THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602220155
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
IF YOU'RE a die-hard baseball fan, Elizabeth City's the place to be this spring and summer.
The river city will host an AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, baseball team this year. And the schedule lists more than 64 games.
Manager Hardy Swinson is picking the team this weekend.
The team, known as the Eastern Crush, opens its season March 2 with a doubleheader at Knobbs Creek against the 12-and-under Blasters from the Norfolk, Va., area. The Blasters finished second in the nation last year in their age group.
Swinson got the idea for the AAU team after a local team competed in a Babe Ruth tournament.
``We went to the state Babe Ruth tournament, and when we got there, we were so outclassed it wasn't funny,'' Swinson said. ``The other coaches said they had played AAU ball also.''
The Eastern Crush will consist of players from Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, and Perquimans counties, and maybe a player from Williamston.
``We're taking the best five percent of ball players and putting them in a league together so they can improve their skills,'' Swinson said.
``The best players don't get an opportunity to increase their skills in little leagues because they aren't challenged.''
The Eastern Crush will play its 64-game regular season schedule in the Virginia/North Carolina AAU Baseball Spring Season. Swinson said there are also eight teams in the Raleigh area that the Eastern Crush will play on open dates.
``This league is for the baseball fanatic, for the ones who really want to play baseball,'' Swinson said. ``It sounds like a lot, but everywhere we go we play doubleheaders on Saturdays. Tournaments might be five games a weekend.''
Swinson and assistant coaches Anthony Robertson, McKinley Riggs and Donnie Overman have cut the roster down to the 13 to 15 players they feel will best compete. They hope to build from the experience of an AAU team they tried out a few months ago.
``We had a fall team this year, and we started off losing everything. By the closing tournament, we finished second,'' Swinson said. ``We want to try to qualify for the state tournament and the national tournament in Oklahoma.''
Community support has been tremendous for this team, Swinson said.
``This couldn't have happened if it weren't for the community,'' he said. ``We have 30 to 40 sponsors.''
Elizabeth City will actually field two AAU teams this season: The Boys and Girls Club is sponsoring a 12-and-under team. Swinson hopes that the AAU program will take off in both age groups.
``Next year we want to go 14-and-under and would like the 12-and-under team to move up to 13-and-under,'' Swinson said. ``We'd also like to have some other age groups added.'' by CNB