: ? The Chronicle 1974 ? Celeb,a,ia, 25 Years ? 2999 Sponsored by: MfiBERlj
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King pitcher has no-hitter, eliminates Twin City Minor League All-Stars
Coach Jammt Summon offort oncouragomont to Twin City Minor
loaguo All-Start.
By SAM DAVIS
The Chronicle
) -
Twin City Little League was
dealt a double whanuny last Thurs
day night. Both the program's
remaining teams in All-Star play
were eliminated from their respective
tournaments.
The Minor League All-Stars
faced one of the tournament's top
pitchers and didn't have enough
offensive firepower to earn another
victory. Twin City was eliminated by
King, which got a no-hit shutout
from its pitcher en route to the 5-0
win.
The game, which had been origi
nally scheduled to be played last
Tuesday, was postponed for two
days because of rain. That gave
King a chance to rest its ace and
have him available to pitch the entire
game. /
Starting pitcher Sherrod Nickels
of Twin City pitched well, but sever
al defensive lapses allowed the
homestanding King team to jump
out to an early 2-0 lead. King didn't
come through with many hits, but
they were very timely. After getting a
walk and a single, King got a timely
two-run double to push its lead to 5
0.
Facing such a big deficit and
with the bases loaded, coach Gene
Williams called upon Randy
McCray to get the team out of its
jam. McCray retired the next three
batters in order and didn't give up a
run in three innings of play.
Twin City had trouble getting
base runners throughout the game.
It had runners on first and second in
the fourth, after McCray drew a
one-out walk and Mike Parker
reached on a fielder's choice. Howev
er, Twin City couldn't come through *
with anything to advance them.
Consecutive strikeouts got King out
of the inning.
King's leadoff batter reached on
an error and the next batter drew a
walk. But Twin City was unable to
come through with a hit and King
got out of the inning behind its out
standing pitching.
From there, Twin City never
threatened. Only one batter reached
base and he was thrown out trying
to steal second base in the fifth
inning.
"You can't win baseball games
when you don't hit the ball,"
Williams said. "That was the name
of the game today. 1 don't know why *
we didn't hit the ball."
Twin City had been on a roll
after winning consecutive games. It
opened the tournament with a win
and lost its second game before post
ing its back to back wins. However,
the team looked sluggish after hav
ing played its last game on the previ
ous Saturday.
"The long layoff could have been
it," Williams said. "We were on a
good streak and then we didn't get to
play. But 1 thought we had some
good practices and we were ready to
go.
"We told them before the game
that they had to swing the bat,"
Williams added. "We knew they
See Minors on B5
From Hie Press Bex
So* Davis
k
Little, WSSU
basketball play
waiting game
Anne Little, Winston-Salem State's
athletics director, will pay particu
lar attention to incoming phone
calls this week.
The fate of the Rams head basketball
coaching position could be decided before the
end of the week, and Little said she must be
prepared for the outcome.
4 * Rick Duckett, who led WSSU to a 21-10
"record and the CIAA tournament champi
onship last season, was interviewed by Nor
^ folk State about its
?"vacant head coaching
position and could be
the choice of the school's
search committee. If that
is the case, it would leave
the Rams without a head
men's coach with less
than a month before the
start of the 1999-2000
academic year.
That possibility
would put Little and the
Rams in a quandary.
Little
Qualified candidates would be hard to tind at
this late date. Little said she hopes that possi
bility never materializes.
"Obviously we're hoping that he will stay,"
Little said. "We thought that at this point in
July that wouldn't be a consideration for us
here."
Little said Duckett has been upfront since
Norfolk State called to initiate its discussions
with him.
"He let me know that they had called and
expressed an interest in him," Little said. "He -
said he was going to go up and listen to what
See Press Box on B5
WSSU's Duckett
weighing Norfolk
State's job offer
. . ?
By SAM DAVIS
The Chkonicle ' ? .
Although it might change in a few days or
weeks, Rick Duckett is still Winston-Salem
State's head basketball coach.,
Duckett, who led the Rams to its first
C1AA Basketball Tournament championship
in 21 years last season, interviewed last week
for the vacant head coaching job at Norfolk
State. Duckett said talks with Orby Moss, ath
letics director at Norfolk State, went well, but
his visit was mainly a feeling-out process for
both parties.
"It wasn't a knock-your-socks-off type of
thing," Duckett said. "It was more of an
exploratory., situation.
They wanted to see ray
interest, and I wanted to
see their commitment to
their program. For me it
was a matter of compar
ing and contrasting the
things you have to what is
available."
The competitive
nature of the coaching
profession is such that all
rt ? ? mtiac cVir\nl/l
Ducketf
uppuuuiiiuva jiiuuiu uv
explored, according to Duckett.
"I think you have to take a look at any job
in the realm of college athletics," Duckett said.
"If there is a sincere interest in you, you're .
doing yourself an injustice if you don't listen.
I think you have to be open to all opportuni
ties."
From a standpoint of the facilities and
resources, Duckett said he was impressed.
However, when it came down to the salary and
other incentives, there wasn't a lot of differ
ence in what WSSU offers.
"I'm not sure that the things they have in
mind for the coach made an impression," he
'said. "They are pretty much what I can get
here in Winston."
The job at Norfolk State came open on
June 26 when Mel Coleman and his top assis
tant stepped down in the wake of allegations
leveled against the Spartans' program. Cole
* See Duckett on 13
h
? '
. Pitching problems cost
Seniors in tournament;
Twin City eliminated
By SAM DAVIS
The Chronicle
Pitching woes got the best of
Twin City Little League's Senior
All-Stars, and their chances for a
championship in the area tourna
ment fell by the wayside last Thurs
day night when they dropped a 14
7 loss to the
Winston
Salem
Nationals.
Twin City
jumped out to
a 2-0 lead in
the first
inning but
couldn't hold
it. The
Nationals
used three
consecutive
walks in the
bottom ot the second inning 10 gei
untracked offensively. By the time
the inning ended. Twin City trailed
by a 5-2 score, from which they
never recovered.
JaDon Barkley powered a blast
over the 316 mark in deep center
field to pull Twin City to within 5
3 in the bottom of the third inning.
Chris Key, the Twin City start
ing pitcher, struggled throughout
the bottom of the third inning and
the Nationals used a barrage of
hard hits to increase the lead to 12
3. The Nationals used a combina
tion of timely hits and Twin City
errors and batted around before
Key finally got out of the inning on
a grounder tp third.
Twin City put together a rally
of its own in the top of the fourth
inning. Carl Shepherd and Derrick
Wardlow paced the outburst that
allowed Twin City to close the gap
to 12-7.
Wardlow, who began the tour
nament as Twin City's ace pitcher,
took to the mound in the bottom
of the fourth inning and held the
Nationals in check the rest of the
way. Although he gave up two runs
he never got himself in much trou
ble through three innings.
Set- Santon on 15
Bark I*y
Area tournament was
learning experience for
Twin City Juniors
By SAM DAVIS
The Chronicle '
More than a week has passed
since Twin City's Junior Boys
(13-14) were eliminated in the
?rea tournament, and coach
Carlton Chisholm said after
reflecting upon his team's tour
nament losses he can see things
that weren't clearly visible before.
Twin City played well at
times in both its tournament
losses. However, the team's weak
nesses in several spots cost Twin
City dearly. In its opener in the
tournament. Twin City was play
ing on equal footing with South
west Forsyth. Twin City was in
striking distance late in the game
but fell apart in the bottom of
the sixth.
Andre Hairston. the team's
pitcher, had a two-hitter going
until the fifth inning, and Marcus
Gaines' defense helped keep
Southwest Forsyth at bay. How
ever, Southwest Forsyth came
through with several key hits in
the bottom of the sixth and Twin
City lost its poise. The result was
a 12-3 loss.
From there the team never
seemed to regroup and the next
game, with the Winston-Salem
Nationals, was just a formality.
Twin City never got off the
ground, was dealt a double digit
loss and was eliminated from the
tournament field.
"We learned a lot about the
kids and the level of competition
they were facing." Crump said.
"We played so well in that first
game and then all of a sudden we
lost it.
"There were a lot of bright
spots, but our lack of pitching
depth cost the team," Chisholm
added. "We had outstanding play
on defense by Marcus Gaines,
who had nine putouts in center
field. He was all over the field
making plays.
"C P. (Hairston) pitched well
too. He made a lot of good pitch
I See Juniors on IS