WSSU baseball team signs 10 players

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Coach Kevin Ritsche of the Winston-Salem State baseball team said that recruiting has become a little easier after winning three straight CIAA championships.

Ritsche, whose Rams are coming off the most successful season in school history, announced a class of 10 signees for this season. Many of the newcomers are former local high-school players.

“I think all of them can compete for starting spots,” said Ritsche, whose team was 39-13 this past season and played host to the Atlantic Region at Wake Forest. “Both Rob (Woodall) and my brother, Keith, did a nice job in recruiting and looking for players who can help us.”

Woodall and Keith Ritchie are both assistant coaches for the Rams.

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Ram Ramblings: Hayes already looking ahead to this fall

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Bill Hayes, the athletics director at Winston-Salem State, has done a lot for the school since he took over Jan. 1, 2010 and he’ll be rewarded later this week with a contract extension.      

Hayes, who will turn 70 on June 1, said earlier this month he’s full of energy and shows no signs of slowing down.

Hayes, who makes around $145,000, is sure to get a raise when WSSU’s board of trustees vote in a meeting later this week. But for Hayes, it’s not about the money at this stage of his career.

Hayes current contract, which expires on June 30, was a three-year deal. The next contract will also be for three years but whether he finishes out the new contract will most likely be up to him.

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Jackson State relishes shot in NCAA tournament

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JACKSON, Mississippi — Jackson State has waited years for another chance to prove it can compete with the nation's best baseball teams in the NCAA tournament.

 

The Tigers will get it in their first trip to the postseason since 2000. No. 4 national seed LSU (52-9) — and its home crowd of 10,000-plus fans at Alex Box Stadium — will be waiting when Jackson State (34-20) takes the field at the double-elimination Baton Rouge regional on Friday.

 

But after years of frustration just trying to make the NCAA tournament, the opportunity to knock off one of college baseball's most storied programs is something catcher Jose Cruz relishes.

 

"At the end of the day, it's baseball," Cruz said. "LSU has to come and play us, too. We're going to play hard enough that we can give them some competition. It's going to be pretty tough. They're one of the best teams in the country. They have a big advantage because they have all those fans. But to be the best you've got to beat the best."

 

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SSU draws Florida State in Division I baseball regional

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SAVANNAH, Georgia  --  Savannah State’s baseball players gathered at Coach’s Corner on Monday afternoon and cheered after hearing their university announced on the NCAA Division I selection show.

Not that it was a surprise to be among the top 64 teams in the nation — the Tigers earned an automatic entrance to a regional by winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament on May 19.

But the announcement on ESPNU was an affirmation that SSU was indeed getting a chance to show it belonged being mentioned with the top collegiate baseball teams in the nation. The Tigers will be opening the double-elimination Tallahassee Regional on Friday at 5 p.m. with No. 7 Florida State.

The game will be shown live on ESPN3.

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NC man captures sports at historic black college

SALISBURY, N.C. — Back in the early 1960s, John Daniels played three years of varsity tennis at Livingstone College.

He practiced hard every summer, and by the end of his career, Daniels improved from the sixth-best man on the squad to the third.

But if you go through the sports archives at Livingstone, yearbooks or even Daniels' personal files, you won't find any photographs of him playing tennis at the college.

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Art Shell golf classic draws UMES and NFL greats

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — Some NFL greats and University of Maryland Eastern Shore alumni will return to their roots on the Eastern Shore to help raise money for UMES’s Professional Golf Management Program and Division of Athletics by participating in the annual Art Shell UMES Celebrity Golf Classic and Junior Tournament June 11-12.

The event, which will occur at Great Hope Golf Course in Westover, Md., is hosted by NFL, UMES and CIAA Hall of Famer Art Shell.

Following the Junior Tournament, for golfers age 11 to 18 on June 11, Shell and other former NFL players, such as the UMES Golf Academy director and men’s golf head coach Marshall Cropper, will partner with foursomes to play in the 18-hole tournament June 12. They will attend an awards dinner in the Henson Center on campus that evening.

Cropper, the tournament’s director and a former player for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins, said the funds from the event go to building the PGA program and golf academy, as well as funding scholarships.

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DONALD HEATH: McGowin gives Savannah State a winning edge

SAVANNAH, Georgia  --  Tired of eastern Long Island’s cold, damp springs, Kyle McGowin finished his high school baseball career at Pierson and immediately made pitches to several Division I colleges in the South, bartering his heater in exchange to play in a warmer climate.

Savannah State baseball coach Carlton Hardy took notice, leaving other coaches in the region probably shaking their heads after fanning on a pitcher who is now among 22 finalists for college baseball’s pitcher of the year.

“You get stiff in the cold between innings. My arm has always felt better in the heat,” said McGowin, a right-hander from Sag Harbor, N.Y. “I wanted to go south and play Division I. Thankfully, coach Hardy responded quickly.”

The junior has been happy with his decision, earning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s pitcher of the year honor this season after posting a 12-1 record with 128 strikeouts and an earned run average of 1.33.

McGowin is second in the ...

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