UNCP Weekend Sports Watch

UNCP Baseball opens a four-game series Friday at home vs. Post. The Braves (11-4, 1-2 PBC)are fresh off a 14-6 victory over Wingate on Wednesday. UNCP HOMERUN TALLY is now at 20 in 15 games. Seven players have at least 12 RBIs for the Braves this season.

UNCP Men's Basketball wraps ups its 2008-09 season Saturday at Columbus State. The Black and Gold have struggled in Ben Miller's first season as head coach and have a 5-21 record, including a 2-17 mark in Peach Belt Conference play. Wednesday's 80-78 loss to Georgia College at the Jones Center spoiled Senior Night and brought a disappointing end to the career of four Braves' seniors.

Braves lose heartbreaker 80-78

UNCP FOOTBALL opened spring practice Tuesday afternoon, returning 21-of-22 starters from last season's 9-1 squad. The Braves practiced in helmets and shorts and are expected to play in full pads on March 9. All spring drills are open to the public.

UNCP Football opens spring practice

MLB Season Preview 2009

Just so you know, it's not happening this year Rays' fans. The Chicago Cubs are beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in six games next October to break the World Series curse.

After a few days of studying pitching staffs, projected opening day lineups and last season's top performers, I'm ready to publish my 2009 Major League Baseball Fearless Forecast. Let's get right to it . . .

NATIONAL LEAGUE PREDICTIONS

West – Arizona Diamondbacks. (Brandon Webb 22-7 and Dan Haren 16-8) Pair of potential 20-game winners. Scoring runs might be a problem for Arizona, but not much run support is needed when Webb and Haren step on the mound.

East – Philadelphia Phillies. (obviously the bats and Hamels, great bullpen)

Central – Chicago Cubs will have MLB’s best record (best 3-4-5 in NL, Derek Lee, M. Bradley, A. Ramirez) 3 guys capable of 30 HRs each. Fukudome and Soto, pair of allstars in Chicago. The NL Central is the lowest/ugliest/worst division in baseball.

Wild Card – Florida Marlins (the youth movement, young pitchers, young stars Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez) Marlins rotation = Rickey Nolasco 15-8 last season 26 yrs old, Josh Johnson 7-1, 23 yrs old, Chris Volstad 6-4, 2.88 ERA, 22 yrs, Anibel Sanchez 2-5, 25 yrs old 50 Ks in 50 innings. Solid young arms. Look for the Marlins to be this year's Tampa Bay Rays.

Phillies over DBacks in the Divisional Round, Cubs over Marlins in the other Divisional Round, Cubs over Phillies in the NLCS.

NL CY YOUNG = Carlos Zambrano P Chicago Cubs

NL MVP = Hanley Ramirez SS Florida Marlins


AMERICAN LEAGUE PREDICTIONS

East – New York Yankees. The Yankees have a chance to theoretically do what the Marlins did a decade ago, buy a World Series. After spending half a billion, that’s right half a billion in the offseason, their staff could be the best in MLB. Wang, Sabathia, Burnett, Chamberlain, it’s ridiculous. And you know they’re good on offense with Rodriguez and Mark Teixiera.

West – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Defending AL West Champs. Bobby Abreu in left field is an upgrade from Garret Anderson in my opinion and already makes an explosive liveup that much stronger. Rangers definitely have the offense to win the West, but the pitching isn’t there after Kevin Millwood and Vincente Padilla. Too many questions marks in the bullpen for Texas.


Central – Chicago White Sox. Power hitters in the outfield and and a solid bullpen. Bobby Jenks as the closer and Octavio Dotel as the setup man? That’s good. Buerhle, Colon, Gavin Floyd in the rotation. The hardest division in baseball to project in my opinion.

AL Wild Card – Boston Red Sox.

Angels over Red Sox in the Divisional Round, Yankees over White Sox in the other Divisional Round, Angels over Yankees in the ALCS.

AL Cy Young = Chien Ming Wang P Yankees

AL MVP = Vladimir Guerrero RF Anaheim Angels

Just for giggles, AL Comeback POY = Dontrelle Willis P Detroit Tigers

Braves lose weekend series to Patriots, 2-1

The UNCP baseball team fell to 10-4 (1-2 PBC) over the weekend after staving off a three-game sweep Sunday in a series in Florence, SC against Francis Marion.The Braves fell 6-5 and 8-5 on Saturday before winning today’s contest 10-7.

Seth Kivett's 4-for-5 day at the plate with a homerun highlighted the Braves' offense in today's 10-7 win. Jason Coker also HR'ed, pushing UNCP's tally to 17 this season through 14 games.

UNCP travels to Wingate Wednesday before returning to Sammy Cox Field next weekend to host Post for a four-game series.



UNCP HR TALLY THROUGH 14 GAMES = 17

Gamecocks prepare for Duquesne

A year removed from last season's star-studded starting nine, the University of South Carolina baseball team is set to open the season on Saturday in Columbia against Duquesne. (3-game series)

Coach Ray Tanner and the Gamecocks will be playing in the first game at the brand-new state-of-the-art Carolina Baseball Stadium. South Carolina's new venue sits nearly 9,000 and costs $36 million to construct over the last two years. It should be confines suitable for the long ball.

Baseball writers have pegged this year's squad 4th in the SEC East, a surprise if you follow Gamecocks' baseball. South Carolina has made a postseason regional eight consecutive years and earned a trip to the College World Series three times since 2000. The Gamecocks have won the SEC twice during that span. (NCAA runner-up in 2002, 12-6 loss to Texas)

Without 1B Justin Smoak, C Phil Disher, SS Reese Havens and 3B James Darnell (all current pro's and draft picks last season), it may be a long year for the Garnet and Black offense. As always though, pitching wins championships.

Junior heading back to Seattle

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution gets it wrong . . . again.

A few weeks after reporting Rafael Furcal is coming back to Atlanta (he re-signed with Los Angeles) Tuesday's report of Griffey to the Braves was all but a sure thing. Wrong. Griffey signed a one-year $2 mil deal with the Seattle Mariners yesterday, saying no to a previous offer from the Braves. Griffey said the AJC's story on him agreeing to an ATL contract was "completely false".

Can a newspaper really affect a player's decisionto sign with the Braves? That's twice the AJC has dropped the ball.

Braves in talks with The Kid

Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren and Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent have began talks about the possibility of bringing Jr. to Atlanta for the 2009 season.

Griffey said he is willing to split time in left field with Matt Diaz.

The former Seattle Mariners' phenom lives in Orlando, home of Atlanta's spring training site at Disney's Wide World of Sports. It would be great to see Griffey come to Atlanta, but it's about 5-7 years too late . . .

Going Deep with UNCP - Second Entry

UNCP senior Kevin Dietrich un-officially has the Black and Gold's longest homer at Sammy Cox Field this season.

Dietrich's gargantuan blast to left in the bottom of the fourth this afternoon was his second of the game, giving the Braves a 10-5 lead. UNCP would go on to beat Millersville in the first game of a weekend series, 17-7. It was Dietrich's first multi-homer game of his career.

Dietrich lifted a high fastball on a 1-1 pitch into the pine trees about 15 feet above the wall. Coach Paul O'Neil's quote after the game: "Diets hit a tape-measure shot. That ball is still stuck in the mud out there somewhere."

Tom Porricelli added a solo homer to left in the third. The Braves' 17 runs was the highest total this season. Game one of tomorrow's doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.

UNCP BASEBALL Robesonian Preview


UNCP HR TALLY THROUGH SEVEN GAMES = 12

A few recent story links

Here's a few links to recent UNCP articles in The Robesonian newspaper. I'm doing an internship there this spring:

Braves lose in final minute

UNCP rally falls short

UNCP Signing Day

Going Deep with UNCP - First Entry

If Nike’s late-90s “chicks dig the long ball” phrase still has life, co-eds should be flocking to Sammy Cox Field at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke this season.

I've decided to make a season-long homerun tally blog that charts each dinger the Braves hit this season. I'll try to describe each bomb as best as I can if I see it live. Let's see if anyone can eclipse some of Jason Morales' moonshots last season.

Braves (4-2) batters have shown an early knack for power through the first six games, connecting on nine homeruns including three dingers from returning slugger Keith Whitman (pictured left).

I have only seen one homer LIVE and that was in yesterday's 13-9 loss to Pfeiffer. Seth Kivett went deep to right on the first pitch he saw from a Falcons' middle relief pitcher. More to come following UNCP's four-game set with Millersville this weekend.

UNCP HR TALLY THROUGH SIX GAMES = 9

UNCP Baseball opens 4-2 in Week 1

Black and Gold baseball is under way at Sammy Cox Field in Pembroke and the Braves are 4-2 through their first full week, including a doubleheader sweep of St. Andrews to open the 2009 schedule.

After winning four straight, the Braves have dropped back-to-back decisions to Anderson and Pfeiffer despite having the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth in both contests.

Coach Paul O'Neil said he'll be able to really see where the team's at following this weekend's four-game set with Millersville. Right now, O'Neil is busy switching around the lineup and figuring out the starting rotation.

I will be covering most of UNCP's home games this season for The Robesonian and may go to a few away games as well. Look for game stories and features throughout the spring.

UNCP will play host to Millersville this weekend in a four-game series beginning Friday at 3pm. Saturday features a doubleheader with a 1pm first pitch and Sunday's noon start will finish the series.

Complete UNCP Recruiting Report

My article from today's Robesonian newspaper:

The first Wednesday in February has now become the official day to reload for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke’s football program, not rebuild. As the Braves’ inaugural signee in 2006 Brandon McLaurin put it, “it’s just another day to add some extra weapons to our arsenal.”

Following last season’s surprising 9-1 campaign, Braves head coach Pete Shinnick welcomed a new crop of 26 freshman and five transfers Wednesday afternoon at Bob Caton Fieldhouse, spotlighting Robeson County’s version of national signing day.

“We are very excited and pleased with this year’s class,” Shinnick said, after UNCP’s 2009 signing day included a record list of players. “This is the most complete class we’ve ever put together and our staff has put in a lot of hard work bringing these guys in.”

After addressing size and team speed in previous years, Shinnick said the philosophy this season was to bring in players that best fit the program and its future.

“We went back to square one with this year’s class,” Shinnick said. “We return 21 of 22 starters from last season, so most of these guys knew red-shirting is a possibility. It was the first time we’ve recruited with that guideline.”

Headlining the roster of new Braves is South View High defensive back Quinton Pate. The 5-foot-10 play maker from Cumberland County intercepted three passes as a senior and has been a key target for UNCP since his sophomore year.

“He’s a dynamic and physical guy,” Shinnick said. “We identified him as one of the top guys in this region early on. We’re glad he decided to be a part of this program.”

The Braves tapped into Cumberland County again for 4-A state champion teammates Devante Bush and Kris Jackson. Both were three-year starters and All Mid-Southeastern Conference selections last season for Bob Paroli’s Seventy-First Falcons.

“We start with the 910 area code and spread out from there,” Shinnick said. “These three guys from Fayetteville will be an excellent addition to our program.”

Northern Carolina’s 2-A player of the year Justin Rodgers is another highly-touted Braves commit. The 5-foot-11, 230-pound fullback-linebacker hybrid from Bunn rushed for 1,670 yards last season and scored 16 touchdowns for the Wildcats.

Wednesday’s class included five transfers who have already enrolled at the University for the spring semester. Linebacker Anthony McDonald was invited to the junior college all-star game last year after a stellar season at East Central Community College in East Central, MS. Offensive lineman Brandon Holland, who stands at a massive 6-foot-5, 320 pounds, played in three games as freshman at Virginia Tech in 2006.

Another transfer, offensive lineman Deshaun Dilworth from Shaw University, was originally contacted by the Braves’ coaching staff two years ago but picked the Bears over the Braves on signing day.

“Deshaun decided to come back to us and he fills a need for our program on the offensive line,” Shinnick said.

A pair of quarterbacks also signed with UNCP on Wednesday, a necessity according to Shinnick. Since the Braves only have three scholarship signal-callers returning, it was vital to add two more players to the mix under center. Dual threat athlete Teland Todd and pocket-passer Luke Charles both signed letters-of-intent to call plays at quarterback for the Braves, strengthening a prolific offense that averaged 32.6 points per game in 2008.

“We feel we have a complete team now,” Shinnick said. “The future of our program looks great as long as our guys continue to grow and develop.”

Recruiting Central: Braves and Gamecocks

No big surprises thus far for South Carolina on national signing day besides WR Alshon Jeffrey changing his mind from Southern Cal and committing to the Gamecocks. The 6-3 wideout from Calhoun County, SC chose to stay close to home. Jeffrey was another ESPN Under Armour All-American, giving the Gamecocks 7 players out of ESPNU's Top 150.

The Gamecocks have stock piled defense in this year's classes including four star safeties Chris Payne, Stephon Gilmore, Devonte Holloman and Demario Jeffrey. Holloman and Jeffrey may moved to linebacker this spring for Spurrier's bunch.

Complete coverage of UNCP's 2009 class will be posted between 5 and 6pm following today's press conference at Bob Caton Fieldhouse. Stay tuned.

Just finished with the press conference and here's my initial report, check out the story in tomorrow's Robesonian print edition.

Shinnick announced 31 new players, including 5 transfers (2 junior college guys). Headlining the list are three guys from Fayetteville, including a pair from Seventy-First and a DB from South View.

Two quarterbacks were added, including a dual threat guy and a pocket passer. Overall Shinnick seemed excited about this year's class. "Our coaching staff put in alot of hard work this offseason," Shinnick said during Wednesday's press conference. "We started with the 910 area and worked our way across the state of North Carolina."

Interesting note: All 26 freshman are from North Carolina but not a single one is from Robeson County. Shinnick said that most of the guys they were looking at weren't big enough and did not qualify academically.

Tuesday tilt: Gamecocks @ Gators ESPN

Following Saturday's 78-77 win in Lexington, only the second victory ever at Rupp for the Gamecocks, South Carolina (16-4, 5-2 SEC) has vaulted itself to the top of the SEC standings at the season's midway point.

Senior guard Devan Downey has quickly elevated himself on everyone's "best player you've never heard of" list to be the SEC's second leading scorer at 19.8 points per game. His jumper with 3 seconds left at Kentucky gave South Carolina its third 1-point win this season.

"You should take us real serious," Downey told ESPN's Andy Katz by phone from Lexington on Saturday. "We're playing real hard and I feel like we're one of the real bright spots in the SEC."

Coach Darrin Horn's group has beaten three ranked teams this season, the first time that's happened since the NCAA tournament team in 2006. The Gamecocks look to extend their SEC-winning streak to five in Gainesville Tuesday night (9pm tip, ESPN) I'm sure Billy Donovan's group will have revenge on their minds, especially after watching the first game between these teams slip away at the buzzer.

As for my prediction toward South Carolina's Big Dance dreams, I simply ask the question: Why not us?