raiders and scored three unanswered
touchdowns to claim a stunning 19-14 victory.
West Brunswick became the first high school in North Carolina history
to win a state football championship and repeat as champs the following
year in a higher classification.
These eight seniors have given West Brunswick High School a strong
reputation around the state. Will there ever be another football-rich class like
the Class of 947
Only time will tell.
Waiting in the wings are four juniors ? Timothy Daniels, Eric Johnson,
Neil Warren and Kelley Woolen ? who have already made three trips to
Chapel Hill. They'll try for a fourth next fall.
i has its share of outstanding athletes.
Doug
Rutter
Editor
trips to the state championship game
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