North Carolina Newspapers

PAGE 4, THE PILOT, GARDNER-WEBB COLLEGE, APRIL 29, 1971 Bulldog Sports Tennis Team Has Ups Downs 2-6 The Gardner Webb tennis team is havtng its uds and dovms this season. Playing a very tough schedule has maae its mark on the netters. Recent wins over Mars Hill and Wofford, however, has giv en the team life. G-W defeat ed a very strong Wofford team by a score of 5-1. Tommy Bell has been the most im pressive netter in recent mat ches. The wins have moved the tennis record to 2-6. The doubles team of I^arry Smith and Tommy Bell has been very successful for Coach Janies Taylor. Smith and Bell combined to defeat Mars Hills Pegg and Malette by scores of Duffers Top Apps & 49ers Are Now 10-4 The G-W Golf team has im proved its record to 10-5 with recent wins over Appalachian and UNC-Charlotte. G-W soun dly defeated Appalachian’s go lfers in Charlotte as Terry Florence and Gary Dobbins each had 70’s for G-W. Bob Hines had a 76 for the Bulldogs also G-W defeated UNC-C by 285- 301. Mike Stewart, a sophomore from Charlotte, set an amat eur course record in Charlotte. Stewart shot a 69. Stewart also shot a 76, along with Flor ence and John Kyle to defeat Catawba and Guilford at the Salisbury Country Club. Bob Hines led all marks with a low of 71 against Lenoir- Rhyne as G-W won 18 1/2 to 5 1/2. Coach Garland Allen thinks 6-0 and 7-5 as G-W capturea the match handily. In Spartanburg, S.C., G-W defeated Wofford as Billy Wal ters and Tommy Bell came through for singles wins. Wal ters also teamed with Charles a doubles match. I will t n the r Track Team Drops Two Lacks Men Track Coach Cole Proctor has led his team into 2 meets thus far this season. Composed mostly of football players, the track team has done well individually in first and second place but due to lack of participants has found itself lacking in other spots. Ken Long has been throw ing the Shot Put well and Cole man Hunt has been impressive in the 100-yard dash. Ken Reid covered 22 feet in the Broad Jump against Catawba and Jody Anthony won the High Jump at 5’ 10”. G-W dropped both the Woff ord and Catawba contests but, Coach Proctor feels the pro gram will pick up and that the efforts will pay off in football next fall. Highly Sought 6-9, 215 lb. Florida Cager Signs With GW ning for recognition in District play. 6-6 Forward Will Be Asset To Dogs Averaged 26-17 Donald Elliott, a 6-6 forward from Dallas High School in Dall as, N.C., has signed a basket ball grant-in-aid with Gardner Webb College. “We’re very fortunate to get a 6-6 kid straight out of high school who can play outside on the wing,” Gardner-Webb head basketball coach Eddie Hol brook said in announing the signing. “We haven’t had a big wing man who is used to playing out side, but we feel that Donald has the physical qualities to fit into our style ofplay real well,” Holbrook continued. Elliott averaged 26 points and 17 rebounds per game and led the Dallas quintet to the district finals in the state 2-A playoffs before being beaten by West Stanley 33-31 in a hard fought defensive struggle. “We were very impressed with Donald’s outside shooting and ball handling abilities,” assistant coach Ron Hooper said Hooper, who was responsible for recruiting Elliott, said, “It’s not every day that you see a kid 6-6 who. can bring the ball up court against the full court press and this rea lly impressed me. Donald has real good size, speed and agil ity and has the potential to be an outstanding defensive play er,” Hooper continued. Kirby Thurston, 6-9, 215 pounds, one of the most sought after cagers in the state of Florida has signed a basket ball grant-in-aid to Gardner- Webb College. Thurston, along with team mate Alvin Jones, a 6-6 forward inked the contracts this week and Gardner-Webb coach Eddie Holbrook expressed his elation over the signings. “He’s a super kid. We feel that he is one of the top pros pects we’ve signed since Tve been at Gardner-Webb,” Hol brook said when questioned a- bout Thurston. “If he plays like we think he can, this will allow us to move George (All- American George Adams) to a wing position and this should make us even stronger than we were this year,” Holbrook con tinued. Thurston was named “Player of the Year” in Florida by the Pompano Beach Sun Sentinal, the Fort Lauderdale News and the Miami Herald. He was also named to the first team All- State and Region IV All-Tour nament squads. Both Thurston and Jones averaged 20 points per game on a team which ended the season with a record of 28-2 and run- ner-up in the state champion ships. They also hauled down 14 rebounds apiece in each of their 30 encounters. “Kirby has the potential to be a great player,” Holbrook said. “He has excellent speed and quickness and he just explodes when Eoim; to the basket.” he continued. Although Jones didn’t get the recognition that Thurston re ceived, Holbrook still considers him a real fine prospect. “We feel that Jones is a sleeper. He has real good speed, quick ness and desire and could turn out to be a great defensive play- Gardner-Webb’s 1971 Baseball team are: front row, left to right: John Lipe, Mike Anthony, Ron Noe, David Heffner, Larry Sisk, Gary Mull, Terry Brewer, Larry Lecroy, David Jacobs, Gary Wiley, manager Jerry Costins. , t u Second row: left to right: Head Coach Jerry Bryson, Joe Stepp, Bobby Lail, Johnny Phillips, Mike McDaniel, Joe Brown, Roger McSwain, Ron Lacy, managers Joe Jenkins and Danny Caldwell, assistant coach Joe Ellenburg. Competition Falls In Face Of Dogs Hitting & Pitching Gardner - Webb College’s baseball team is enjoying a great season. Gardner-Webb has compiled a great 15-2 re cord and is hoping for a berth in the district and national play offs. Great pitching, hitting, and fielding have been the key to the success of Coach Jerry Bryson’s club. To single out one individ ual would be impossible every player has ' " greatly to G-W’s cause. Pitch ing perhaps has beenourgreat- est asset however. Of course when you think of pitching at G-W, automatically you think of ace-hurler Bobby Lail. Lail, a left hander, has been abso lutely superb thus far. Lail looked especially good against Catawba College as he struck out 17 batters and captured G-W a 7-0 win. Other pitchers who have play ed very well are Buddy Starnes and Johnny Phillips. Starnes is a sophomore from Charlotte, and Phillips is a junior from Greenville, S.C. Starnes look ed good against Emory and Hen ry of Virginia in winning the first game of a double header here. Starnes pitched a one- hitter and G-W captured a 17-3 win. Phillips came back in the second game and allowed only eight hits in capturing a 15-1 win. (Bob Lacy, another hur- ler has been coming on strong, also). Hitting has been outstanding for G-W also. Roger McSwain who went 6 for 6 against Elon, Joe Brown, homered in the Em ory and Henry game, and Joe Stepp, who blasted two out of the park against Emory and Henry. Larry Sisk and Mike Anthony have come on strong recently. Both homered again st Emory and Henry. David Heffner, a freshman from Shelby has been a good hitter also. In fielding G-W has gone al most flawless. CoachBryson’s team has shown to be a quick, and very smooth fielding team. John Lijpe, a sophomore from Old Fort, N.C. has backed the plate well this season. Larry Levron scored twice against South Georgia Tech. He is a speedster and excellent base- runner. Stepp, a strong hitter from Hickory, has earned a reputa tion as a “slugger” when facing opposing pitchers. Stepp Hannon, Way, Thompson Will Lead 71 Gridders Two defensive stalwarts and an offensive quarterback will lead the Gardner-Webb Bull dogs into action during their second year of senior college competition on the gridiron. Leading the pack will be Lee Thompson, a 6-2, 220 pound linebacker from Mableton, Ga. Ray Hannon, a 5-11, 175 pound quarterback from Greer,S.C.; and Tommy Way, a 5-8, 193 pound defensive halfback from Augusta, Ga. The Bulldogs, who are un dergoing a rebuilding program will be depending heavily on these young men to give them the leadership that is neces sary for a young, inexperi enced squad. “It usually takes a couple of years to get your program underway when you move from junior college into senior co llege competition and we feel fortunate to have three out standing players such as these to lead ourteam,” Head Coach George Litton said when an nouncing the selection of the captains. Two of these boys, Thomp son and Way, transferred from Lees-McRae Junior College where Litton was head coach before accepting the Gardner- Webb post. “We think that Lee Thomp son is as good a linebacker as there is in this area,” Litton said. “He led ourteam in tackles last year and we’re expecting him to have another great year as a senior.” Lit ton continued. “His quick ness and agility made him very effective as a lineback er and we feel that he will made us an outstanding lead er,” Litton concluded. “Although Ray Hannon is only a junior, his teammates certainly recognize his out standing leadership ability,” Litton said. “Ray sparked our offense last year and we feel that as a tri-captain he will do the same this year, he said. “He is a threat to score anytime he handles the ball and is equally effective as a runner or passer, Lit ton explained. good long-ball hitter and has proved to be a most effective player at the plate. Bobby Lail has lost only one game in his 3 year pitching career at G-W and centerfielder Roger McSwain seems to im prove his hitting percentage in each game. Bryson’s squad has really started clicking on the last stretch before the play offs. With some very import ant games left on the schedule, including homegames with Guil ford and High Point, G-W has a good chance of getting into post season play. Stubbs Signs Is Good All Purpose Man Bill Stubbs, a 5-11, 195 pound offensive guard from Bennets- ville, S.C., has signed a foot ball grant-in-aid to attend Gar dner Webb College. Stubbs lettered four years as a member of the Bennets- ville High School football team and was named to the first team 5AAA All-Conference and Coastal Plaines All-Starteams. He was also a member o f the track team where he set a new school record in the shot-put and finished third in the state his junior year. Aside from being an offen sive guard and defensive line backer, Bill also handled kick- off and extra point chores for Bennetsville. “We’re certainly pleased to have Bill. He has tremendous speed and quickness and we feel that he can help us next Fall,” George Litton, head football coach at Gardner-Webb said. “I’m glad Bill chose Gard ner Webb,” Bennetsville High School coach Fred Bradley said. “He has great speed and a tremendous desire to excel,” he continued. GW Signs Top Guard One of the top high school guard prospects in North Carolina, Billy Ellis, of South Iredale High School, has signed a basketball grant-in- aid with Gardner-Webb Coll ege. Coach Eddie Holbrook, bas ketball coach, was well pleased with the decision of Ellis to sign with the Bull dogs. “Billy can score, but we were equally impressed with his ballhandling, speed, unsel fishness and burning desire tn win.” said Holbrook. He will fit well into our perfer- red style of play, both offen sively and defensively. He has a real winning attitude which is a must with our Holbrook said the young ath lete had been contacted by more than 20 colleges. He is 6-0 and weighs 165 pounds. His high school coach was Gary Sherrill. Ellis has been chosen to play in the annual East-West High School game in August of this summer in Greensboro. His high school cage acc- om.plishments include: Play er of the Year in North Pied mont Conference; averaged 30.3 points per game; set conference single game scor ing record with 51 points; most valuable in conference tournament; leading scorer in tournament with 40 points per game; playedinMarionClass ic Tournament setting scoring record with 35 points; made Winston - Salem Journal and Sentinel All Northwest team; averaged 19.6 points per game in 68 high school games and shot 85% from free throw line.