the Chronicle
Sportsweek
_ Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point
8KCTION D MAY 8, 1997
telftftT 1T%1 A UTOMOTIVE
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CHIYROLIT ? ?Q * TOYOTA *NI?AH * SMARKABS
Woods and legendary
Twin City coaches
due better treatment
n i 11 i ? * ? " *
oascoau nas aiways consumed
much of Alexander "Rock"
Woods' life.
I. For more than 30 years he
served as a coach and manager in
Twin City Little League, then
later he worked as the league's
concessions manager. Only in
recent seasons has he slacked off
completely in his involvement in
the league's day-to-day opera
tion.
Very seldom will you-Attend a?
baseball game at the league's
baseball complex and not find
Woods in attendance.
Woods, well into his senior
years, is always somewhere to be
found around the baseball dia
mond. On most days you'll find
him talking with some of the
other "old heads" of Twin City -
the guys who were around at the
Itart of the league's operation
some 37 years ago and others
who weren't there at the incep
tion but have helped the league
weather the many storms that
have come its way.
When you listen to those old
guys talk you get a sense of what
the league was like at its incep
tion. These guys can talk all day
abut the talented players, coaches
and managers who have come
through the league. They talk
about the title chases, the domi
nant teams and the way things
iised to be.
- Woods, for one, coached many
of them during his tenure. He
and long-time coach and equip
ment manager Roger Robinson,
Sdong with current league presi
dent Alfred "Mitch" Mitchell are
-m -m m ? w A
just a tew of the names that pop
up in most conversations about
the league's storied past.
And it is a proud tradition.
Twin City Little League remains
today the only predominantly
Little League in the state of
North Carolina that is sanc
tioned by Little League Baseball
of Williamsport, Pa.
There are countless young
men throughout the city of
Winston-Salem who were privi
leged to play for coaches like
Woods, Robinson and Mitchell in
Twin City Little League. These
men made a difference in the lives
of the youth of our community.
Unfortunately, there currently
is no legacy that Woods and oth
ers like him will leave behind.
When Twin City's complex
was built some four years ago
most of the coaches and other
volunteers who are currently
active in the league thought that
Woods and Robinson would be
honored by having one of the
four fields at the complex named
in their honor.
? But it has never materialized
The local aldermen had their
own ideas for the names of the
Fields when the time came
around.
In fact, our local leaders never
asked Twin City for any input in
the naming of the fields. By the
time league officials found out
that the fields had been named,
the workers were hard at work
installing the new name plates on
the fields.
What a shame.
You would think those in
power would recognize the
efforts of men who spent hours
on end and spent their own
money to better the lives of the
young men of our community.
These men did it out of genuine
love for the game of baseball and
the good of the young men
whose lives they were able to
touch.
But maybe its not too late.
Perhaps the aldermen will recog
nize the errors of their ways and
contact the league's board of
directors and ask them for sug
gestions. At this point that's
probably the only way to right a
gross injustice.
Miller, Eldridge lead Carver to 5-0 win over Greensboro Smith
BY SAM DAVIS
Chronicle Sports Editor
Shane Miller tossed a three
hit shutout in his first start of the
season and Teddy Eldridge
scored three runs to pace
Carver's varsity to a 5-0 victory
over Greensboro Smith last
Thursday at Carver.
Miller, Carver's fourth starter,
went the distance to help the
.Yellowjackets improve to 10-9
overall. Miller struck out four
and walked six.
Greg Starbuck, Carver's
coach, said he was pleased with
the clutch performance.
"It was a big game for him,"
Starbuck said. "I think it was his
best outing of the season. He's
really the No. 4 man and because
of the weather he hadn't had
much of a chance to do anything
this season. He really hadn't been
consistent. His control was off a
little, but we turned a couple
double plays and that helped him
find a nice rhythm."
The most important thing
about Miller's performance was
the implication of it for the
stretch run of the season.
Starbuck said the Yellowjackets
will need his effort when they
venture into the North Piedmont
3-A Conference. Carver is the
defending champion and the
Yellowjackets might be in a situa
tion where they need to win the
tournament to advance to the
state 3-A playoffs.
"He'll probably get a start in
the tournament and we really
needed him to get some work and
get his confidence level up for the
playoffs," Starbuck said.
The Yellowjackets were also
buoyed by the spark that
Eldridge provided.
"Teddy did a good job of get
ting on base," Starbuck said.
"That was really the spark that
we needed to get going on
offense."
Eldridge helped get the
Yellowjackets off to a fast start
when he led olT the bottom half
of the first with a walk. Eldridge
scored later in the inning on a
wild pitch to put Carver on top
by a 1-0 score.
In the third inning Eldridge
again got the Yellowjackets
going. He drilled a lead-off single
then stole second. Dan Pegram 0
then delivered a two-out single to
score Eldridge to make the score
2-0.
Carver added three runs in the
fifth inning and again it was
Eldridge who set the table for the
Yellowjackets. He drew a walk to
sti cakvh on b2
Mike Rucker of Carver got* roady to toko a turn at bat in Carver's
8-0 win over Oroontboro Smith.
\
Soccer will be
added to middle
school athletic
I programs this fall
r o
BY SAM DAVIS
Chronicle Sports Editor
Iff everything goes along
according to plan, another inter
scholastic sport will be reintro
duced in Forsyth County's mid
dle schools next fall.
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County School Board has
approved $31,000 to put another
interscholastic sport into Forsyth;
County's middle school.*
However, it won't be the sport
that many African-American
parents and educators were hop- !
ing to have added.
The 12 middle schools in the.
system will add soccer, a sport*
that locally hasn't had much par
ticipation by African-American ;
students. That decision has !
drawn the ire of several members
of the community, including.
Walter Marshall, a former school;
board member.
"For the past three years I *
have fought to get football back
in the schools because I thought
all along that it was more neces
sary at this point than soccer,"
Marshall said. "It's not that I'm ?
against soccer, but it just doesn't
See Socct* os B2
Reynolds Davis making remarkable comeback
4 Talented senior hurdler, sprinter back on track a month after
?Y SAM DAVIS
Chronicle Sports Editor
Chevol Davis had a lot for
which to be thankful - even
before he took to the field for the
All-Winston-Salem/Forsyth
?ounty Track Meet last week at
North Forsyth.
. After suffering an injury less
Chan two months ago, it look like
the season for Davis, a long
jumper, hurdler and sprinter for
Reynolds' boys track team, was
over.
But to the surprise of every
one, Davis was back less than a
month after his injury and
played a vital part in the
Demons' third-place finish at the
county meet.
He won bronze medals for
third-place finishes in the long
j.ump and high hurdles. He also
? i
helped the Demons pick up
points in the 4x100- and 4x400
meter relay teams.
?
Coach Norm Trzaskoma of
See Davis on B2
Chtvol Davit at kaynoklt hat bounead back from a brokan Ion* in
hit polvit to tnaka a bid to eompata in tha Statm 4-A kogionalt.
Carriers' lapses prove costly
in Triangle Roundball Classic
BY COURTNEY DANIEL
Chronicle Sports Writer
The ever-improving Chronicle
Carriers played some outstand
ing basketball this past weekend,
May 2-3, at the Triangle
Roundball Classic, but a couple
of lapses at crucial moments in
the tournament cost the team
dearly.
The Carriers began the tour
nament matched up with the
Capital City Cyclones. The
Carriers opened the game show
casing some outstanding defense
as they swarmed the Cyclones
with a variety of defensive looks,
including man-to-man in the full
and half court, and 2-1-2 full
court press. The Carriers domi
?v *
nated the boards in the early
going and would have had a sub
stantial lead had they been able
to get the lid off their own bas
ket.
Despite good ball movement
and a sustained attack on the
offensive glass the Carriers just
couldn't get their shots to fall.
The Carriers outstanding
defense, holding the Cyclones to
a mere 11 points in the first quar
ter, was negated by their poor
shooting as they only managed 3
first quarter points.
In the second quarter, the
Carriers warmed up from the
field. Led by the inspired play of
Brandon Bowman, the Carriers
began to score inside on their
4
Calvin Dvlin of thm Chronkla
Carrimrt choiM down a
robound.
opponent. Their full court-pres
sure caused several turnovers and
Set Cmih on U
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