The Daily Pooch Punt 4/21/08: RESPECT THE HORNET
Want to know why good things are going to happen at Wilson Memorial when it comes to baseball? Sure you do.
Two words.
Derek McDaniel.
Need more proof than that? Then go ahead and read how McDaniel’s biggest struggle this season is getting players to respect the school name on the uniform they wear on the field. Go ahead, read it, soak it in then come back. We’ll leave the light on for you.
(You reading.)
(You reading.)
(You reading.)
OK, you all done? Good.
Just like when McDaniel took over the football program and this slaw-jawed sports columnist and blogger told you it was not a question of “if” Wilson would be back in the Shenandoah District mix, but “when,” the same holds true for baseball. Here’s a guy that knows the value of the Green and White, having played for it in Fishersville and, let’s be honest here, was a blown-out arm away from getting a taste of the Majors. Now, in form that you can only get from a coach that played the same sport at the same high school, McDaniel’s new refrain is simple: RESPECT THE HORNET.
Thankfully, it seems like the kids are getting the idea.
“I didn’t start because I was tardy for my class again,” said Alex Fisher. “It was hard at first to get used to the way the coach disciplines us, but I think the discipline has really helped me and the team do better.”
Good on the Hornets getting the idea and great on McDaniel for, well, just being Derek McDaniel.
And another thing: The bottom line here is if you want to play high school sports you immediately put yourself under a microscope. It’s good practice for those who want to take athletics to the next level where the microscope gets even more powerful. Sorry folks, but yes, life choices sometimes do take place on your field of dreams, no matter how big it is or where the lines are painted.
Yes, we like: All Fort Defiance softball coach Max Hill does is make sure the Indians, a team that is so hungry for some statewide recognition you can hear their tummies rumbling all the way in New Hope, signed a tough out-of-district and out-of-region opponent that, and you never know here, the Indians may see sometime down the road if all goes right for them. And all they do is go out and beat William Monroe 3-0.
“I’m proud of them,” Hill said of his girls. “As young as those girls are, maybe they’re better than I thought.”
These girls are better than Max Hill thinks? That’s scary.
Oh, and please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks Southern Valley soccer should look at what Fort softball did Saturday and take notes. Seriously, we can all sit back and wonder why you could fill a thimble with the teams that made it out or regionals, but we know why. The old Valley teams would only play each other twice and that was it. End of regular season. Now that the districts have split, well, you’d never know it since the Southern Valley and Massanutten are still, for reasons known only to the gods, way too high on playing each other.
Hey, if you want to see where you stand in the state, you have to play teams outside your district and region. Good on Hill. Not so much for Southern Valley soccer. Let’s hope that changes next year (along with a slew of other issues in the Southern Valley.)
One last thing: I gotta agree with Waynesboro coach Jim Critzer on this one. Joseph Lucas will, from this day on, be re-ferred as “Joseph Lucas.”
That it all.