_ The State Port Pilot
SPORTS
George
Cox
Sports editor
is__
McCracken a good
bet to make majors
HITTING THE HIGH NOTES - Former WhiteviUe High School
baseball coach Linwood Hedgepeth, who sent many a player into the
professional ranks, including Philadelphia righthander Tommy Greene,
says, "It’s just a matter of time” until Southport’s Quinton McCracken is
playing major league baseball.
Hedgepeth, now scouting and recruiting, recently was in attendance at a
Waccamaw 2A Conference contest and took time to talk about baseball
and his favorite memories of the past. The subject of McCracken was in
itiated almost instantly once the conversation started and Hedgepeth, who
won five state 2A baseball titles at Hallsboro and Whiteville, didn’t
hesitate to voice his opinion about McCracken, who helped dethrone his
powerful Wolfpack in 1988.
That year the Cougars went 29-0 and won the state title and McCracken
graduated - going on to play football and baseball at Duke. Now in the
Colorado Rockies organization in Class AA baseball, McCracken has the
intelligence along with the tools, Hedgepeth says, to make the big time
within a couple seasons.
Scott Gales, the centerfielder on that South Brunswick championship
squad, was another favorite of Hedgepeth’s. Gales could smash the
baseball and the former ’Pack coach said he would have loved to have
coached him.
North's Jared McGee finishes at .467
Jared McGee, North Brunswick’s versatile infielder-pitcher, ended the
1993 campaign in a blaze of glory, hitting at a .467 clip. McGee, who
hurled a one-hitter against South Robeson a week ago, struck out only five
times during the Scorpions’ 18-game season while hitting six home runs.
He went to bat 60 times, scored 16 runs and produced 28 hits, including six
doubles, one triple and a team-leading 28 RBI.
The Scorpion star committed only nine errors at shortstop while doing a
creditable job on the mound with a 2.05 earned run average in 41 innings
of pitching. Teammate Casey McBride, who along with McGee got hurt
dnrinff the. middip. nart nf thp crhp/lillp Hnrforl AC\ inninno an/1
earned run average of 1.75.
Sophomore Paul Mintz led the club with an ERA of 0.25 in 27 innings of
pitching. Infielder Adrian Black, who hit .367, was second in team RBI
with 16. Catcher Robert Hewett had 11 and Jeremy Child followed with
ten.
Hewett followed Black in batting at .296, Child at .286, and Demetrius
Bell at .281. Baseball scouts have been looking at Bell, an outfielder
pitcher, and McGee.
Looking over the season. North Brunswick’s best inning was the second
in which they scored 22 runs, followed by the sixth with 18. The Scorpions
tallied only nine runs in the first inning and eight in the seventh. The
Leland team outscored its opposition, 76-52.
’Pack nine dominates Waccamaw play
Talk about domination, Whiteville’s baseball program is back on track
from where it left off five years ago when South Brunswick derailed it en
route to a fifth-place national ranking by USA Today and 29-0
championship record. The Wolfpack, unbeaten this season prior to Tues
day night’s first playoff contest, has made mincemeat of Waccamaw 2A
baseball since that time.
Whiteville has won 55 of its last 56 Waccamaw 2A regular season
games. Now, if that’s not dynamic, nothing is.
Meanwhile, South Brunswick was 10-11 and 7-7 in league play in 1989
and 1990. The Cougars had a winning season at 11-10 in 1991, but a 6-8
conference mark. In 1992, coach Jack Brown’s team went 4-10 in league
play and 6-15 overall. This season produced a 1-13 loop mark and 2-20
overall mark.
North Brunswick stood 13-9 overall in 1990; 10-4 in league play and 13
10 overall in 1992; 8-6 and 11-13 in 1992 and 7-7 and 9-9 this past spring.
West Brunswick produced an 8-6 loop mark in 1991 and 13-10 mark over
all. The next season, the Trojans went 10-4 in Waccamaw 2A play and 14
6 overall prior to this season’s 13-10 mark and 8-6 league record.
The Scorpions captured the county baseball title this spring with victories
over South Brunswick (3-2,12-1) and one triumph over West Brunswick.
Meanwhile, West Brunswick beat South Brunswick once and North Bruns
wick once for two in-county wins while the Cougars scored their only vic
tory over West Brunswick, 2-1, for the school’s only in-county celebration.
West’s Fleming signs with UNC-G
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro recently inked a grant
in-aid with West Brunswick catcher Brian Fleming to play baseball at the
Gate City school.
UNC-G’s basketball team already has another Brunswick County product
- former South Brunswick player Greg Williams. With the school upgrad
ing its athletic program and facilities, Fleming should be in a position to
leave a positive made on the school.
The school is now in Division I and, according to Fleming’s father, a
new $20-million sports facility is in the making. UNC-G is located in
downtown Greensboro.
With the regular season over with, Mike ("Hardrock") Clewis played his
final game in a South Brunswick baseball uniform last Saturday night
against cross-county rival West Brunswick in Shallotte. He’ll be missed
next season on both the Cougar football and baseball teams.
Clewis :s looking to attend Western Carolina on a baseball scholarship if
he can cither get his college board or ACT scores up to minimum require
ments. Otherwise, Clewis will enter school as a regular student without the
requited 700 minimum on the SAT.
Season would open Friday
Legion teams ready to begin
By George Cox
Sports Editor
Even though there’s been less than
a week of practice since Brunswick
County high school teams ended
their seasons, the American Legion
baseball season swings into action
this Friday with the county's two
Area II Eastern League entries
scheduled for action.
However, one of those teams -
Brunswick Shores Post 445 - will
probably have to postpone its en
counter because of Whiteville
High’s participation in the state 2A
playoffs. Those clubs were original
ly scheduled to meet in Whiteville at
7:30 p.m. Friday night
"If Whiteville doesn’t call us,
we’ll be there and take a forfeit,"
Post 445 athletic officer Danny Gore
chuckled Friday night in the press
box of the South Brunswick-West
Brunswick season finale in Shal
lotte. Gore acknowledged that he
will likely get that call (unless
Whiteville loses its first-round con
test Tuesday night) and Brunswick
Shores’ opener will probably occur
a week from Wednesday at West
Brunswick when Burgaw invades
Shallotte that night
Post 68’s Friday opener appears to
be on schedule in a road encounter
at Pender High School against
Buigaw. Coach Ed Lewis’ club is
coming off a 15-2 regular-season
second-place finish last summer in
which the team lost to eventual
champion Wilmington Post 10 in the
post-season playoff finals.
Lewis’ club travels to Raleigh
Sunday for a doubleheader against
Raleigh Post 297 before getting
back into league action Monday
night against Wilmington Winter
Park at Hardee Field at 7:30 p.m.
Post 68 is made up of North
Brunswick, Wilmington New
Hanover, Hoggard and Columbus
County players. Brunswick Shores
Post 445 is comprised of South
Brunswick and West Brunswick
players.
Assisting Lewis at Post 68 is
North Brunswick interim head
coach Wes Coward. Keith Moore,
North Brunswick’s regular head
mentor, is still in graduate school at
Western Carolina. Bully Ganey is
the athletic officer and John Cook
the post commander.
Managing the Post 445 club is
West Brunswick head coach Mike
Alderson, assisted by South Bruns
wick coach Jack Brown. Southport’s
See Legion, next page
West beats
Cougs, 3-2
By George Cox
Sports Editor
West Brunswick and North Bruns
wick captured season-ending tri
umphs last week as the Waccamaw
2A Conference regular season
baseball race came to a conclusion.
At Shaliotte, the Trojans of coach
Mike Alderson rallied Saturday
night in a game which was resumed
after rains halted play after two and
a third innings on Friday night
against South Brunswick with the
Cougars leading, 2-1.
However, a home run by West
Brunswick outfielder Aaron Butler
propelled the Trojans past the
Cougars, 3-2.
The Cougars won one conference
game in 14 outings and finished the
campaign with a 2-20 overall mark.
West Brunswick had a winning 8-6
Waccamaw 2A Conference mark
and 13-10 overall record.
Meanwhile, the victory by the
Trojans gave them second place in
the county standings behind
champion North Brunswick. The
Scorpions had a 3-1 in-county
record with two victories over South
Brunswick while West Brunswick
finished 2-2 with lone victories over
South Brunswick and North Bruns
wick.
North Brunswick hit the road Fri
day, beating Fairmont 9-3, to finish
the season at 7-6 in Waccamaw 2A
play and finished overall at .500
with a 9-9 mark.
Coach Wes Coward’s team played
the final inning against Fairmont
with just eight players because of in
juries.
DIAMOND DUST - West
Brunswick took a 1-0 lead Friday
night, scoring in the bottom of the
second inning. Frederick Gore, the
rightfielder, singled to left, ad
vanced to second on a sacrifice by
Mike Earwood, and scored on a
sacrifice fly by shortstop Scott Gore
after reaching third on an infield hit
by Greg Mott.
South Brunswick came right back
See West beats, next page
whbbhhI
The crew of the Grinz — Verne and Sarah Seaton, trophy for winning the Port Charlie’s Waterway
Mary Tomlinson, captain Bob Cowen, Greg Skip- Regatta which was run over a course in the lower
per and Lynn Buchman - proudly accepted the Cape Fear on Sunday.
Leland middle school teams
loading the bases for varsity
By George Cox
Sports Editor
' LELAND — The future of the
baseball and girls softball programs
at .North Brunswick looks bright
thanks to banner seasons of those
sports this spring at Leland Middle
School, where both teams sprinted
to almost unbelievable seasons.
Coach Randy Fennell’s middle
school baseballers’ only loss of the
season was to second-place South
Brunswick en route to a record of
10-1.
And coach Robin Clark’s girls
softball team won its third straight
county title, although it lost its only
contest in that same time span while
compiling a record of 27-1.
"These kids are so coachable,"
says Fennell in reference to the
boy’s success. "They never missed
practices and have played together
since they were small. They have
learned how to win together."
Clark is just as emphatic about the
girls, but extremely apologetic about
losing that one game.
"This was the first year that we
played our first full game,” the
eighth grade science teacher said.
"Most of our games have been
called by five innings with us lead
ing by big scores" - like 32-1 and
29-5.
The softball coach has been at the
helm four years and finished second
the first time behind South Bruns
wick Middle School. Since then the
team has been untouchable.
Both coaches stressed the impor-'
tance of academics and emphasized
that the majority of the players make
good grades. "There were just a few
‘DY and lots of ‘AY and ‘B’s\
Fennell said, noting the first
semester.
Clark agreed, saying, "All of them
make gaxl grades. The important
thing is keeping their attitudes right
A lot of them played for their
parents (in community programs)."
Her softballers included Candice
Ganey, Cristy Holt, Sandy Cook,
Shemaka Jones, Tiffini McBride,
Jenny Crowder, Rebecca Hewett,
Vannetta Alston, Shaderika Willis,
Sherry Jones, Candice McKoy,
See Bases loaded, next page
Scorpion girls reach playoffs
By George Cox
Sports Editor
LELAND - Could the 1993 girls
softball season mark the beginning
of another North Brunswick dynasty
like one here in 1979-81 in which
the Scorpions won a snu« 1A-2A
championship, finished state runner
up another season and sported a
three-year mark of 57-5?
With a relatively young team and
a bundle of superb softball players
coming along in the middle school
grades, there’s reason for Scorpion
supporters to believe that the 1993
campaign may be the start of some
thing big.
After finishing the season as both
Waccamaw 2A Conference and
Brunswick County varsity girls soft
ball champions, the Scopions
■T
prepared this week to represent the
area in the post-season 1A-2A
playoffs (see related stay).
Coach James Sholar’s club sang a
familiar tune throughout the long,
regular season this spring in a girls
softball tradition much like boys in
this baseball-softball oriented com
munity.
Sholar, whose rapport with the
players is extraordinary, has blended
together talent which has been de
veloped in the community’s girls
softball program. He and his coach
ing staff of assistants Paul Ganey,
Jimmie Mintz and Burwin Mercer
have done a superb job in motivat
ing the players.
The Scorpion gals swept through
the Waccamaw 2A regular season
race with a 13-1 mark - the only
defeat at the hands of West
Columbus. And their overall mark
was just as sparkling, 20-3, with
losses to a strong Wilmington Hog
gard team and Pender in the Easter
Holiday Tournament
Only four seniors are in this sea
son’s starting lineup -- Kim Ganey
(first base), Christy Register (left
field), Kristy Mintz (second base)
and Tanya Edge (shortstop).
The remaining starters - all fresh
men, sophomores and juniors -- in
clude Patricia Dunn (third base),
Regina McKoy (outfield), Michelle
Bennett (outfield), Shaunda Holden
(outfield), Cindy Holt (pitcher) and
Amy Mercer (catcher), who
alternates with Ashley Burton, who
also plays second base on occasion.
Reserves include Karen Messer
(third base), Keri Cox (pitcher),
Cassandra Pierce (outfield), Wendy
Ganey (catcher and pitcher), Mamy
Williamson (outfield) and Wendy
Watson (first base).
SCORPION NOTES - If the
present group of Scorpions hope to
duplicate their predecessors, they'll
have to win three straight
championships as well as a
title. Coach William Hargrove, then
the assistant principal and now as
sistant at South Brunswick, led the
1979-81 teams to the school’s only
state title to date.
The first season, in 1979,
Hargrove’s team went 18-1, going
unbeaten in regular season play be
fore succumbing to Fayetteville
Cape Fear in die third round of the
state playoffs.
The 1980 season was a perfect one
and the North Brunswick girls beat
See Scorpion, next page