SwampDogs` struggles in Florence continue

SPORTS
THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
SWAMPDOGS
FLORENCE, S.C. — The
Fayetteville
SwampDogs
haven’t enjoyed a road trip to
Florence’s American Legion
Stadium in a long time.
Fayetteville lost 8-4 to the
RedWolves on Monday night,
extending their losing streak
in Florence to 15 games. The
last time the SwampDogs
won there was July 31,
2007.
Florence (19-8) jumped on
Fayetteville early with five
runs in the bottom of the
first. SwampDogs starting
pitcher Brock Holmes surrendered three hits and
walked two batters in his
summer debut. RedWolves
catcher Ronnie Freeman
knocked a three-run home
run to help his team to a 52 lead.
This wiped out a strong
start for Fayetteville (10-16),
which now has lost three
straight. The SwampDogs’
Nick Natoli scored with help
from a stolen base and an error in the top of the first, and
Eric Grabe drove in teammate Corey LeVier later in
the inning.
But that wasn’t enough
with Florence tacking on two
runs in the bottom of the
third, including Ethan Santora’s solo home run. Freeman
also added an RBI double in
the frame.
The SwampDogs scored
another run in the fifth on no
1
0
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
Brown cf 5
Petzold 2b 4
Frost 1b
3
Santora 3b 3
MacDoyle lf3
Freeman c 4
Smetana rf 2
Carmon ss 4
1
1
0
1
3
1
0
0
3
1
0
2
2
2
0
0
Former tennis star
Jennifer Capriati was
recovering from an
accidental overdose of
prescribed medication, a
family spokeswoman said.
The 34-year-old, who
was once ranked No. 1 in a
career sidetracked by
personal troubles, was in
stable condition and
expected to make a full
recovery, spokeswoman
Lacey Wickline told The
Associated Press. She
declined to identify the
medication.
1
0
0
2
0
4
0
0
Totals
33 4 5 3 Totals
32 8 108
Fayetteville
200
010 010—4
Florence
502
010 00x—8
E — Frost, Smetana, Dolan. LOB — Fayetteville 8, Florence 6. 2B — Freeman. HR — Santora, Freeman. HBP — Roesinger, Smetana. SH
— Roesinger. SF — Santora. SB — Natoli, LeVier, Brown. CS — Carlson.
Fayetteville
Holmes L,0-1
Milroy
Lowe
Kerkhoff
IP H R ER BB SO
5
5
0
0
7
1
0
0
7
1
0
0
4
0
0
0
2
1
3
0
Dolan W,3-0
72/3 4
Jordan 11/3
1 0
T — 2:35. A — 990.
4
0
2
1
3
1
5
1
Florence
3
2
2
1
COLLEGES
Methodist names
coach of the year
hits and one RedWolves’ error. Chris Wychock had an
RBI single in the eighth to
close Fayetteville’s scoring.
AP file
Police questioned Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick
on Monday about a shooting that occurred outside a night
club where he celebrated his birthday.
Vick questioned
about shooting
From Page 1C
The Associated press
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. —
Staff photo by Emma Tannenbaum
Football memorabilia waits to be auctioned off at the
annual fundraising banquet for the Jimmy Raye Youth
Foundation.
conferences, Willingham
talked about the recent
move to add members to
the Pac 10, where he once
coached.
“We have to understand
in a sense where football is
going,’’ he said. “It’s a
shame that it may be
headed in the direction that
speaks only to the TV
markets, only to the
dollars and cents.
“Life has always been
about aligning with the
right people. Football has
done what life is all about.
The real hope for me is
the young people will not
be lost in the process, that
somehow we’ll make it
more important that the
young people get
educated.’’
Speaking from his
experience as a former
coach at Notre Dame,
Willingham offered a
theory on what could
eventually lead the Irish to
end their independent
status in football and join
a conference.
“Life is about making
change, otherwise we’d still
have dinosaurs,’’ he said.
“The truth of the matter is,
Notre Dame occupies a
very special place in the
history of collegiate
football. It’s nice to have
teams that sit at that level.
“The key is can we get
Notre Dame back as a
power to occupy that seat,
and not just a seat based
on tradition. The reality
may be at some point they
have to make that
decision.’’
In addition to the two
scholarships, the Raye
foundation handed out
three Coach of the Year
awards to local high school
coaches.
Honored for girls’
basketball was E.E.
Smith’s Dee Hardy.
Honored for boys’
basketball was Terry
Sanford’s Bill Boyette.
Honored for football was
Jack Britt’s Richard
Bailey.
This afternoon at 2 p.m.,
the Raye Foundation will
hold a youth football clinic
at Jack Britt High School
featuring current and
former NFL players. All
youth planning to attend
must be accompanied by a
parent.
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan
Jr. can be reached at
[email protected] or 4863519.
Gamecocks: One win away from championship
From Page 1C
broke up the shutout when
Cody Regis scored on a double-play grounder.
The Gamecocks (53-16)
and the Bruins (51-16) play
Game 2 tonight.
The first hit against
Cooper came with one out in
the fifth, when No. 9 batter
Steve Rodriguez dropped a
single down the right-field
line. Cooper (13-2) retired
the next 11 batters before
Regis led off the ninth with a
single to right. Cooper
walked Marc Navarro, and
Jeff Gelalich singled to
chase
the
Gamecocks’
starter.
South Carolina collected
11 of its 14 hits and six runs,
four earned, in seven innings
against UCLA starter Gerrit
Cole (11-4). Cole had struck
out 13 in eight innings in a
win against TCU in his previous start, but he fanned only two Gamecocks.
Cole was victimized by
two errors and bad luck.
In the first inning, Jackie
Bradley Jr. extended his hitting streak to 22 games with
a bunt single. Christian
Walker followed with a
bloop single before Brady
Thomas drove in a run with
Capriati in stable
condition after OD
FAYETTEVILLE
FLORENCE
ab r h bi
ab r h bi
Raye
brought a host of current
and former players to the
banquet. Hall of Famers
Sanders of Washington,
Lanier of Kansas City,
Dickerson of Los Angeles
and Allen of Oakland
headed the list.
Current stars on hand
included former E.E. Smith
standout Aaron Curry of
the Seattle Seahawks, along
with Alex Smith, Frank
Gore and Vernon Davis of
the San Francisco 49ers.
The evening’s keynote
speaker was another
longtime Raye friend,
Tyrone Willingham.
Willingham is the former
coach at Stanford,
Washington and Notre
Dame. He’s a North
Carolina native, and was
recruited to play at
Michigan State by Raye
when the latter was an
assistant coach there.
“Jimmy has spent a lot
of his life helping other
people, and, to me, that’s
one of the best things you
can do when you give your
life for someone else,’’
Willingham said. “That
doesn’t always mean
literally die for someone
else, but you make other
sacrifices for them.’’
Willingham said Raye’s
foundation might be his
greatest gift of all because
he’s raising money to give
others one of the most
important things anyone
can have, an education.
“If you want to be truly
free, educate your mind,’’
Willingham said. “There’s
no chains, shackles and
walls that can limit you in
what you can do and what
you can think.’’
Shifting gears to discuss
the pending expansion of
college football
TENNIS
RedWolves 8,
SwampDogs 4
Natoli ss
3
Carlson cf 5
LeVier dh 4
Wychock 2b 4
Yaun c
3
Padula lf 4
Lami rf
4
Roesingr 3b 1
Cummns 3b 1
AP photo
South Carolina starting pitcher Blake Cooper allowed only
three hits in eight-plus innings against UCLA on Monday in
Game 1 of the NCAA College World Series.
a check-swing single.
Adrian Morales grounded
to second, but Regis lifted
his glove too soon and the
ball went through his legs,
allowing Walker to score for
a 2-0 lead.
After Scott Wingo tripled
and scored in the second inning, the Gamecocks added
two more runs in the third
for a commanding lead.
5C
InBrief
NFL NOTES
SwampDogs’ struggles
in Florence continue
A staff report
TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2010
Michael Vick was interviewed by a detective Monday about a shooting that
took place outside a nightclub where he had celebrated
his birthday, a Virginia
Beach Police spokesman
said.
The spokesman, Adam
Bernstein, said the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback is
not a suspect, and no arrest
has been made in Friday’s
early morning shooting. One
man was wounded.
Vick was accompanied on
the police interview by his
lawyer, Larry Woodward.
“He said he wasn’t involved, he was gone before
the shooting took place, and
he doesn’t know who did the
shooting,” Woodward said in
a telephone interview.
Police have not identified
the shooting victim, but several news outlets identified
him as Quanis Phillips, one
of the co-defendants in the
dogfighting case that landed
Vick in federal prison for 18
months.
A
hospital
spokesman confirmed that
Phillips was admitted to the
hospital Friday morning and
discharged that afternoon
but refused to disclose his injuries, citing privacy laws.
Woodward said Vick did
not invite Phillips to the party and had no contact with
him there. Vick remains on
three years’ probation and is
not allowed to associate with
anyone convicted of a felony
unless granted permission to
do so by his probation officer.
An NFL spokesman said
Monday the league is looking
into the shooting and had no
further comment. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Vick after being suspended for two years last July, and said at the time that
Vick’s margin for error
would be “extremely limited.”
% Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry suffered
from a chronic brain injury
that might have influenced
his mental state and behavior before he died last winter, West Virginia University
researchers said.
The doctors had done a
microscopic tissue analysis
of Henry’s brain that showed
he suffered from chronic
traumatic encephalopathy.
Neurosurgeon
Julian
Bailes and California medical examiner Bennet Omalu,
co-directors of the Brain Injury Research Institute at
WVU, announced their findings alongside Henry’s mother, Carolyn Henry Glaspy,
who called it a “big shock”
because she knew nothing
about her 26-year-old son’s
underlying condition or the
disease.
Henry died in December,
a day after he came out of
the back of a pickup truck his
fiancee was driving near
their home in Charlotte. It’s
unclear whether Henry
jumped or fell. Toxicology
tests found no alcohol in his
system, and an autopsy concluded he died of numerous
head injuries, including a
fractured skull and brain
hemorrhaging.
% The NFL will review the
conduct of Detroit Lions
president Tom Lewand, who
was cited over the weekend
for drunken driving after
telling authorities he was a
designated driver picking up
a friend before a test showed
his blood-alcohol level was
twice Michigan’s legal limit.
Commissioner
Roger
Goodell said he was concerned about Lewand as he
noted the review.
“As I’ve said before, this
isn’t a player policy, it’s a
personal conduct policy,”
Goodell told reporters at the
league’s rookie symposium
in California. “It goes for everybody in the NFL.”
Lewand was arrested late
Friday after his Lincoln
sport utility vehicle was seen
crossing from one lane to another after leaving a bar’s
parking lot. He was issued a
citation in Denton Township,
Mich., about 150 miles northwest of Detroit.
After initially refusing to
have his blood-alcohol level
tested several times, according to a Roscommon County
sheriff’s department report,
Lewand agreed to do it 30
minutes later and registered
a 0.21 reading and a .20.
% The father of New York
Giants rookie safety Chad
Jones says his son is in good
spirits and that his injured
left leg and foot are looking
better.
In a statement released
by LSU, Al Jones says a long
healing process is only beginning, but adds that “everything is positive right now”
with Chad Jones’ recovery
from a serious auto wreck
early Friday morning.
The 21-year-old Jones,
who won national titles in
football and baseball at LSU,
was the Giants’ third-round
draft choice in April.
Police are still investigating Friday’s single-car accident in which Jones’ SUV
rolled into a street car line
pole. Police have not received a toxicology report
but say there was no evidence at the scene that alcohol was a factor.
% The Cleveland Browns
have signed rookie defensive
lineman
Clifton
Geathers to a multiyear con-
tract. Terms were not disclosed.
The Browns selected
Geathers with their second
pick in the sixth round (No.
186 overall) in this year’s
draft. He is the first draft
pick to reach an agreement.
The 6-foot-7, 300-pounder
recorded 72 tackles, six
sacks and forced three fumbles in 36 games at South
Carolina. Geathers’ brother,
Robert, plays for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Methodist men’s golf
coach Steve Conley was
named the school’s coach
of the year, the Thomas R.
and Elizabeth E. McLean
Foundation announced.
Conley led the team to his
20th conference title and
10th national title this
year.
% St. Andrews hired
Matt Boykin as its baseball
coach, athletic director
Glenn Batten announced.
Boykins spent the past six
years as an assistant coach
at Appalachian State.
MIXED-MARTIAL ARTS
First-time fighter
dies from injuries
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The
Aiken County coroner said
that 30-year-old Michael
Kirkham died from
bleeding inside the brain.
Coroner Tim Carlton said
Kirkham collapsed
following Saturday night’s
fight at the USC Aiken
Convocation Center.
BOXING
Pacquiao enters
politics
ALABEL, Philippines —
Manny Pacquiao has taken
his oath as a Philippine
congressman, bringing the
boxing star into a political
arena that he said seemed
more daunting than
stepping inside the ring.
CYCLING
Armstrong tweets
his tour plans
Lance Armstrong has
posted on his Twitter page
this year’s Tour de France
will be his last. “It’s been
a great ride. Looking
forward to 3 great weeks,”
Armstrong tweeted.
OLYMPICS
USOC to stick
with BP
The U.S. Olympic
Committee intends to
maintain its partnership
with BP, hoping the
company that provides
about $15 million in
sponsorship funding
through 2012 can find “as
quick a solution as
possible” to the crisis in
the Gulf.
% Former Jamaican
track star Raymond
Stewart, who went on to
coach banished American
sprinter Jerome Young and
others, has been kicked out
of the sport for life for
obtaining performanceenhancing drugs.
SOFTBALL
U.S. team rolls
CARACAS, Venezuela —
The United States defeated
the Dominican Republic 101 to improve its record to
6-0 in group play at the
world softball
championships.
GOLF
Tie atop
Charity Classic
BARRINGTON, R.I. —
Suzann Pettersen and
Hunter Mahan made up
two strokes on the last two
holes and tied Juli Inkster
and Boo Weekley for the
first-round of the CVS
Caremark Charity Classic.
From staff and wire reports