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Knights' News |
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J.C. Brooks (2010)
J.C. was injured recently in a car accident. J.C. seems to be progressing as well as can be expected and will hopefully be home in the coming days to continue healing. Please keep J.C. and his family in your thoughts and prayers as he recovers.
Fall Baseball
Registration will take place at Ross Memorial Field at Spotsylvania High School on Tuesday, August 10th from 3:30-6:30. Payment information will be added to the website as soon as the final cost is determined. Please make sure to bring all contact information for players and parents, including your home address.
The junior-level Knights will compete in the Rappahannock Fall Baseball League while the senior team will compete in a league comprised of teams from Orange, Albemarle and some surrounding areas. Further details will be available soon. Travel times for the senior team will be comparable to those of the Rappahannock League but the cost will be less and we will see new competitition.
You may compete with both our fall team as well as an outside team so long as the fall team is your priority - no missed games or practices and a coordinated pitching schedule, for instance. We will conduct a two-day tryout period for the fall league before mid-August, primarily to place players who are new to the program.
Contact Coach Davenport at rdavenport@ocss-va.org or 540-308-3202 with any questions that cannot be answered at registration.
16u Games at Prince George HS, Sunday July 25th - 2:00
This is two games, the second starting around 20 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. The opponent is the Richmond Braves 16u. Prince George High School is located just east of Petersburg, about 1.5 hours from Spotsylvania depending on traffic conditions. The school address is 7801 Laurel Spring Rd., Prince George. There are several suggested routes so it might be best to enter the address into a map calculator online and search for your preferred route.
Speed Camp
Fredericksburg Christian Football Coach Tim Coleman and Competitive Edge Sports will offer speed camps in the area in late July. The latter will take place at James Monroe HS. Check CESperformance.com for more information.
Post 320 American Legion
Congratulations to the Post 320 team on a fine summer season. Post 320 finished 13-8 and placed second in the District 12 Tournament to Albemarle. Post 320 handed Albemarle its' only loss of the season in late June. Current Knights Chris Ardiente (2011) and Trevor Talley (2012)were members of the team, as were former Knights Kevin Seay (2010), Travis Payne (2010, Mary Washington), David Hester (2009) and Christian Armstrong (2009, Bridgewater).
Cody Wheeler Update
Cody has signed and reported to the Arizona Diamondbacks' short-season Class A affilate Yakima Bears in Yakima, WA. In three appearances thus far, Wheeler is off to an 0-1 start with an ERA of 6.00 following a long spring season. In his only home appearance of his young professional career, Wheeler struck out three of four batters in one inning.
Spring Post-Season Honors
Battlefield All-District:
First team - Matt Houston, P; Travis Payne, 3B; Trevor Talley, OF.
Second team - Kevin Seay, 2B.
Honorable Mention - Chris Ardiente, SS; R.W. Payne, DH.
All-Region I:
Second team - Matt Houston, P; Travis Payne, 3B.
Honorable Mention - Trevor Talley, OF.
Free-Lance Star All-Area:
Second team - Matt Houston, P; Travis Payne, 3B.
Honorable Mention - Chris Ardiente, R.W. Payne, Kevin Seay, Trevor Talley.
More details to come regarding the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of these Knights.
SPOTSYLVANIA 16 & UNDER BASEBALL 2010 Contact Coach Davenport if you are interested in playing 16U baseball this summer. The season will begin in early June and will consist mostly of weekend doubleheaders with the occasional single game when available. Costs will be limited to payment of umpires, some uniform pieces and minor travel expenses. Players and their families will determine any tournament participation. The schedule will be finalized as soon as possible, though will probably be limited to 12-15 games. Players must be 16 or younger on May 1st, 2010. Players from other high schools are welcome.
BATTLEFIELD TOURNAMENT AT ROSS MEMORIAL FIELD The Spotsylvania Knights are excited to host the Battlefield District Tournament May 25th and 28th. Admission to each game will be $5.00. The schedule is as follows: Tuesday May 25, Varsity Semifinals 4:30 P.M. - Courtland vs. Chancellor 7:30 P.M. - King George vs. Eastern View Friday May 28, Varsity Finals 4:30 P.M. – Third place game 7:30 P.M. – Finals
REGION I TOURNAMENT BRACKET Monday May 31 – Friday June 4
Southside District #1 (H) Battlefield District #3
Battlefield District #1 (H) Bay Rivers District #2
Bay Rivers District #1 (H) Southside District #3
Southside District #2 (H) Battlefield District #2
PROGRAM CUMULATIVE GPA Spotsylvania Baseball program members carry an average GPA of 3.535, as of the end of the first semester of 2010. The Varsity holds a slight edge over the Junior Varsity with a GPA of 3.54. The Junior Varsity average is 3.53. Another reason to be proud of the Spotsylvania Baseball program.
WHEELER RETURNING TO VIRGINIA Cody Wheeler and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will make the trip to Liberty University this weekend (May 14-16) for a critical three-game series. The Chants swept VMI two weekends ago in Lexington. Coastal is 20-0 in Big South play, while Liberty is 18-3. Wheeler, 9-0 with a 3.71 ERA and 82 K’s in 80 IP, will start the Saturday game for the Chants. Wheeler will face off against Flames’ star Shawn Teufel, like Wheeler expected to go in the first several rounds of the June MLB draft.
KNIGHTS IN COLLEGE NEWS—5/11/2010 Scott Kimble, Longwood – Scott is hitting .371 with 9 SB for the 22-18 Lancers. Kimble recently tied a school record with six runs scored in a single game.
Christian Armstrong, Bridgewater – Christian’s Bridgewater Eagles won the ODAC Tournament Championship to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Bridgewater finished the regular season 23-18-1.
Josh King, Bluefield – Josh’s Bluefield Rams are 34-13 on the season as they enter Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament play.
Zach Goodwyn & Coach Kocher, Mary Washington – The Eagles clinched a bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament a few weeks ago and await their seeding this Sunday, May 16th. UMW completed the regular season 26-12.
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER Spotsylvania Knights Baseball is now on Facebook and Twitter. FB users can “like” the Knights and Twitter users can follow the Knights to get the latest news and announcements on their feeds and/or directly to their mobile phone. Click here for instructions.
CHALLENGER ON SUNDAY, MAY 2nd The Challenger games will take place on Sunday afternoon this week at Patriot Park. You are welcome at the cookout and opening events. Otherwise, show up about 2:15 so we can join up with the players and help them through an afternoon of baseball. Please bring canned goods and any baseball equipment you are no longer using to donate to the worthy programs described below the day's schedule.
Schedule Of Events
YOUTH LEAGUES NIGHT Tuesday, May 12th Spotsylvania Baseball will host Youth League Night when the Knights host King George for a 7:00 start. Any local youth league player wearing their team uniform receives free admission and will be welcome on the field during the National Anthem. Contact rdavenport@ocss-va.org with any questions.
SENIOR NIGHT Spotsylvania Baseball will recognize its eight seniors in this season's final game, against Eastern View on May 18. The contest is scheduled for a 7:00 start.
ALUMNI NIGHT Spotsylvania Baseball will not host an Alumni Night this season. Alumni Night takes place every other year.
ONE REMAINING NON-DISTRICT GAME The Knights have one game left with an opponent outside the Battlefield District, against Stonewall Jackson (Manassas) on Wednesday, May 5th. Stonewall Jackson, a member of the AAA Cedar Run District, is currently 7-6 overall. Two of the Knights' other non-district opponents have combined records of 38-8 this season. Atlantic Shores Christian is currently 20-7, while St. Anne's Belfield is 18-1. Teh second game with STAB was canceled following a rainout and tight remaining schedules for both teams.
WILLIAM & MARY UPDATE The Tribe, future program of Senior Matt Houston, sits at 22-18 this season as of April 29. The Tribe is in the middle of the pack in the CAA race and have worked their way to a 12-3 home record. The Tribe plays their home contests at Plumieri Park in Williamsburg, where Coach Frank Leoni recently coached his 400th victory in a 10-9 win against ex-Knight Scott Kimble and his Longwood Lancers.
WHEELER RETURNS TO STATE Cody Wheeler ran his 2010 record to 7-0 with eight solid innings at VMI last Saturday, part of a weekend sweep for the Chanticleers, who ran their record in the Big South this season to 16-0. VMI is led in part by outfielder Rob Dickinson, a freshmen whose father, Ken(ny) Dickinson was a member of the 1970 Battlefield Champion Spotsylvania Knights before continuing his career at the University of Richmond.
Wheeler and the Chanticleers, ranked as high as 4th currently, fell to the Virginia Cavaliers of the ACC 6-3 on Tuesday after having beaten UVA in weekday games the previous two seasons.
CHALLENGER ON SATURDAY APRIL 24 Challenger is at Lee Hill Park this week. If you weren’t there two weeks ago, plan to come out and show these players a great time this week! The game begins at 9:00 AM. Be ready for fun and a good time! Rain is in the forecast. If you wake up that morning and it is raining more than a drizzle, assume Challenger is cancelled. We could make calls, but it is an early start this week and not as easy of a task.
CLOTHING ORDER STATUS We have experienced a few issues with the clothing order, as you may be aware. The company (a go-between athletic supplier, as is typically required) did not order the Fan T-shirts. These have been ordered now and will hopefully arrive no later than this coming Tuesday.
The orders for sweatshirts and fleece pants were reversed. Subsequently, the sweatshirts were not ordered. In other words, we received the number and sizes of fleece pants that we were supposed to receive of sweatshirts, so we did not receive the full order on fleece pants either. Sweatshirts are supposed to be shipped Friday, April 23 and will arrive early the next week. The remainder of the fleece pants (we were short on mediums) should arrive around the same time.
The athletic suppliers are particularly busy this time of year. This spring was of course worsened by the winter weather. With all of the teams delayed and placing later orders, mistakes were made by the suppliers. Since it was on their end, the supplier has been very courteous about rushing our missing orders through. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Coach Davenport. If you would like to buy any fleece pants, there are fourteen pairs in his kitchen floor for sale.
KNIGHTS IN COLLEGE UPDATE – 4/23/10 Scott Kimble, Longwood – Kimble is presently at .363 with 7 2B, 2 HR and 15 RBI. Scott has stolen 9 bases and is fielding over 93% at SS for the 19-16 Lancers.
Cody Wheeler, Coastal Carolina – Wheeler remains the Friday starter and is currently 6-0 with an ERA of 3.88. Cody has struck out 61 in 60.1 IP, walking only 21 for the 33-5 Chanticleers. Coastal is currently ranked 9th in the College Baseball Insider composite of all the major polls, with a 33-5 overall record, 11-0 in the Big South.
Zach Goodwyn, Mary Washington – The Eagles clinched a berth in NCAA Division III Tournament by winning the CAC Tournament last weekend. With six regular season games remaining, the Eagles are currently 24-10. Zach is 2-3 with and ERA of 6.59, tossing 2 CG among his 28.2 IP. He has struck out 21, walked 18 and opponents are hitting on .245 against him.
Christian Armstrong, Bridgewater – Bridgewater (19-18-1) was eliminated from the ODAC Tournament on Thursday and will complete their season this weekend. Christian has made three appearances on the mound since returning from injury and recorded one double in his 3 AB’s this season.
Josh King, Bluefield – King’s Bluefield JV squad has games remaining, but their record is not available on the website. The Bluefield Rams varsity is currently 28-13, ranked first in the National Christian College Athletic Association poll.
COURTLAND EDGES VARSITY IN 15 INNINGS The Knights Varsity dropped a hard-fought 6-5 decision to Courtland Wednesday night. After Courtland scored in the top of the 15th, the Knights were unable to match in the bottom half. Details and box score forthcoming. The Knights are home Thursday, facing off against Chancellor at 7:00 P.M.
KNIGHTS WIN OPENER Matt Houston and RW Payne pitched a combined 5-inning no-hitter to win the season opener 12-1 against visiting Washington and Lee. To see details click on score in results column of Varsity Schedule.
FREE LANCE-STAR BASEBALL CAPSULES The annual baseball previews are published. Click here to read them.
KNIGHTS IN COLLEGE NEWS Scott Kimble, Longwood - Kimble is currently at .326 with 5 SB for the 8-5 Lancers.
Cody Wheeler, Coastal Carolina - The Chants lost a few games recently as happens in this grand game, but are still ranked in the top 15 of all polls, including as high as 8th in two polls. Coastal opens Big South play this weekend to the south at Charleston Southern University, with Wheeler penciled into his usual spot as the Friday starter.
Zach Goodwyn, Mary Washington - The Eagles are 8-2 and 5-1 in the Capital Athletic Conference. Goodwyn received a look as the DH recently, going 0-3 but putting the ball in-play in each at-bat. He also completed a tough play from third in the last inning of UMW’s 11-inning win over Wesley.
Christian Armstrong, Bridgewater - Bridgewater is off to a 6-9 start but sits 3-1 in ODAC action at present. Armstrong should regain strength and begin to see some time within the coming weeks.
Josh King, Bluefield - King is scheduled to begin seeing time with the Bluefield JV squad soon. The Bluefield varsity is currently 14-4 on the season.
JUNIOR VARSITY GAME ADMISSION Battlefield District JV games will charge an admission fee of $5.00 per game in 2010, at home and away sites. A letter will arrive home with players in the coming days.
OPENER FRIDAY VS. WASHINGTON & LESS (MONTROSS) The Knights kick off 2010 at home against W & L at 5:00 sharp Friday evening. W & L fell 3-2 to Battlefield compatriot King George on Wednesday in the opener for both teams. W & L is a member of the single-A Northern Neck District, which frequently produces state contending-squads. The projected lineup is as follows: Seay, 2B; Talley, LF; T. Payne, 3B; Houston, P; R.W. Payne, RF; Wolfrey, C; Ardiente, SS; Tarleton, 1B; and Carter, CF.
GAME PROGRAMS The Knights will have a roster available for Friday's opener. The 2010 Program, chocked full of player information, sponsor information and wonderful tidbits about Knights baseball, should be available at the next home game versus Courtland, just over a week away.
MATT HOUSTON IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL Senior Matt Houston, a William & Mary commit, was honored as a player to watch for 2010 by Collegiate Baseball magazine, one of the more revered trade publications in the business. Matt likely would have been an Honorable Mention All-American had Coach Davenport not missed the very early cutoff date of December 15, which Coach Davenport apologizes for profusely.
CONGRATULATIONS TO RYAN McBROOM Spotsylvania Baseball offers its warmest regards to Courtland’s Ryan McBroom, who committed to Division-1 West Virginia in recent weeks. Ryan is a professional and courteous competitor along with an enormous talent, with an on-field composure that is to be revered by all. The Knights look forward to taking the field with McBroom and the Cougars this season and to Ryan’s success in the formidable Big East in the coming years.
KNIGHTS IN COLLEGE NEWS!! Scott Kimble, Longwood – Kimble is hitting .316 with 3 SB for the 5-1 Longwood Lancers, splitting his time between SS and LF.
Cody Wheeler, Coastal Carolina – Wheeler is 2-0 for the 7-1 Chanticleers, sporting a 2.63 ERA with 10 K’s in 13.2 innings. Coastal is ranked as high as eighth nationally and was recently named the Team of the Week by Collegebaseballinsider.com.
Zach Goodwyn, Mary Washington – Goodwyn twirled a no-hitter in his collegiate debut last weekend, the second collegiate no-hitter by a former Knight in a span of a year. Zach aims to see extensive time on the hill for the Eagles this season, who travel to York College for a double-header this weekend.
Josh King, Bluefield – King begins travel with the Bluefield JV squad this weekend and expects to see time at 1B in preparation for a move up the depth chart over the course of the season.
Christian Armstrong, Bridgewater – Armstrong faced some preseason back troubles but has rested and recovered. Christian resumed working out and light tossing last week and expects to be at full-speed within the next few weeks.
FORMER KNIGHT CLYDE CROPP Clyde Cropp, a Knights standout of the 1970’s, passed away during the month of February. Clyde sat behind the plate for the second Knights’ outfit to capture a Battlefield District Title in 1976, a year in which he made Honorable Mention all-district. Clyde was a first-teamer on the All-Battlefield list in 1977 before making his name as a popular, well-like and respected softball player on the local and national scene. Memorials may be made to the Together We Build Fund at Spotswood Baptist Church in Fredericksburg or The Food Pantry Ministry in Fredericksburg.
ZACH GOODWYN PITCHES NO-HITTER 2/27/2010
Zach Goodwyn pitched a complete game no-hitter in his first appearance in college baseball. UMW defeated Gallaudet 3-0 in the nightcap of a double-header. Goodwyn recorded 11 strike-outs in the 7-inning game. UMW also won the first game, 7-2. See more here.
CODY WHEELER OPENS 2010 WITH ANOTHER WIN Cody Wheeler extended his college record to 17-1 with a win in Coastal Carolina’s season opener against West Virginia. Get the details here.
COACH KOCHER JOINS UMW COACHING STAFF After 6 seasons with Spotsy, Coach Brad Kocher has joined the University of Mary Washington Baseball team as an Assistant Coach. Coach Kocher amassed over 100 wins while with Spotsy. We wish him great success at UMW.
SCOTT KIMBLE PRESEASON NEWS From Collegiate Baseball:
Independents Top Players to Watch: SS Scott Kimble, Longwood (.325, 10 2B, 22 RBI, 25 SB)
CODY WHEELER PRESEASON NEWS Excerpt reprinted from Baseball America 2010 College Baseball Preview 12. Coastal Carolina Starting Pitching: 60. Wheeler and Meo could form the best one-two pitching punch in Coastal Carolina history. Wheeler made a name for himself in 2009, pitching a no-hitter against Hawaii and performing well for Team USA in the summer. He can dominate with an 89-92 mph fastball and a sharp, three-quarters slider in the 80-82 range.
Link to Collegebaseballinsider.com Big South Preview http://www.collegebaseballinsider.com/10Preseason/10BigSouthPreview.html
From Collegiate Baseball: **named Wheeler Second team preseason All-American **named Wheeler Projected Big South Pitcher of the Year **named Wheeler one of 59 “college players who have an excellent chance of being drafted in the first two rounds” Excerpt reprinted from Collegiate Baseball: LHP Cody Wheeler Coastal Carolina Wheeler lost only one game in two years with Coastal Carolina. Last season, he posted a 10-1 record, 3.83 ERA and fanned 98 batters with 34 walks. He has dynamite stuff on the mound with a fastball that ranges from 88-93 mph. |