Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406140073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Last week, officers in regions III and IV laid the groundwork for forming a new district to help balance the teams among the two leagues. One proposal, which seems to have the most favor with those in attendance, would combine the six Blue Ridge District teams with Blacksburg and Christiansburg in Region IV.
If you're looking at a district with potential for superpowers, this one qualifies in every respect.
First, the Blue Ridge District has improved immensely over the past five years in just about every sport. Boys' basketball has seen the most dramatic rise. At one time, the Piedmont District dominated that sport in Region III. With Northside emerging as a strong team and now that Salem has won a Group AA state championship, the Blue Ridge District has been on a par with the Piedmont District the past three or four years.
In baseball, the Blue Ridge District has come on strong behind William Byrd. The Terriers are considered perennial contenders on the state level. This spring, the Blue Ridge sent Byrd to the state tournament, and the Seminole District, once considered the state's best Group AA baseball league, didn't have a team advance past the region tournament.
Until Rustburg pitcher Katie Phillips appeared in the Seminole District, the Blue Ridge District dominated Region III softball. The Blue Ridge remains strong, though it didn't get a team to the state tournament this year for the first time in quite a while. With a young Byrd team aiming to defend its Blue Ridge title, though, and if Salem pitcher Ronda Rankin doesn't move to Tennessee as the rumors say she will, the Blue Ridge can be expected to compete with Rustburg and Phillips next year.
Blue Ridge District football wasn't as strong on a state level this past year. However, if Salem comes back, which very well could happen, and if Northside and Rockbridge County continue to improve, the Blue Ridge will have quality football.
Five of the six Blue Ridge District schools - Northside, Salem, William Byrd, Alleghany and Lord Botetourt - are among eight largest in terms of enrollment in Region III. It's easy to see why the sports have improved for the Blue Ridge.
Add Blacksburg and Christiansburg to this mix. Blacksburg won't be one of the larger schools, but the Indians are perennial contenders for the Central Fidelity Cup that is emblematic of the strongest sports program in each classification. Blacksburg has won or shared the cup three of the four years it has been awarded and led the competition coming into the spring.
Blacksburg's soccer teams are perennial state-title contenders. Girls' track has been strong. The Indians' football team always is competitive and has two state championships in Group AA play in the past decade. Blacksburg basketball might have had more success except for having to play Northside in the Group AA state tournament two of the past three years.
Christiansburg would bring a strong track and cross country program to the Blue Ridge District. The Blue Demons have dominated Region IV in these two sports.
Will the principals vote to form this new eight-team district? It depends who you ask because not everyone is buying the plans suggested by the officers. Still, a compromise must be reached or the Virginia High School League will step in.
No matter how it happens, everything points to the six Blue Ridge District schools joining Blacksburg and Christiansburg with the rest of Region IV and III to be ironed out. If that happens and you're a high school sports fan who follows those eight schools, you are going to be in for quite a treat.
\ BUNTING FOOLS: By my count, Glenvar tried either three or four squeeze plays in a 7-2 Group A state baseball victory over Pound last week. Usually, you don't see more than one a season. In this case, the ball was fouled off or the runner held up and the batter didn't offer at pitches out of the strike zone.
"For two or three years, we were never able to bunt. For half of this season, we've been able to bunt and we do it quite often," Glenvar coach Larry Wood said. "When we get a man on third, even if we don't bunt, people will think we're going to bunt. They pull their infield in. Today, we had a couple of pops that fell in behind them that might have been caught had the infields not been pulled in [to guard against the bunt]."
Pound even tried a pitch out to thwart Glenvar's bunting. Pitcher J.G. Salyers threw a wild pitch, enabling the Highlanders to score the tying run.
\ AIR KNIGHTS: Patrick Henry's basketball team won't be the first Timesland squad to fly commercially this year when the Patriots open the 1994-95 season in Hawaii.
Cave Spring, under new coach Chris Carr, is flying to Bloomington, Ind., July 5 to participate in Bobby Knight's Camp at Indiana University. The Knights will play in the large-school division of team camp.
Carr, an Indiana native, participated in the camp when he was in high school, and he believes the experience will make Cave Spring better as a team. The players are holding fund-raisers such as car washes and flea markets to help offset the expense of flying.
Carr has picked Billy Hicks, a former Cave Spring player, and Dave Sampson to be his assistant coaches. Hicks, who was one of the applicants for the job, will give up his duties as head coach at Hidden Valley Middle School. Sampson works for Matheny Brokerage and does not teach in the school system.
Chris Morris, who played at Roanoke College, will be the freshman coach.
\ HEADING SOUTH: Northside's Richie Oliver, the Timesland wrestler of the year, is going to North Greenville (S.C.) Junior College. He says he will go not for wrestling, but to play football. Oliver, an offensive-defensive lineman, didn't play as a senior at Northside because of an injury.
\ A CHANGE: Northside wrestling coach Fred Wagner, whose team had finishes of second and third in the Group AA state tournament, now is on the William Byrd staff as a football assistant. He will not be involved in the Terriers' wrestling program.
\ SO LONG SOFTBALL: Andy Ward has ended his career as the softball coach at Lord Botetourt and will concentrate on his duties as head football coach. Under Ward, Lord Botetourt was Group AA runner-up in 1990 and 1992 and was the chief rival to Salem the past few years in their two-team fight for the Blue Ridge District crown. That was interrupted this year when William Byrd won the Blue Ridge District for that school's first softball title.
\ GOOD JUMP: Overlooked in the Group AA state track meet was a 5-foot-2 high jump by Lord Botetourt's Molly McCorkle that placed second and earned her a place in the final Timesland Honor Roll.
\ NEW VHSL OFFICIAL: Bob Button, a journalism teacher in Michigan who worked for The Detroit Free Press, is the new Virginia High School League programs' supervisor. He fills the opening created when Ken Tilley was appointed the executive director. Button's only contact with sports will be in public relations. Otherwise, he will concentrate on running the VHSL creative writing, drama, forensics, debating and publications' competition.
by CNB