Page 4, THE PILOT
’Dogs Earn
Playoff Berth
With last week’s 106-72
victory at USC-Spartan-
burg, Gardner-Webb tied its
school record of 25 wins in a
season.
Twice the Bulldogs have
reached the 25-win mark, the
first time being in 1971-72
when G-W posted a 25-5
campaign. The second time
came in 1973-74 when the
’Dogs went 25-3.
Last night’s game at
Limestone plus the upcom
ing District 26 playoffs give
Gardner-Webb the oppor
tunity to establish its best
won-lost mark in the
school’s seven-year history
of senior-college competi
tion.
The District 26 playoffs
get underway Tuesday,
March 2, but parings and
game sites are still undeter
mined. Gardner-Webb has
secured the berth reserved
for the independent team
with the best won-lost re
cord. Teams most likely to
be in the playoffs are CIAA
champion Winston-Salem
State, Catawba and Guil
ford, depending upon the
outcome of the Carolinas
Conference tournament this
weekend.
For the first time this sea
son, the Bulldogs have six
men scoring in double-fig-
ures. A seventh is flirting
with the group. Leading the
offense is Dave Bormann
who is averaging 22.3. After
Bormann comes Carl Martin
at 12.1 and Norman Mukes
at 11.0.
Lester Stinson and Will
Franklin are close together
with Stinson averaging 10.9
points and Franklin averag
ing 10.6.
The newcomer to the list
is freshman John Borders, a
6-2 jumper who has come off
the bench and given the
Bulldogs a lift over the last
month. Another freshman.
Lew Young, has improved
his scoring pace to 9.5 after
a 20-point performance
against Spartanburg.
“We’ve had great balance
on offense throughout the
season,” said Coach Eddie
Holbrook. “Someone dif
ferent has played an impor
tant part in each game so
far. I just hope we haven’t
runout of people.”
The Bulldogs will ap
proach the playoffs in the
best physical shape they’ve
been in since Christmas.
Martin, who suffered a
stress fracture in a foot in
early January then came
down with the flu, completed
his first full week of practice
in the past six last weeks.
Both point guards, John
Fait and Steve Mitchell are
slowed by nagging injuries,
but are capable of playing. Gardner-Webb will wrap The BuUdogs wiU play
The only exception is up its spring football drills their intra-squad game at
Franklin who has been play- with a new twist Saturday 1:30 p.m. in Spangler Sta-
ing with a foot injury identi- with the first annual “Steak dium when head coach Oval
cal to Martin’s. and Beans” Bowl. Jaynes will give a pair of
G-W Nine Faces Tough Slate
But Bryson Likes Chances
Bulldog Coach Eddie Holbrook Gives
Instructions To Freshman Point Guard Steve Mitchell.
^Steak and Beans ’ Bowl
Concludes Grid Practice
Gardner-Webb baseball coach Jerry Bry-
son expects to have another winning season
this spring even though the ’Dogs e^e miss
ing six key players from last year. Bryson
also feels this wiU be the toughest schedule
his team has ever played.
The Bulldogs will open at home March 16
with a doubleheader against Heidelburg.
The ’Dogs will be looking to three men to
lead the hitting attack. Sophomore Greg
Hefner will be the power man in th lineup
along with juniors Eddie TyndaU and Rick
Young.
Hefner will be replacing last year’s team
leader Gary Robinson at catcher while
Young and Tyndall will play third and short
respectively. Robbie Moore, who saw some
action at second base last season, will fill
that position. A pair of players, Jim Fitts
and Vernon Gregory wiU fill the responsi
bilities at first.
In the outfield, Frank Cauthen, a center-
fielder last season, will move to left, and
Darrell Vandyke should play center. Several
players including Bill Salyers and Bryan
Florence could play in right.
Bryson feels the ’Dogs should have a
strong pitching rotation led by righthander
Dale Gantt, the mound leader last year.
Another righthander, Tim Huff, is expected
to recover from arm problems and have a
strong year.
Lefty Larry Irvin will be another impor
tant man on the staff. Righthander Rick
Hord rounds out the rotation.
Several other players including Mike
Pino, Arnold Lietzsey, and Mark Robbins
should give some strong support off the
bench.
Coach Taylor Optimistic
Netters Anticipate Good Season
Coach James Taylor is looking forward to a strong ’76
tennis season. “We have a lot of experience and our schedule
isn’t that strong. We should have a good season,” predicts
Taylor.
The No. 1 man for the ’Dogs will be senior Randy Alex
ander from Gastonia, who was also No. 1 last season. Burt
Brimberry, also a senior, will return at the No. 2 position.
Another senior, Tim Gregory, wiU play the No. 3 position.
Glenn Phillips, the only freshman on the team, will be filling
the No. 4 slot.
“We’re solid at the top four spots. Randy, Burt and Glenn
are strong, but our key will be if Gregory’s knee will con
tinue to get stronger after an off-season operation,” Coach
Taylor relates. “Another strength is in our doubles teams.
We’re solid at the No. 1 and 2 spots, but we don’t have any
experience at the No. 3 position.”
The ’Dogs only problem may be consistency in the lower
positions. There are several players who could be strong in
the 5 and 6 positions. Seniors David Watson and David
Marks are the most likely to fill the slots, but sophomore
Phil Nixon and Junior David Tubb could play important
roles in the G-W lineup.
The ’Dogs’ toughest opponents should be Limestone and
UNC-Asheville. The 18 matches are evenly distributed with
nine home and nine away. Times for the home matches are 3
p.m. Monday through Thursday; 2 p.m. Friday; and 1 p.m.
Saturday.
TENNIS SCHEDULE
Spring 1976
Tuesday, March 16
USC-Spartanburg
Away
1 p.m.
Wednesday, March 17
Wofford
Home
3 p.m.
Thursday, March 18
Lafayette
Home
3 p.m.
Saturday, March 20
Guilford
Away
1p.m.
Wednesday, March 24
Catawba
Away
2 p.m.
Friday, March 26
Lenoir-Rhyne
Away
2 p.m.
Saturday, March 27
Belmont Abbey
Away
2 p.m.
Monday, March 29
Limestone
Away
2 p.m.
Tuesday, March 30
USC-Spartanburg
Home
3 p.m.
Wednesday, March 31
Lenoir-Rhyne
Home
3 p.m.
Thursday, April 1
Limestone
Home
3 p.m.
Friday, April 2
Belmont Abbey
Home
2 p.m.
Saturday, April 3
Guilford
Home
1 p.m.
Monday, April 5
Catawba
Home
3 p.m.
Wednesday, April 7
Warren Wilson
Away
2:30 pm
Friday, April 9
Wofford
Away
2 p.m.
Saturday, April 10
Warren Wilson
Home
2 p.m.
Tuesday, April 13
Mars HiU
Home
3 p.m.
Thursday, April 15
UNC-Asheville
Away
2 p.m.
Tuesday, April 20
Western Carolina
Home
3 p.m.
Wednesday, April 21
Mars Hill
Away
2 p.m.
April 23-25
District 25 Tourney High Point
grandstand coaches their
day on the field.
Frank Ballenger, Shelby
Daily Star sports editor, and
Glenn Wall, WADA sports-
caster, will coach the two
squads while Jaynes will re
tire to the press box.
At stake will be Saturday
night supper. The winning
team and its coaches will be
treated to a steak dinner
while the losers will eat
beans.
“I’ll be a completely im
partial observer,” said
Jaynes, “Except I won’t be
eating beans.”
The teams will play a four-
quarter, game-type scrim
mage. In case of a tie, the
game will have a sudden-
death playoff.
The Gardner-Webb coach
ing staff will be equally di
vided, and the Bulldog
coaches will hold a player
draft Wednesday to evenly
divide the squad. Jaynes
and his staff wiU conclude
practice Thursday.
“Wall and Ballenger will
have charge of practice Fri
day,” Jaynes said. “What
ever they chose to do wiU be
up to them and their assis
tants.”
Gardner-Webb will end
spring practice much the
same as last fall’s 2-6 cam
paign concluded —with a
number of players on the in
jured list.
Not expected to see action
Saturday are linebackers
Jeff Keene and David Mul-
lis, defensive end Frankie
Smith, defensive back Knox
Talbert, tight end Rusty
McKeown and quarterback
Dean Gilliam.
“I feel like we’ve had a
good effort from the players
during practice. We’ve had
good performances out of
most of the players,” Jaynes
said. “Hopefully we’ve
made some progress and im
provement. ’ ’
Only seven players will
graduate from last year’s
team, four of those were
starters.