Category Archives: Legion baseball

UPDATED: Come to the Junior Legion game! Get a shout-out!

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Just got a call from F.O.B. Charlie Casey, who said that if bloggees come to tonight’s Kinston vs. South Lenoir Junior American Legion game in Deep Run — he’ll give you a shout-out on the P.A.

Charlie is the voice of the Blue Devils and does a heck of a job down there. So come to the game, help honor the memory of the Humphrey’s (remember, all profits raised tonight go to the family!) and hear your name on the P.A. by Charlie Boy. Come on up to the press box and Charlie will give you some P.A. love and stuff.

It just doesn’t get much better than that, now does it?

P.S.: This offer doesn’t apply to Tar Heel fans. Sorry.

P.P.S.S.: OK, that last comment was just a joke. Of course, he’ll identify Tar Heel fans. But then we’ll all laugh at you.

P.P.P.S.S.S.: OK, that last comment, too, was just a joke. We won’t laugh at you … but we’ll feel sorry for you.

UPDATE 3:55 P.M.: OK, got a cool e-mail from Kinston Post 43 coach Jason Wade –

kinston post 43 jr. legion is going to donate $100.00 tonight to help the humphrey family.  i’d like to challenge others to match our donation.  this is a tough time for this family and the community needs to rally together and help out any way they can. 

Sounds like a great idea to me!

Morning News Report; July 8, 2010

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Back to the MNRs, but with a note from Derek Hunter — tonight, the junior American Legion teams from Post 43 Lenoir County South and Kinston Post 43 will play at South Lenoir High School at 7 p.m. The SL players have requested that all profits from the game go to the Humphrey family. Players are encouraging as many people as possible to attend the game to help the family.

Not sure if I’m going to be able to make it, because I had a prior engagement, but I am going to do my best to be there for part of it, at least. PLEASE go to the game, if you can — the Humphrey family is going through a lot right now and the money raised could really help them right now.

Thanks, Coach Hunter, for passing this along to me.

There is also a fund that has been set up to help the family at their church — you can send it here: Memorial Fund for Katlyn and Taylor Humphrey, Rivermont Baptist Church, 828 Wheat Street, Kinston, NC 28504

THE AREA MOURNS THE LOSS OF THE HUMPHREYS

Free Press reporter David Anderson did a fine job covering the tragedy of the deaths of Taylor and Katlyn Humphrey yesterday, first with the original updates , then with the final story.

My take: It was a tough day coming to work yesterday and knowing we had to cover this awful story, but it’s good to work with a consummate professional like David Anderson, who knows how to write a story like this with dignity and class.

I also need to throw props out to WITN NBC-7 and WNCT CBS-9. WITN, who has drawn my scorn and (deserved) ridicule at times, did a fine job with its coverage — especially early on when it credited Kinston.com (which was actually my blog) with its initial reports. A lot of TV stations around the nation simply steal info from newspapers and newspaper sites without giving credit, but the powers-that-be at WITN didn’t do that yesterday. Thanks, WITN.

WNCT did a pretty good job, too, getting video from the Jacksonville, Fla., station to back up its report.

But again … I’m scratching my head at WCTI ABC-12 — at no point did the station have a report on its website. I guess kids from Lenoir County dying isn’t important enough to go on its site.

I didn’t watch any of the coverage on the three stations, because, frankly, I was too mentally exhausted to deal with it anymore when I left the office yesterday. Did WCTI have a mention of it in its newscast?

BP HOPES TO CAP WELL BY END OF MONTH

BP is claiming it could have the oil spill capped by the end of July.

My take: Yep … we’ll see.

LEBRON TO MAKE DECISION TONIGHT ON LIVE TV

LeBron James is ready to let the world know where he will play the next few years on a live ESPN broadcast at 9 p.m. today. However, Chris Broussard of ESPN is saying King James is leaning towards Miami.

My take: While the rest of the world is pissed off that LeBron is doing this on TV tonight, I say, “Why not?” With all the ridiculous, stupid and inane reality TV that is broadcast now, how is this worse than any of that.

And it’s like a mini-reality show — at least we’ll know by 10 p.m. where he’s going.

I stick with my original guess — that he’s going to Chicago. But we’ll see.

The iPod shuffles I received from Taylor over the past few months:

July 2

In The City — The Eagles

Know Your Enemy — Rage Against The Machine

I Shot The Sheriff — Bob Marley

River Of Love — George Strait

Don’t Tell The Band — Widespread Panic

June 10

Superman — Matchbox 20

Ladies — J. Cole

Mountain Music — Alabama

#27 — Dave Matthews Band

Summertime — Sublime

Feb. 4

One Love — Bob Marley

Snow (Hey Oh) — Red Hot Chili Peppers

Stranglehold — Ted Nugent

I’ll Be There — Jackson 5

Heartbreaker — Led Zeppelin

Jason Wade on his team being disqualified

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This was an e-mail sent to me by our good friend, Jason Wade, at 4 p.m. on Monday (reprinted here, with his permission):

hanks,

i know i am going to come out looking like a scum bag in all of this but i honestly didnt do this on purpose. in the past any jr. or rising sr., under the age of 18, that wasnt playing sr. legion was elidgible to play jr. legion. i assumed the rule was the same this season. this is where i messed up. i didnt read the rule book and they made a change that any player born in 1991 was inelidgible to play jr. legion. i have two players, reggie santifer and cody heath, that were born in 1991.

ultimately it is my responsibility to know the rules. i take full responsibility for this mistake. i just feel sorry for all of the kids and the parents.

He sent me this addition at 8 p.m. yesterday:

wins and loses are secondary. in the end i am supposed to be a good role model for these kids. i cheated, although not on purpose. how does that make me look in their eyes? i just feel so bad for these kids that laid it all on the line all year long. i let them and their parents down because i did not know the rules.

My take: I am, unapologetically, a Jason Wade fan. He’s been a fervent supporter of this blog since its inception nearly five years ago and he’s been a class act to me at every turn.

But — as he clearly states in his communication with me — he messed up. However, he also manned up and took responsibility for his actions.

If all our mistakes were able to be out in the open, we’d all be embarrassed all the time. When I make a mistake in the paper, 30,000 readers see it. When Coach Wade (or Coach Montague, Coach Eason or Coach Fulghum) makes a mistake, hundreds and thousands of people know about it.

No, I’m not sugar-coating what Coach Wade did. But turn the light on yourself before you start accusing an honorable man of nefarious acts. How would you like everything you do to be under a microscope?

(‘Cause if you do, I can make that happen…)

ECI, Junior Legion redux

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As promised, here are the links for the two sports stories I wrote yesterday:

Some takes:

  • Like I need to tell you this, but Reggie Bullock is special, y’all. Back in 2007, scout.com’s Dave Telep ranked Reggie as the No. 2 shooting guard in the Class of 2010 — and it appears he was right on. After Reggie and the Vikings destroyed 4A (yes, 4A!) Raleigh Millbrook yesterday, 63-50 — including 16 of his 27 points coming in the fourth quarter, Reggie is showing that Ol’ Roy has himself and the Tar Heels a fine player, indeed.
  • Reggie is ranked No. 8 nationally — and the top SG — in the latest rivals.com rankings (you must have a subscription to read the story, though).
  • It’s not all Reggie, though; senior point guard Dory Hines is a heck of a player — he finished with 22 points in yesterday’s championship game. His fearlessness in driving the lane and his excellent leadership could land him on a D-I roster as hoops player. But don’t be surprised if he doesn’t get some recruiting interest from football, too — he’s a heck of a quarterback for Battle Holley.
  • And don’t forget the other fine players on the KHS roster, including Josh Benoit and Dallas Best. Kinston is as heavy a favorite to win the 2A (wow, it’s weird typing that) hoops championship as there has ever been in two decades.
  • Despite the bad news that broke a few minutes ago, the Kinston Post 43 Junior American Legion baseball team did a heck of a job, earning a spot in this week’s state tournament in Asheboro. Blake Herring, Matt Hinson, Landon DeBruhl, Jeremiah Lanier and the rest of the Post 43 crew deserve some major kudos for their play.
  • Speaking of Blake — I can’t tell you how honored I am to be around that kid. Not only does he do great Scouting projects, he’s a natural leader and a humanitarian at such a young age. As I mentioned in my story about yesterday’s game, Blake spent last week at a camp in Pine Knoll Shores — helping handicapped kids. We need more Blake Herrings in our world.
  • There was another great area team playing this weekend, too: the Kinston/Lenoir County 12-and-under Babe Ruth softball team swept its way to a state championship in Williamston. The squad now advances to the Babe Ruth World Series that will be played in August. Congratulations!

Kinston Junior Legion forced to forfeit trip to tourney

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So much for the good news from the Kinston Post 43 Junior American Legion team, that won its way to the state tournament yesterday: It won’t be playing in the tournament after it was found that two ineligible players suited up for the squad.

I don’t have many details now, but evidently, a rule change before the season deemed two of Kinston’s players ineligible. Ryan Herman will have something in the paper about it tomorrow and I’ll update it here for you, too.

My take: My heart goes out to the players who left it all out on the field over the weekend in Cary and won against all odds. To go from the high of making the state tourney to now knowing that you are staying home — when it’s not even your fault — is a heart-breaking scenario for those kids.

Vikings and Junior Legion win

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What a great weekend for Kinston prep sports! The Kinston Vikings won the East Coast Invitational for a third straight year on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Post 43 Junior American Legion baseball team used a strong pitching effort from Blake Herring to defeat West Johnston, 11-1, on Sunday. The victory propels Kinston to the state tourney in Asheboro; it begins Friday.

CONGRATULATIONS to both squads! I’ll provide the links to both stories I wrote tomorrow and have further thoughts in tomorrow’s MNR.

K-Tribe ticket winner and other good stuff

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A couple of nuggets:

  • Forgot to announce the winner of the K-Tribe tickets yesterday, although I called her — it was Christie Rouse, a faithful bloggee who goes by the name of RouseHouse. Congrats! Have fun at the game tonight; and everyone else, don’t forget — free Scout bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans at the game.
  • I went to my first Lenoir County prep sports game AS A FAN (Yes, I paid my $5!) last night when I saw Post 43 lose to Wilson, 6-3, in the deciding Game 5 of the second-round series. It was fun to watch guys like Tyler Potter, Joshua Lovick, Carter Capps, Shane Flynn, Kaleb Wessell and Lee Taylor — guys I covered for several years — and be able to cheer for them! Hate that they lost, but it was good to cheer and see the other folks there to support them.
  • The Kinston Post 43 Junior Legion team won in 11 innings last night and are playing Farmville as I write this (11 a.m.). Good luck to Coach JWade and the boys!

Legion/Junior Legion updates (with 3:30 p.m. update)

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Some exciting goings-on in local Legion baseball:

  • The Kinston Post 43 Senior Legion team is playing in Game 5 of the best-of-five tonight after defeating Wilson Post 13, 3-2, last night (that first link is to Ryan Herman’s short story; here’s Wilson Daily Times’ story by Tom Ham). Get out and support our boys, who are coached by the venerable Ronnie Battle! I’m going to do my best to make it out there, too.
  • The Neuse River Conference Champion Kinston Post 43 Junior Legion team is in Cary this weekend. The team is playing Nash Central RIGHT NOW (I’ll provide a scoring update later this afternoon); if the team wins, it’ll play the No. 1-seeded Cary Bulls at 3:15 p.m.; if it loses, it will play at 6:15 p.m.
  • UPDATE FROM DEBORAH HERRING (THANKS!): The Junior Legion team lost 6-1 to Nash Central and will now face Tarboro at 6:15 p.m. in an elimination game.

Junior American Legion tournament updates

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Thanks to our very good friend, Critter Hunter. Feel free to update in the comments…

Game 5: 4:30 p.m. (LCC) — West Brunswick 7 vs. Pineville 0 (Pineville ELIMINATED)
Game 6: 12:30 p.m. (LCC) — Rocky Mount 14 vs. Kinston 8 (Kinston ELIMINATED)
Game 7: 4:30 p.m. (Grainger) — Rowan County 4 vs. Cary 3
Game 8: 7:30 p.m. (Grainger) — Cherryville 3 vs. Mooresville 7

Saturday

Game 9: 12:30 p.m. (LCC) — Rocky Mount vs. Cary (LOSER ELIMINATED)
Game 10: 4 p.m. (LCC) — SW Brunswick vs. Cherryville (LOSER ELIMINATED)
Game 11: 12:30 p.m. (Grainger) — Rowan vs. Mooresville
Game 12: 4 p.m. (Grainger) — Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11 (LOSER ELIMINATED)
Game 13: 7 p.m. (Grainger) — Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11 (If Game 10 winner loses, it’s eliminated)

Junior American Legion scoreboard — complete through Thursday

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Wednesday’s result

Game 1: Rowan County (West No. 2) 11, West Brunswick (East No. 3) 9

Thursday

Game 2: Cherryville (West No. 3) 7, Rocky Mount (East No. 2) 6

Game 3: Cary (East No. 1) 2, Pineville (West No. 4) 1 — 9 innings

Game 4: Mooresville (West No. 1) 4, Kinston 1

Friday

Game 5: 4:30 p.m. (LCC) — West Brunswick vs. Pineville (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 6: 12:30 p.m. (LCC) — Rocky Mount vs. Kinston (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 7: 4:30 p.m. (Grainger) — Rowan County vs. Cary

Game 8: 7:30 p.m. (Grainger) — Cherryville vs. Mooresville

Saturday

Game 9: 12:30 p.m. (LCC) — Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7 (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 10: 4 p.m. (LCC) — Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8 (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 11: 12:30 p.m. (Grainger) — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8

Game 12: 4 p.m. (Grainger) — Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11 (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 13: 7 p.m. (Grainger) — Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11 (If Game 10 winner loses, it’s eliminated)

Notes: pairing for Games 12 and 13 will not match previous opponents against each other unless absolutely necessary (national representative has further instructions). … If three teams remain after Game 13, the winner of Game 11 automatically draws the bye in Game 14

Sunday

Game 14: 1 p.m. (Grainger) Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13 (Champions; unless one of the team’s first losses)

Game 15: 4 p.m. (Grainger) Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14, if first loss (Champions)