• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1982-04-01_Vol46_No25_07

Sports 7 Western Carolinian Women's Softball Gaining Recognition Western Carolina's women's softball program has been on the verge of becoming a national power during the past two seasons. Surprisingly, this could be the year, despite the presence of six freshmen in the starting lineup, that the Lady Cats become a top ten team. WCL turned a lot ot heads last weekend by winning for the first time the Third Annual Catamount Classic, and pushed its record to 16-5, which includes 14 wins in the past 16 games. The l.ady Cats went through the eight-team, double elimination tournament unbeaten with wins over Campbell (9-1), UNC-Chapel Hill(II-5),and N.C. State, twice (14-10 and 5-4). The tournament is sponsored annually by the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department and was played this season at Mark Watson Park in Sylva, and WCU's softball field. The l.ady Cats showed their poise in the winner's bracket finals Saturday morning when they came back from an 8-3 deficit to defeat N.C State. 14-10, in the final inning. N.C. State fought back to the championship game with a pair of winners in the loser's bracket. The championship game was a thriller with WCU winning 5-4 in eight innings. Western infielder Judy Green, who batted at a .600 clip, was voted the Catamount Classic Outstanding Player. The sophomore from Lake Junaluska hit a pair of home runs for seven RBI in the rally over N.C. State. Three other Lady Cats wielded hot bats in the tournament: infielders Kada Bulla (.571), DebraTalbert (.467), and Lori toney (.468). Coach Betty Peele also praised the pitching of Robyn Keeler and the play of her bench that provided key hits in the wins over N.C. State. Peele recorded her 100th softball coaching win in the tournament and has posted a 103-58 record in five seasons. photo by Doug Cavanah The Lady Cats are on a hot roll, with 14 wins in their last 16 games to push their record to 16-5 overall. The Cats won the Third Annual Catamount Classic last weekend. She credits the surprising success of this youngteam to defense. "We are much stronger defensively than in any of our past seasons as we are averaging less than a half error a game." she explained. "We do not have the power of some past teams, but we are much quicker on the bases and in the field." she noted. "This is what wins games, and 1 think it will continue to be a winning factor for us." photo by Rick McDaniel Whip 5th Ranked Clemson Cats Turning Season Around In the space of one week. Western Carolina University's baseball team has evolved from a struggling 3-7 squad to a team that has to be reckoned with in the Southern Conference championship race. The Catamounts, now 8-7, served notice on the conference last Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of Marshall University and then renewed regional respect with a 10-3 rout of Clemson. the nation's fifth ranked team. Western's five-game win streak includes wins.over Ohio State (13-4). Carson—Newman (17-13). Marshall twice (6-5; 3-0), and Clemson. The Catamounts will have a few days to savor their win streak as they will not see action again until the weekend when they host High Point College, Saturday and Sunday. The Southern Conference schedule resumes Monday when Appalachian State pays a visit to Ronnie G. Childress Field for a doubleheader. WCU's resurgence is attributed to a surprisingly strong pitching staff and timely hitting. In the win streak, Jeff Mashburn, Randy Sims, Greg Moore and David Ray Robinson have turned in impressive pitching performances. Mashburn. a junior from Andrews, pitched the Cats past Ohio State and Marshall. He is 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA. Sims, the ace of last season's Southern Conference co-championships, appears to have recovered from a sore shoulder as he shutout Marshall and owns a 2-0 record. Moore, a product of Cullowhee High, has established himself as one of the league's top pitchers. He went the route in beating Clemson and is 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA in 34 innings. Robinson, the Catamounts'short-relief ace. has not yielded an earned run in four appearances and has recorded two saves. Western's hitters, quiet for the few weeks of the season, are now making a lot of noise. Mel Kinsey. the conference's player of the year last season, turned on the power in thw wins over Marshall and Clemson. He hit a three-run home run against Marshall and had a grand-slam homer in the Clemson game, and his sixth career bases loaded home run. He has 21 RBI's this season. Infielders Matt Thrasher and Kyle Carson are Western's top hitters with .365 and .347 averages, respectively. The Catamounts' team batting average has risen 20 points in the past week to a .272 average. David Wright, in his first season as WCU's head baseball coach, sees nothing startling about the Catamounts' comeback from a slow start. "Things just started falling into place." said the unassuming Wright. "They have just adapted to a different coach and started playing the way I knew they could." "However." he added. "Greg Moore is doing a great job and I would not be surprised if he is not one of the best pitchers in the southeast." The Citadel leads the Southern Conference race with a 6-0 record and has won 15 in a rowenroute to an 18-12 overall record. WCU, Appalachian State and East Tennessee are 2-0 in conference play. "We are not hitting like we should, but this team is rounding into a fine squad and I'm optimistic about our chances lor a lot of success this season," added Peele. The 1 adv Cats will host Mars Hill today (3 p.m.) and will play in the UNC-Charlotte Tournament this weekend. Congratulations. Ladies on a superb performance on the home turf, and we wish you continued success in the remainder of the I9K2 season. Intramural Activities Students are encouraged to take note of the following up-coming intramural activities coming up, or going on at the present time: Men's horseshoes "singles"and "doubles" will occur for various leagues on the following dates at 4:00 behind Reid Gymnasium: Tuesday, April 6th for the American. National, and Independent leagues. Wednesday. April 7th, for fraternity. International, "A," and "I" leagues. The all-campus pitch-offs will take place on Thursday, April 8th. A fishing derby begins Monday. April 5th and ends on Tuesday May 4th. at 3:00 p.m. Fishing prizes will be awarded for five classes offish: Bass, (smallmouth and largemouth). Crappie. Bream. Rainbow Trout, and Brown Trout. Fish must be measured at the front equipment cage, and prizes are on display in the Reid Gym trophy case. Volleyball teams that will be clashing in the men's Championship play-offs are the Desperados, Unos. Weedhoppers. Pi Kappa Alpha "A", Pi Kappa Alpha "B". Theta Xi "C", Spacely's Sprockets, and the Mad Jammers. Fund-Raising Jog-a-Thon The University Development Office and Big Cat Club will hold a fund-raising jog-a-thon. called "Cat-a- thon '82." on Saturday. April 24, at 10 a.m. The purpose of the event is to raise money for WCU athletic scholarships and organizations participating in the jog-a- thon. Fifty percent ot the profits will go to thejog-a-thon. Fifty percent of the profits will go to the WCU Athletic Scholarship Fund. The other fifty percent will go to the participating organizations. Anyone wishing to take part in the jog-a-thon should go to the Cat-A-Thon office in room 401 of the Administration Building, in order to sign up your organization. Obtain sponsor forms from there, have , each member of your organization fill one out and then return the forms to the Cat-A-Thon office. On April 24. come to the track at the designated time and walk. run. or jog as many laps as possible during one hour. Anv Bit's V Pieces Of Sports by Russ Randolph How bout' them Cals! It was really a pleasure to watch the Iigers of Clemson get "scratched" by the "mountain claw" of Cullowhee, and who ever said Western could be intimidated by a ranking' Clemson was ranked fifth in the nation before coming into Cullowhee Monday, but alter the Cats scratched and clawed their way to a W) impressive 10-3 vktor) over this "national power," you can believe that other powerhouses better start taking notice and concern tin WCL BASEBALL. Ask Big 10 power Ohio State. You can be sure thev know where Cullowhee. North Carolina is now Our hats go oil to you team, tor a tine display ot talent and attitude. Keep those wins coming! And who ever said BASF.BALL wasn't a popular spectator sport lor women? If you were one of those who thought this, as I did. we've been wrong. In fact, after viewing many of Western's home games lately, it seems over half of the spectators at Childress field are women, and get this, over halt of those women are girlfriends to the players, so guvs, mav be it's a baseball uniform we need to get instead of Greek letters, lo give you an example, KAREN HOMESLEY was there cheering on second baseman CHET CREASON. BETH PEELER was cheering on REGGIE McC'RAW; LISA LONG was cheering on DAVID HILL; CATHY MARTIN was screaming for JODY CHAMBERLAIN; JENNIFER JONES was screaming for RANDY SIMS; DONNA RADFORD was screaming for hubbie KYLE RADFORD; JACKIE HALL was screaming for MEL KINSEY; KAY HUNTER was yelling for MATT THRASHER; SUZZANE BLAIR was rooting for KYLE CARSON, and LAURA PHILLIPS was cheering on ALEX BARNWELL. So guys, the next time you to to a baseball game and see this entire section of beautiful ladies, just look out of the field and say "gosh I wish I was a baseball player!" Speaking of bases, bats, and balls, it should also be mentioned that our LADY CAT SOFTBALL TEAM played perhaps the best soltball ol their season last weekend here on campus in route to their first-time ever win of the third annual Catamount Classic, an Invitational softball tournament sponsored by the Jackson county Recreation and Parks Department. Coach Betty Peele's team blew away Campbell, UNC— Chapel Hill, and NC State (twice) to take the championship trophy (their second trophy of the season) last Saturday while many WCU spectators cheered in support of the team. COACH PEELE's win margin as a coach boasted over the 100 mark in last weekend's tournament, and Miss Peele became one of the few women coaches in WCU history to ever achieve such a feat, as her record now stands 103-58. Indeed. Coach Peele has been one of the most successful coaches in the state, and we should feel privileged to have a coach of her ca 11 i ber in our women athletic department. Congratulations Coach Peele, and may your victories continue to pour in! Sophomore JUDY GREEN was voted the Catamount Classic's most outstanding player, and with her .600 batting average, she deserved it. lt was the play of Judy, along with ROBIN KEELER, LORI TONEY, CINDY GREEN, KADA BULLA, and AMY KONIDES which proved to be the winning factors for our Lady Cats, and don't be surprised if you see these ladies ranked very high in the state soon. The lady Cats will host Mars Hill today at 3:00 p.m ROBERT MURRARY, TRACE BARNETTE, GEORGE FOX, AND "HIGH JUMP" CALDWELL all took first place ribbons last Wednesday at three-team track meet at Furman. WCU placed second in that meet behind Furman, with 57 I 2 points. USC S was a distant third with 17 WCU's men's VOLLEYBALL TEAM will be playing in their last match of the season this weekend at the University of Chattanooga. The Cat netters have a chance to take second place in the conference should they beat UTC or East Tennessee, so good luch tea, and congratulations on a much improved season! The annual PURPLE and WHITE game is set for next Wednesday. April 7. in Whitmire Stadium. I encourage all of you to attend this game to get a preview of the 1982 Football team. Gamctime is set for 7:30 p.m. Finally. WCU's GOLF TEAM will be playing in the Smoky Mountain Invitational this weekend in New Port. Tennessee. Good luck to you guys! recognized group or organization may participate. Individuals may participate by jogging for any team or organization they wish. Tom Bommer. executive secretary of the Big Cat Club, says he anticipates from 600 to 800 runners to be participating. He also says that WRGC radio will broadcasting live from the track, and there will be music playing during the event. II you are interested and would like further information, contact Bommer at 227-7377 Tennis Team Ups Record To 7-4 This week. WCU's men's tennis team improved their record to 7-4 and picked up their first ever Southern Conference win in three seasons by defeating VMI 5-4 in Johnson City. Tennessee, last Friday. They also beat North Greenville College, defeated Mars Hill 9-0. lost to UT—Chattanooga 0- 9, and lost 3-6 to Marshall College. Coach Charley Bowen says his team is much improved over last season's team. Also, sophomore Steve Christine, playing in the #3 singles spot, has posted an individual record of 8-2-- one of the top record r. in the conference. Meanwhile. Western's women's tennis team's record dropped I-6 this week. Last Thursday, they lost I-8 to Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, NC. Then, at home, they were defeated 2-7 by Pfeiffer College on Sunday, and 0-9 by Carson-Newman on Tuesday. Head Coach Alma Hooks says that her team is "working hard and having fun." Hooks hopes her team will peak around tournament time. April 22. For now. however, the team plans to get out of its current slump when they play High Point here Saturday at 10 a.m.. Lenoir-Rhyne on the road Tuesday, and Carson- Newman in Jefferson City, Tennessee, next Thursday. In addition, the home match with UNC—Charlotte scheduled for Wednesday that was rained out, will probably be played next week. The men's team is scheduled to play away matches with Carson- Newman on Wednesday, Davidson on Friday, and The Citadel on Saturday. Next week, the men will host Appalachian State. Belmont Abbey, and UNC—Asheville on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, respectively.

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1982-04-01
  • Date digitized: 2019-01-29
• Extent
  • Dimension: 15" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 16 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1982-04-01_Vol46_No25
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library