"Upon Further Review" by Jim Sacco

Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Daily Pooch Punt: 3/20/08

The only time the interview got serious was when Jacob Hutchinson thought about his four-year career as a football player at Riverheads High School. Forget about Hutch and Heizer heading to Bridgewater.

That’s when the laughing stopped.

“I could go on forever,” he said.

Go ahead, Hutch. We got all day.

That’s when he broke into one of those serious smiles (you know what we’re talking about) and started to talk.

You could almost hear AC/DC’s “Back In Black” resonate through the small conference room we packed into, mirroring off his mind and against the walls. Heizer, No. 40, and Hutchinson, No. 4, donned in the Riverheads’ black uniforms running out onto the field with thousands of fans screaming.

Fireworks in the air and the future Mayor of Greenville, arms folded, trolling the sidelines. (For those of you not in the know, we’re talking about coach Robert Casto here.)

Then you look over to the fence, where the fans stand two, and sometimes, three deep because there wasn’t enough room in the stands. “And there’s your dad,” Hutchinson said, still lost in his thoughts and memories, “smiling.”

Heizer, not known for being the quietest of guys, couldn’t think of a better way to describe it. So he pointed at the quarterback to his left and could only muster a “Just like he said,” to describe his feelings.

And, to think, most student-athletes in Augusta County (and most definitely the cities of Waynesboro and Staunton) play for four years and never get to experience something like that once. Heizer and Hutchinson got to enjoy it every home game.

“It’s a whole new level of adrenaline,” Hutchinson said.

We know, Hutch. We’ve been there.

And another thing: For the record, yes, Hutchinson and Heizer together should be a comedy hour. Seriously, I’m not kidding. You know you’re at a good interview when someone has to use a crowbar to get you out of the seat. If I was drinking milk while talking to these two, it would have come out of nose at some point.

And why is it: That when coaches at Riverheads lose players to graduation, like Casto and basketball coach John Corbett, they talk like they’re losing a son, not a once-a-season playmaker?

“We’ve got good people here,” Casto told me once during the basketball season. “We’re a different breed.”

Coaches, schools and community support should all be cut from the same cloth as Riverheads. Alas, they are not.

Last question: Miss these two yet? Don’t worry, you will.

Casto and Corbett do already.

The Sports Desk: 3/20/08

Jim Sacco and Corine Gatti talk about Waynesboro loss in the Group AA girls championship to Hidden Valley. Oh, and they touch on Stuarts Draft boys soccer as well.

Then ...

Robert and Jim talk about the two teams that won—Buffalo Gap girls and Nelson County boys. Of course, there’s a smattering of baseball too.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Daily Pooch Punt: 3/19/08

Errors. Errors. More errors.

The Little Giants baseball team, a season removed from its Group AA Final Four appearance, can’t get the hang of something out in the field. Mainly fielding.

Waynesboro put five errors on the board against Charlottesville on Monday but somehow managed to sneak away from the KC with the win. On Tuesday, it committed four miscues against old Valley District foe Spotswood and it came back to bite the Giants. Big time.

“I don’t have a whole lot of comments about it,” said veteran Waynesboro coach Jim Critzer. “But it will be corrected.”

Darn skippy it’s going to be corrected because, and let’s be honest here, if the Giants have any hope of competing in a Southern Valley that may be Stuarts Draft’s to lose, the errors must stop.

Of course, having Critzer as your skipper gives Waynesboro an added advantage. As he said above, “it will be corrected,” and if the years of the Jim Critzer era have proven anything, it’s that he can fix things wrong with a team.

Errors. Errors. More Errors. That’s what wrong with this team right now.

And another thing: Since we just talked about Draft, wasn’t the problem last year with the Cougars hitting? Well, let’s take a look at how well they swung the stick in their 12-7 hammering of Harrisonburg on Tuesday: Ricky Dimitt 2-for-4; Stephen Showalter 3-for-3, two runs scored, two RBI; Zach Marion 2-for-5 with three runs and an RBI; Mickie Holbert 3-for-5 with two doubles.

So, yeah, I don’t think hitting is a problem anymore in Draft.

Speaking of Final Fours: Chris Key scores four goals in Riverheads’ boys soccer win over Parry McCluer. Sure, it was the Blues, not exactly known around these parts as a soccer powerhouse and, sure, it’s only the second game of the season for Dickie Bell’s Gladiators. But did you see who scored four goals? Chris Key. Yep, he was on the team last year. He knows what it’s like to win and head down to Radford.

Let’s go back to Draft: Tielor Detrich and Alex Wood both score hat tricks for the Cougars. The team has 12 seniors left over from a 2007 squad that looked like it was on the cusp of winning the then-Valley district. Now in the Southern Valley, the Cougars could be favorites to win this thing too (you know, kind of like baseball), but leave it to second-year coach Chris Loomis to remind everybody of where the power is still at.

“We’re not assuming anything,” he said. “We are in the same district as Waynesboro.”

Southern Valley soccer fans along the Target Turnpike, you best get your soccer-watching shirts on.

One last thing: Football, futbol. It doesn’t matter to Draft’s Chris Mahanes.

Say What?

Still haven’t heard why Secrett Stubblefield didn’t go to the All District Voting or Regional Voting for that matter. Is anybody going to clue me in?

— Jack

Don’t know what this has to do with her turning around a moribund basketball program and leading the Little Giants to an undefeated district record, the tournament title, the Region III title (including an upset of then-No. 1 Turner Ashby) and an appearance in the Group AA title game. That should make her coach of the year, not attendance at a meeting. Am I wrong? Didn’t think so.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Daily Pooch Punt: 3/18/08

With the loss of two of their big arms — James Lucas and Jake Peeling — it’s not a feeling in your gut that somebody has to step up on the mound for the Little Giants baseball team. It’s a fact. (A thread-locking fact, mind you.)

So it just seems right that a familiar last name took to the hump, struck out five of the nine batters he faced — including back-to-back Ks that ended a one-out, bases-loaded threat in the fifth by Charlottesville — and, as an added bonus, whiffed Black Knight David Chamber on three pitches to end the game.

Yeah, so your brother is all graduated and such and down at Clemson which means your table is ready Joseph Lucas.

And another thing: Lucas showed a ton of mettle in the Little Giants’ non-district win. With a defense committing five early-season errors behind him (Giantdom hopes that changes and, knowing skipper Jim Critzer, it’s OK to be confident it will), and the Giants’ inabilty to produce late-inning runs from their bats (the game-winning run came off a bases-loaded walk in the sixth), the lefty had to shut down the Knights. He did, picking Charlottesville’s Charlie Murry off at first in the seventh.

“I was feeling good,” Lucas said, “and just shut them down.”

Really? You think, Joseph? Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, baseball fans of all ages, that quote is a spring entry into the “Understatment of the Year Award.”

Is Charlotteville this bad in softball or are the Little Giants finally, after years of feeding off the dregs of the then-Valley District, building its team up? Time, and Kayla Bartley (struck out four and slapped three hits in a 17-3 win over the Black Knights) will tell.

Speaking of pitchers:Have you met Riverheads’ Cody Montgomery? Covington did, and it wishes it never had. (Then again, if someone strikes out 13 of your batters on 82 pitches, would you want to meet him? Yeah, thought so.)

Now how about the pitch: The way the Waynesboro boys JV soccer team was running over opponents last season, don’t be surprised if you’re not the only one wondering how they lost their first match of the season.

And if you watched that JV team play last year, then you shouldn’t be surprised with the team’s 6-0 win over Wilson Memorial Monday night.

The Little Giants controlled the tempo most of the match and got the only goal they would need from Martin Mandujano.

Um, yeah of course an Ostrander was in on the the assist. This is Waynesboro soccer we’re talking about.

So an exchange student Kakistan gets a goal for Waynesboro and doesn’t take any credit at all.

“That was a pretty cheap goal,” said Baur Alibekov, “it was the defender’s fault.”

Man, this kids got a lot to learn about being in America.

Baur, it’s OK to take credit for things over here. (But you gotta love how he said the goal was the “defender’s fault.” That’s fantanstic.)

Of course, if we mention the first name “Bree” and the last name “Simonsen,” you know it’s followed with “had a foot on every goal the Little Giants scored.”

Against Wilson on Monday, the junior did — scoring two goals of her own from 20 and 12 yards out. All of this after assisting sophmore Kasie Miller with the match’s first goal.

“We’re still very young, suffering from injuries, not fully playing as a team yet and haven’t even gotten close to our potential,” coach Robin Hersey said.

And I’m thinking, with this young, veteran team (you can say “veteran” because, yeah, they’re young, but most of these players have been on varsity for while), once they reach that potential, it could be fun over at Waynesboro.

But, of course, only time (and Simonsen and Company) will tell.

One last thing: Still haven’t heard how Secrett Stubblefield wasn’t named the Southern Valley DoesStink’s Coach of the Year. Is anybody going to clue me in? I’m just asking.

Monday, March 17, 2008

The Daily Pooch Punt: 3/17/08

Even as I type this, I still have clue how Devon Brown found Kiawna Berry down low.

No idea, but she did. The experts call it court presence, the jealous call it luck, the professional sports watchers call it one heck of a pass. The kind you wish your buddy would make to you in a pick-up game on the local blacktop. The kind you’d almost be afraid to take, hoping against hope you don’t blow the layup so that pal of yours can get that sweet assist he or she has been looking for.

But there it was, with six minutes left to play Thursday at the Virginia Commonwealth University Siegel Center in Richmond, Devon Brown did what Devon Brown always does — drove the lane with authority — and the defense did what defenses always do when Devon Brown does her thing — it collapsed around her. It left Berry, a long-forgotten player that was molded into a great second option for the Little Giants in her senior season, wide open.

And somehow Brown managed to slip the pass through. Berry went up for the layup, banked it high off the glass and in it fell.

It was the last assist I’ll ever see Brown make in a Waynesboro uniform.

OK, so it’s the Group AA state semifinal and Brown is doing her thing (you know, driving the lane like I just wrote a few paragraphs ago) and a little point guard from Bruton steps in front of Brown. The Waynesboro senior lowers her shoulder (like she always does when she’s driving the lane, you know, the reason why she’s not paying a dime to get an education at Liberty University) and, SLAP!, skin hits skin as the two girls collide underneath. Of course it’s the smaller point guard, not Brown, that goes flying through the air and hits the floor hard.

Brown gets called for the charge, Waynesboro fans boo. Brown helps the girl up and moves back on defense. The Bruton coach cheers the girl for taking the charge. The Bruton fans give the girl a round of applause for holding her ground and taking the hit from She Who Should Be the Group AA Player of the Year.

And the whole time I’m thinking, if this happened at Fort Defiance, you’d have a parent getting in Secrett Stubblefield’s face (once again) about how tough Brown plays.

It’s called basketball, folks. If you don’t like it, take your kids off the court. It’s a pretty simple concept. Either that, or package your daughter in bubble wrap before you send her to practice. Either way works, really.

And another thing: How about Jolie Dudley? Really, I’m not kidding. Berry gets charlie horse in her leg after a hard foul in the state semis (no, this isn’t Fort Defiance and her mother didn’t come down to confront the girl) and the little-used Dudley (a freshman) comes off the bench cold and calmly sinks Berry’s free throws for a 55-40 lead.

Sure, that may not have meant much to you, but it meant something to an 11-year-old girl decked out in purple and gold beads with a purple and gold band in her hair all the while wearing a purple Waynesboro practice jersey and, believe it or not, purple shoes. When Dudley hit the second one, this wide-eyed girl slapped her hands together wildly. Why should she have? It was Jilly Dudley watching her big sister hit two free throws on the floor of the Siegel Center in the Group AA girls semifinal.

Did that put a smile on your face? It should of you heartless thing, you.

Still think Secrett Stubblefield is a glory hound who does her not-so-wild antics to draw attention to herself? Well, she had tears in her eyes after the Little Giants lost to Hidden Valley on Saturday in the Group AA title game and wouldn’t begin her post-game news conference until Berry, who she had lauded all season long, regained her composure enough to enter the room.

Still a doubter? Then don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Nelson County’s Thomas Brown. Great basketball player. Great athlete. Great kid. ‘Nuff said.

Hey, did anybody tell you that one of the best defensive players in the Southern Valley District (we’re not ready to agree with Stubblefield on the whole “best in the state” part) is only a freshman. She’s only 15. Her name? LaToya Diggs and she played lights out under the bright lights on the Siegel Center floor.

Did we mention she’s only 15 and should be wearing the purple for three more years?

My first year on the job, I was typing and coding agate. Chad Coffey, in his first year on the job, led a group of Bison to a state title.

What did you do your first year on the job?

High School baseball and softball season start today. Really? Are you kidding me?

And finally: Don’t care what you write me, don’t care what you tell me when you corner me in the aisles of Wal-Mart and/or Martin’s. Don’t care who played girls basketball in the past for Waynesboro, none of those past names sit on top of the Group AA all-time scoring list. So, that makes Devon Brown the best girls basketball player to ever don a Little Giants jersey. Hope you saw her play once or twice, because she’s gone. And now, you’ll have to travel to Liberty to see her.

Let me say it again. The best the school has ever seen.

Lock. The. Thread.

The last bucket I saw Devon Brown make? It was a free throw.

Yeah, I’ll learn to live with that.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

That’s the game

Giants finish the season 26-4 and will be the Group AA runner ups after falling to Hidden Valley 59-45

Devon and La’Shanda brown embrace with Devon sobbing, finishing her final game as a Little Giant.

Titans 56, Giants 43

A minute to go and unless a tornado hits the Siegel Center the Little Giants will go home with the runner up trophy.

Titans 54, Giants 40

Berry gets a second chance

Oliver is fouled hits both shots

Titans 52, Giants 38

Brown hits a bucket
and draws a charge on Beecher

TV time out with 3:31 left in the game.

Titans 52, Giants 36

Diggs at the line
misses both shots

Brown drives for a layup and gets fouled
hits her shot

Beecher hits a bucket

Titans 50, Giants 33

Beecher hits a bucket

Giants are running out of time 6 minutes left

Oliver adds two more

Full timout Waynesboro

Titans 46, Giants 33

Beecher hits a layup

Brown hits a bucket

Correction: Titans 44, Giants 31

Scoreboard was wrong folks.

Titans 44, Giants 32

Divers hits a shot at the third quarter buzzer.

Titans 42, Giants 32

Diggs hits a driving layup

Brown picks up her third foul

Myers hits one shot

Myers hits a driving layup with 30 seconds left

Woodson gets a long jumper