THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607040321
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 51 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 41 lines
IN ITS FIRST season of play, Elizabeth City's Eastern Crush AAU baseball team has exceeded Hardy Swinson's expectations.
Now he has an unusual request: ``We need a new coach,'' he said last week.
After a slow start, the Crush has 22 wins, 15 losses and recently placed second in the North Carolina State Games.
The 13-under team lost 13-0 to the Sanford Spinners in the gold medal game, but were happy to receive the silver medal. Swinson, who helped form the AAU team, is currently the head coach but is looking to the future.
``The team is really full of some good ball players,'' he said. ``The one weakness is the coach. What we need is a coach who can get them to the top bracket. I'm just a `father' type coach. These boys are playing better ball than that. What we'd like to find is a coach that can get them to the next level.''
After an 8-8 start, the Crush has gone 14-7 since the middle of May. Swinson said it took some time for his players to get used to the pitching.
``Good pitching stops good hitting. These boys had never seen that kind of pitching,'' he said. ``They started to get used to it after awhile. They're seeing breaking balls that are really breaking and real fastballs. The Spinners had the best pitcher we've seen.''
The Crush competed in a two-week tournament to get to the State Games finals. The team won the Coastal Regional championship in Kinston and knocked off the Garner Rebels 11-1 in the first round of the State Games. Chuck Riggs was 3-for-3 and Sam Crisp went 2-for-4 for the victors.
Swinson has been impressed with the caliber of play of the AAU teams.
``We were looking for the best caliber of baseball we could find and we have found it,'' he said. ``The State Games are open to any team in the state. But the three medalist teams were all AAU teams. Sanford was number one in the league and Garner was number two.
``We're happy to be as competitive as we are. We've gone above expectations. The next step is to get them a higher level of coaching so they can get better.'' by CNB