All posts by Cliff Barnes

The skinny

Cary Post 67 eliminated from American Legion State Tournament

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Kernersville Post 36 overcame a 3-0 deficit with seven runs in the fifth inning to eliminate Cary Post 67 by a 10-5 score in the American Legion State Tournament in Asheboro today.

Cary was knocked to the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament by falling to Randolph County 2-1 in 11 innings Sunday night.

Against Kernersville, Cary jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Stephen McKinney singled in Drew Woodall, who had doubled, and Anthony Colantino singled in a run. In the fourth, Cary extended the lead to 3-0 when David Hamm singled in Colantino, who had singled and stolen second base.

But a disastrous fifth inning, which included two runs scoring on a bases-loaded walk and a balk by Cary pitcher James Todd, was the beginning of the end of the Post 67 season. Kernersville’s Evan Orenstein capped off the seven-run inning with a three-run homer off Cary’s Gerrit Van Genderen.

Cary ends its season 22-10. The teams left competing for the state title are Whiteville, Randolph County, Kernersville and Cherryville.

A pair of Cary players will remain in ACC country as Hamm, an Athens Drive grad, will attend N.C. State while Grant Shambley, a Green Hope grad, has signed with Wake Forest.

The skinny

Cary Legion team falls in 11th inning; moves to loser’s bracket

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Cary Post 67 defeated Cherryville Post 100, 2-1, on Saturday but fell into the loser’s bracket of the American Legion State Tournament in Asheboro after losing to Randolph County by the same score Sunday night.

Cary pitcher Daniel Sondag hit a Randolph batter with the bases loaded and two outs in the 11th inning for the loss. Post 67 had the lead into the eighth when Randolph tied it.

Cary, 22-9, now plays Kernersville, a 13-3 victor over Rocky Mount, in an elimination game Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Both tournament favorites – Rocky Mount and Wilmington, who entered the tourney with the best records – have been ousted from the tournament. Randolph County and Whiteville are the only teams left from the eight-field tournament that have not lost in the state tourney.

In Cary’s win over Cherryville, Gerrit Van Genderen tripled and scored while pitcher Blair Betts gave up only one run and five hits over six innings for the victory.

To find out more about the tournament, please click here.

The skinny

Cary Post 67 plays Saturday in American Legion state tourney

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Cary Post 67, 21-8, faces off against Cherryville Post 100, 25-14, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in the first round of the double-elimination American Legion State Tournament in Asheboro.

“This is the first senior legion team Cary has ever had to go to the state playoffs,” said Cary coach Neil Woodall. “It’s just a real exciting time for us right now. We’re real excited to be able to go to try to compete and to experience that whole state championship series thing.”

Eight teams from throughout the state converge on McCrary Park for the tournament, which runs through Wednesday.

Rocky Mount Post 58, which defeated Cary two games to one in a seeding series, is the top seed and starts the tournament off with a 9 a.m. game Saturday against Rutherford County Post 423. On Wednesday, Rocky Mount earned the position with an 8-2 win at Cary. The other four teams competing are Wilmington Post 10, Kernersville Post 36, Randolph County Post 45 and Whiteville Post 137.

Rocky Mount at 24-6 and Wilmington at 22-3 have the best records of the contenders. The winner of the Cary-Cherryville game plays the winner of the Wilmington-Randolph County game on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The losers of those games play each other at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

To find out more about the tournament, please click here. To read a story about one of Cherryville’s best players, who overcame a surgery, please click here.

The skinny

Cary Post 67 only Triangle area team left in Legion baseball tourney

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Cary 67 has qualified for the eight-team American Legion Baseball State Tournament which starts Saturday in Asheboro at McCrary Park.

Post 67, now 18-6, defeated Garner Post 232 and Johnston County Post 71 to earn the berth.

In a best-of-three series for seeding purposes against Rocky Mount Post 58, Cary trails 1-0 with Game 2 being played tonight at 7 p.m. at Cary High School. If you can’t be there and want to check out the action, you can hear the game by clicking here.

Post 58, which defeated Cary 9-6 Monday night in Rocky Mount to move to 23-5, is undefeated in playoff action and is a victory away from the No. 1 seed at the state tourney.

Rocky Mount’s Matthew Berry had six RBI including two on a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning off Post 67’s James Todd.

Should Cary win tonight, Game 3 will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Cary High School. Win or lose, both teams will advance to the state tournament but seeding can be crucial.

Other teams that have qualified so far for the eight-team tournament are Wilmington Post 10, Whiteville Post 137, Rutherford County Post 423, Cherryville Post 100 and Randolph County Post 45.

Cary Post 67 has never won the state tournament while Rocky Mount Post 58 won in 1973. The tournament started in 1928 with Raleigh Post 1 winning that one. The only other Raleigh-area team to ever win the state championship is Garner Post 232 which won in 1999.

The skinny, UNC

Complete copy of letter from Dean Smith’s family which was released today

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From the Family of Dean E. Smith:

Our dad is almost eighty years old, so it’s expected that he might show signs of aging. After spending an entire lifetime without a visit to the hospital except to see players and friends, he had to undergo two procedures in the past three years: a knee replacement surgery and a repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. But what other people may have noticed – and what has been speculated about recently in the media – is that our dad may not remember quite like he used to. It’s a stark contrast, because he is widely known for remembering a name, a place, a game, a story – it’s what made other people feel like they were special, because our dad remembered everything.

Coach Smith wanted to keep his professional and personal life separate. But as we all know, the personal and professional life can sometimes overlap, and we understand that many fans, former players, and friends are concerned about his well-being. In trying to balance our dad’s wishes and the genuine concern so many people have for Coach Smith, we want to update you about his health, but ask that you respect his privacy. Our dad has a progressive neurocognitive disorder that affects his memory. So now, he may not immediately recall the name of every former player from his many years in coaching, but that does not diminish what those players meant to him or how much he cares about them. He still remembers the words of a hymn or a jazz standard, but may not feel up to going to a concert. He still plays golf, though usually only for nine holes instead of eighteen. He still attends some sporting events –you might see him in the stands at his grandson’s baseball game. He has difficulty traveling long distances to see the Heels on the road, but he insists on watching all Carolina basketball games on television and cheers as hard as he can for Coach Williams and the team.

Although some of the ways he experiences daily life have changed, he still cherishes his many relationships with Carolina basketball, his family and his friends.

Throughout his career, he has always preferred the spotlight be on the Carolina basketball program and the University, rather than himself. We hope that you will understand and respect his wishes. Thank you for your consideration and well wishes for our dad.

The skinny, UNC

Young sportswriter denigrates UNC and the ACC in announcing NCAA investigation

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North Carolina football finds itself under investigation by the NCAA for possible violations.

While the school acknowledges an investigation, no details have been provided. ESPN.com’s Joe Schad reports that UNC football players, including defensive tackle Marvin Austin, were interviewed by the NCAA this week. They were asked questions about agents and whether anyone had received gifts or extra benefits, his source says.

In announcing the investigation, a youngish “sportswriter” for SBnation.com named Holly Anderson wrote, “UNC, hardly the highest-profile program even in the slow-zombie ACC, suddenly finds itself under some adorably nebulous investigation by the NCAA for possible violations within the football program.”

The 28-year-old Anderson, an Aquarius by the way, describes herself as “Tennessee-born, Atlanta-based by way of Los Angeles.” She also takes a dig at the highly respected and award-winning reporter Joe Schad, who broke the details of the story. She says Schad’s “sources range from ‘somebody’s cousin’ to ‘the internet.'”

At least Anderson is a Red Sox fan … and attractive.

To read the ESPN story, which is being updated regularly, please click here.

The skinny, UNC

Feinstein book with Dean Smith canceled due to coach’s memory issues

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Last week, Capital Sports’ Dane Huffman talked about former UNC coach Dean Smith’s fading memory and the poignant story about it that appeared in the Fayetteville Observer.

After the story broke, author John Feinstein wrote a column about how he didn’t want to break that story but now he gives his insight into Coach Smith’s health issues.

Feinstein was working on a book with and about Coach Smith. “The agreement Dean and I had was to work together on the book,” Feinstein wrote. “It was what I had always wanted to do. Going forward with him only being peripherally involved felt wrong. So, regretfully, I decided not to go forward.”

Because Coach Smith had not been very visible during the Centennial Celebration of UNC basketball, I suspected something was up. During last season, I heard the rumors. It wasn’t until an April conversation I had with Woody Durham, the voice of the Tar Heels, that the fears were confirmed and I found out about the extent of Coach Smith’s health problems.

Because I was interviewing Woody Durham about something else and I considered that part of the conversation personal, I didn’t really think about trying to “break” the story. Plus, while my nature was always to break stories, this is one story I hoped that Dean Smith’s family and the basketball family would break when they felt it was time.

To read more of my thoughts on the topic, please go to the comments section of this entry.

The skinny

Bulls’ Elliott Johnson singles to win all-star game; Durham starts long homestand

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The International League Triple-A All-Stars defeated the Pacific Coast League 2-1 Wednesday night after the Durham Bull’s Elliot Johnson singled in a run in the sixth to break a tie. A sell-out crowd of 10,000 watched the event at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Penn.

The Bulls, who start a long homestand tonight (Thursday), lead the International League South Division standings by nine games over Charlotte with a 55-35 record.

The Charlotte Knights come to town for two games before USA Baseball takes over the DBAP over the weekend for a pair of games against Korea. Then the Bulls play eight nights in a row in Durham starting Monday with four against Columbus and four against Syracuse.

N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

Tar Heels, Wolfpack battle in summer league basketball

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Colleague Steve Wiseman wrote a piece for today’s Charlotte Observer and News & Observer in which he described incoming Tar Heels Harrison Barnes and Reggie Bullock combining for 55 points to defeat an Wolfpack-laden team 82-72 in summer league basketball play in Durham.

Wolfpack freshman C.J. Leslie tallied 21 points while Lorenzo Brown had 15 and Ryan Harrow added 12.

To read the full article, please click here.

The skinny, UNC

UNC trainer says "most girls" would kill for John Henson’s waist

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An article in today’s USA Today discusses how hard it’s been for John Henson to bulk up. He’ll need to put on some weight if he intends to bang inside in the ACC. The 6-foot-10 sophomore weighed in at only 180 pounds last year.

“He’s been the one guy I’ve probably sat up the most at night, pulling my hair out and probably giving me more gray hair, going, ‘OK, What do I have to do with him?'” Tar Heels trainer Jonas Sahratian said. “Because, he is, he’s kind of like a wet noodle. … He’s got the most minuscule joints you’ve ever seen. His waist is like a wasp’s waist. Most girls would kill for it. It’s getting better. It’s been a rough road. He’s been probably the most difficult guy I’ve ever had to train.”

To read the article, click here.