April 13, 1979
HIGH LIFE
Page 7
Varsity Softballers Jump Into Conference Lead
by Anthony Beard
The Whirlie softball team
has jumped out to an early
2-0 conference record, those
wins coming over Kannapo
lis, and strong defending
champion, Dudley.
Offensively, the team is
led by Whirlie senior, Teresa
Arnold. Arnold has been up
to the plate 16 times. She has
walked three times, and
collected eight hits for a .615
average. Pam Rice, playing
short field, has a .363 batting
average, and has pitched in 3
2/3 innings for a 1.92 Earned
Rim Average.
Emily Cooke was “dis
covered” pitching at batting
practice. Her 1.67 ERA
ranks among the best in
Division-7, and the Whirlies
have not lost a game that she
has pitched.
Linda Rizzo’s pitching de
but ran into a rocky road her
first time out against Page as
she allowed six earned runs
in 3 1/3 innings. She has
since been moved to the out
field where she has played
exceptionally well.
Felicia Ford is featured in
the RBI department. Her
.370 batting average has
fielded her six RBI’s to lead
Unpredictable Whirlie Sluggers
Stay In Thick Of Division 7 Race
by Anthony Beard
Grimsley’s baseball team
has struggled most of the
season. Dropping their first
four games, the Whirlies
managed a mild tum-around
and won two out of their next
three games. They find
themselves at 2-2 in Divi-
sion-7 play.
The season started on
March 13 with a rout by
Burlington Williams, 9-0.
The next non-conference op-
pment was Southeast Guil
ford, and four runs in the top
of the fourth inning spelled
.doom for Gtim^ey as they
feU 7-5.
Williams invaded the
Grimsley field on March 16,
and again the Bulldogs pre-
i^ailed, this time narrowly,
5-2. The first conference
game was with Ragsdale
four days later, and the
'Tigers extended the Whirlie
loss string to four games
with a 6-2 Tiger win.
Head coach Raymond
Johnson made several line
up changes for the following
game against Kannapolis.
Kyle Neve was moved from
second to first base, and
Craig Bugbce filled in the
vacated spot at second. Mau
rice Jolly was benched a
game, and since his return,
he has upped his average to
.214.
Willie Bayes hurled a two-
hitter ag^st Brown, and
Rod Elkins drove in two runs
with two hits as the Whirlies
whitewashed Brown 5-0.
“This is the way we should
be playing at this stage of
the setison,” said Coach
Johnson of the victory.
Next was Grimsley rival
and conference powerhouse,
Dudley, in a game played in
the cold at Jaycee Park. Four
unearned runs and seven
Whirlie errors proved the
difference in this game, as
the Panthers nipped Grims
ley 7-6. Panther ri^t-
fielder, Todd Evans, electri
fied the fans with a home-
run to right field in the fif^h
inning.
In a determined fashion,
the Whirlies demolished
West Forsyth, 12-4. Rod
Elkins and Andre Blount
collected four hits each, pa
cing a 17-hit Whirlie assault
as Grimsley evened their
conference record at two.
the dub in that category.
Lisa Milligan and Pam Rice
have four each.
Grimsley could not have
asked for a more dependable
lead-off batter than Kris
Gross. Her on-base average
is .588, and the Whirlie
senior has a .354 batting
average. At short-stop,
(hross has made only three
errors thus far.
Another surprise in recent
weeks has been the presence
of sophomore Beth Byrd.
Her consistent play in the
outfield and her two for five
performance from the plate
has earned her the respect of
her Opponents.
Grimsley has scored a
total of twenty-four points in
five games. That is an ave
rage of just under five runs a
game.
Rod EUdns laces a two-run triple against Reynolds in a recent
game at Jaycee Park. The Demons defeated Grimsley, 5-4.
[Garnett photo]