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South Carolina Wins College World Series

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:32:32 +0000

South Carolina University finally won it’s First ever Men’s National Championship in any Sport last night.

Gamecocks Win National Championship! Merrifield’s Single Wins it in the 11th

June 29, 2010

OMAHA, Neb. – Whit Merrifield singled home Scott Wingo in the bottom of the 11th inning, lifting South Carolina to a 2-1 win over UCLA, clinching the National Championship for the Gamecocks.

Wingo led off the final frame with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a bunt by Evan Marzilli and scored on Merrifield single to right.

The two starting pitchers, South Carolina’s Michael Roth and UCLA’s Rob Rasmussen locked up in a tight duel, but neither was around to figure in the decision. Roth allowed one run on six hits over 5.0 innings, while Rasmussen scattered six hits and four walks over 6.0 scoreless frames.

UCLA broke the scoreless tie with a run in the top of the fifth. Trevor Brown led off with an infield single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Niko Gallego’s RBI single to left.

The Gamecocks finally tied the score in the bottom of eighth. Pinch-hitter Brady Thomas led off the frame with a solid single to center. Pinch-runner Robert Beary went to second on a ground out and scored when Bobby Haney’s grounder ended up in right field after being misplayed by UCLA first baseman Dean Espy and eluding second baseman Cody Regis.

Matt Price (5-1) worked three scoreless innings of relief for the win.

Jackie Bradley Jr. was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament team

The Gamecocks finish the season with a 54-16 record, while UCLA ends its campaign with a 51-17 mark.

Friendships Mean the Most to Crow

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:51:11 +0000

Ex-Red Rider has no regrets about attending West Virginia University

By JIM ELLIOTT, W.Va. Sports Editor

POSTED: November 5, 2009

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MORGANTOWN – If attitude were a statistic, former Weir High standout Jack Crow might be the Most Valuable Player at West Virginia University.

Crow’s been tucked away on the depth chart at slot receiver for five years now, long removed from his days as a record-setting, three-sport star for the Red Riders.

In his Mountaineers career, he’s been in on 13 plays, which isn’t even close to 1 percent of the total number of snaps during what is easily one of the best five-year stretches in the program’s history.

His only stats remain his measurements (5-foot-10, 168), his hometown (Weirton, W.Va), his class (redshirt senior), and the one he cares about most (Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll).

”The big thing for me is that school was always first,” Crow said. ”Some of the other places, the smaller places I would have gone to, they don’t really have a business school, or something that would fit me for after football. School was always important because I knew that I wasn’t going to play football forever. I knew that there had to be something after that.”

Still, if Crow, a walk-on who always wanted to play on the biggest stage possible, has any regrets, you can’t see them in his face or hear them in his voice.

”From Day 1, it’s been hard. It’s been harder than it would be for a regular or a scholarship athlete,” he said. ”I’m definitely glad this is where I came and this is where I’ve been. It’s not an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of time and effort, but I’m glad that I came.”

Frankly, at WVU, scholarship athletes have to sit and wait behind that guys that are in front of Crow – Jock Sanders and Tavon Austin.

”It’s not something anybody wants to do, but it happens,” Crow said. ”At the same time, not that you get used to it, but you’re not mad at it because Jock’s playing in front of you, and Jock’s a ballplayer. Jock is that good. It doesn’t upset me because I know there is somebody in front of me that is better than me, which is fine with me. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that you can’t play. It helps that Jock is Jock.”

Indeed. Sanders leads the Big East in terms of catches per game among players still on active rosters, and is 15th nationally at 6.88 receptions per game.

West Virginia linebacker Reed Williams, one of 17 fifth-year seniors on the Mountaineers roster along with Crow, says just because guys like Crow don’t fill the stat sheets doesn’t mean they’re not essential to the growth of a football team.

”I love Jack,” Williams said. ”People don’t realize how important guys like him are to a program. They’re some of the most important players on our team, just because you don’t see them a lot … We’re all rooting for those guys to get in there and get a chance some time.”

If and when opportunity knocks, Crow is always home.

”The thing that I’ve always tried to do is be ready for an opportunity, whether it be in practice, in camp, in the summer,” Crow said. ”Whatever kind of opportunity you get, you have to take advantage of it. You start thinking about it, you better get yourself ready.”

Receiver Carmen Connolly is another player like Crow. He’s a Pittsburgh native who played his high school ball at Seton-LaSalle, where he set a state record his senior year with 116 catches for 1,580 yards and 16 touchdowns, the eighth highest reception total nationally.

What has that gotten him at WVU? Well, he was the team’s holder the final four games last season, and he’s been in on a few offensive plays.

”Without Carm, I think this process would be a lot harder,” Crow said. ”A lot harder. He’s like a brother to me. I think the world of him. Our families are close now. Our parents have become friends. I can’t say enough about him.”

Connolly is far from Crow’s only friend on the team. Not even close.

”As your time winds down, you think about stuff like that more, what you’ll take from it, what you’ll remember from it,” he said. ”You just cannot replace the relationships that you have with these guys. You can’t. This time next year, I’m not going to see guys every day. Or every month, or every year, probably. That’s the stuff I’ll take, the stuff from the locker room and stuff on the trips. Just stuff people wouldn’t know.”

Another ex-Red Rider, linebacker Zac Cooper, has been in Morgantown just as long as Crow has, though his playing time has been much more extensive as a third-down speed rushing specialist. They both left Weir High the year before the Red Riders won a state championship, twice being eliminated by Bluefield the years prior.

During the annual Gold-Blue game, Cooper and fellow linebacker Pat Lazear hit Crow, who had just caught a pass across the middle.

”Oh my gosh, that was the highlight of my spring right there,” Cooper said at the time. ”I had a couple shots during my career here. I remember one time it was probably two or three years ago, I had a shot at him and I put my head down because I wanted to kill him, and I missed him. So, I took it a little easy on him.

”Jack’s a great player … He’s got great hands, he never misses balls thrown to him. He’s got good footwork.”

Yes, Crow remembers that play.

”That’s the first – and the only time – that Cooper’s ever hit me,” Crow said. ”He’s told me numerous times that he’s seen me, and he’s tried extra hard to hit me. So finally before we left, I had to let him get one lick in.

”Me and Zac been friends for a long time. Little League baseball. Just so long. Good friends. It’s special to go through a process like this with somebody you’ve known your whole life.”

Crow’s advice for similar high school players to him in that they want to take a shot at the big-time is simple. Don’t necessarily listen to others. Follow your dreams.

”It’s something that you won’t know unless you try,” he said. ”Could you go somewhere else and catch a lot more balls and play a lot more plays? I’m sure you could, or anybody could. But you never know unless you do it. Looking back, I don’t know if I made the right choice, but it’s the choice that I made. There’s other guys here that are better. It’s very simple. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t play. That’s what you have to take from it.”

Preseason player of the year

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:42:06 +0000

G Willie Warren, Soph., Oklahoma

Blake Griffin is gone, yet the best player in college basketball is still at Oklahoma. How on earth could that be true?

Willie Warren is the answer to that question, and he’ll handle any others you have, as well. He loves to talk as much as he loves to shoot—and is great at both.

“Yeah, I’m a little more vocal than Blake,” Warren says. “I get pumped for every big play. I’m an emotional player. I let my emotions get caught up in the game sometimes.”

Warren averaged 14.6 points as a freshman playing a supporting role to Griffin, but when Griffin was injured late in the season, Warren showed how prolific he could be. He averaged 25 points in the two games Griffin missed all or part of after suffering a concussion. Warren also produced games of 35 points against Arkansas and 29 against Iowa State—both on the road.

This season, Warren will be the first offensive option on a full-time basis. “I’ve always been in this situation,” he says. “It’s just a different stage now. I did it on the high school level, and now hopefully I can do it on a collegiate level.”

In the 50-year history of the Oscar Robertson Trophy, only three programs have had different players win in consecutive years: UCLA had Sidney Wicks in 1971 and Bill Walton 1972, St. John’s had Chris Mullin in 1985 and Walter Berry in 1986, and Duke had Shane Battier in 2001 and Jason Williams in 2002.

When Kansas was recruiting Warren out of his Texas high school, coach Bill Self came to the conclusion he’d never pursued a more gifted offensive player.

He’d rather have been wrong about that.

“It’s played out to be true,” Self says. “He had a fabulous rookie season. He was great against us. What he’s done certainly has not surprised me one bit. He’s a terrific talent.”

Other SN All-Americans

G Sherron Collins, Sr., Kansas

Every offseason, stories drift from the Plains that Collins is overweight, out of shape. Every season, he proves himself as KU’s most influential player. You’d have to page back to Danny Manning to find a Jayhawk who delivered more clutch plays. He has one more season to fatten up his output in that category.

F Devin Ebanks, Soph., West Virginia

Being one of the most talented college players doesn’t always translate to being one of the best, but it’s hard to imagine West Virginia coach Bob Huggins settling for anything less. Ebanks can be a relentless offensive rebounder and is strong enough and agile enough to defend any frontcourt position.

F Patrick Patterson, Jr., Kentucky

He isn’t the most talented player on his team, nor is he the best NBA prospect—freshman guard John Wall has both covered—but Patterson will be the foundation of Kentucky’s success. He will lead the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding, and when they need a clutch basket they’ll look to him in the low post.

C Luke Harangody, Sr., Notre Dame

He’s all but certain to average in the double-double range, but the real goal for him is to get the Irish back to the NCAA Tournament after last season’s disappointment. To do that, Harangody knows his defense must improve— especially now that 6-8 transfer Scott Martin is lost for the season with a knee injury.

Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News.

Six games, five rings, four Yankees

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:46:29 +0000

NEW YORK — The waves of applause were cascading from Yankee Stadium’s three quivering decks, and Derek Jeter hoisted the championship trophy high over his head, his wide grin flush with satisfaction.

At his sides, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera looked on with knowing acknowledgement. They recognized that look from the captain — they knew what he was feeling. And it had been far, far too long since they had seen it.

“This is right back where it belongs,” Jeter said, the metal of a 27th World Series trophy glinting in the stadium lights.

Only four players remained of the group from the previous dynasty seasons, those who could now claim one ring for the thumb, owning five World Series titles in a Yankees uniform.

They are the group that knows each other so well, they can tell at times what each other is thinking during game action — don’t bother trying to steal signs, because as Posada revealed this week, the “Core Four” can sometimes communicate even with the most imperceptible glance or head nod.

“It’s priceless. Priceless,” Rivera said. “It’s wonderful. To be able to play with those bunch of guys — it’s like working for a company with four people for your whole career. God bless those guys. Wonderful.”

They know exactly what it will feel like on Friday as they roll down the Canyon of Heroes, a city within the palms of their hands, because they have felt it before.

“I can’t be happier than I am right now with this special team that we have,” Rivera said. “We worked hard for this one. It’s a beautiful thing.”

When this all began, it was the autumn of 1996 and Jeter was the rookie shortstop, Pettitte was a 21-game winner earning his stripes in the postseason, Posada had only played eight games and was left off the roster and Rivera was making management think it might not need to re-sign closer John Wetteland.

“The first one, obviously, is always sweet because that’s your first one,” Pettitte said. “You say, ‘I’m a world champion.’ It’s something you dreamed of as a child and you can say you’ve done it.

“Obviously there’s a lot of time in nine years and that makes it sweet to come full circle. I’m toward the end of my career and to be able to do this, it’s been special, that’s for sure.”

Pettitte left town for a few years and returned, and while the other three stayed, the scenes have changed. A revolving door of teammates have passed through the clubhouse since Rivera induced a Mike Piazza fly ball to clinch championship No. 26 on Oct. 26, 2000, across town at Shea Stadium.

These bodies creak a little more, demanding some more time on the trainers’ table to get through a grueling 162-game schedule. A few gray hairs have cropped up on Pettitte’s scalp, and some patches have been shed from Rivera’s. Time changes a lot, but the sensations remain the same.

“It’s amazing. I never forgot, but when you’re in there, you know how much you missed it,” Rivera said. “You find out, definitely, how moving it is to be in this position. To be the last team standing on the mound and win the whole thing. It’s priceless.”

Over the seasons that have passed, the trust has only grown between these four, which may be why Jeter had a pretty good sense that the Yankees were going to be done playing ball with Pettitte making the start.

What a core four!

Career regular-season and postseason games with the Yankees
Player	Reg. season	Playoffs
Derek Jeter	2,138	138
Jorge Posada	1,594	111
Mariano Rivera	917	88
Andy Pettitte *	384	36
Total	4,116	373

* — played 84 more regular-season games and four more postseason games during his three seasons with the Astros

“There isn’t a guy you’d want on the mound more than him,” Jeter said. “He’s been in every situation and we have a lot of confidence in him.”

And of course, as soon as Pettitte saw that Rivera had been summoned with a four-run lead, it became a whole lot easier to envision accepting another key to the city.

“You feel like the game is over,” Pettitte said. “It’s unfortunate that we put that kind of pressure on him, but he’s just been so automatic and so great, you can’t say enough about him.”

If they have learned one thing, it is that the Bombers took their success for granted back when the championship champagne flowed like water, bathing in victory in ‘96, ‘98, ‘99 and 2000.

“It takes a lot to be here,” Posada said. “We were spoiled in the ’90s and 2000, so to be back and win it is really special.”

To be able to celebrate one more time together in pinstripes could be the most special gift that any of them could have asked for.

“You don’t see that too often with free agency nowadays, that many guys staying together,” Jeter said. “We’re like brothers. To get the opportunity to spend all these years together and win another championship feels good.”

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

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admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:41:16 +0000

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