Gilmer's Gospel

     I was never a threat to steal a college scholarship from another up-and-coming junk-ball pitcher when I was in high school.
     But if I did have that much talent, I know my parents would have done everything in their power to help me.
Would they have moved me to another school to help my chances?
     Maybe. Who knows.
     Let me first say that Reggie Davis told me he and his family moved to Boiling Springs High School because his mother liked the environment there and for academic reasons.
     If this was a fourth-string offensive lineman, you wouldn’t have seen a front-page story in today’s Herald-Journal.
     Davis, though, was an all-area tailback two years ago for Chapman and he broke the school record for yards in a season.
     He’s a known athlete in the area and the fact that his mother (who is single, disabled and has three other kids) was willing to move for her kids to what she said is a better situation made for a good story.
     It did make me think about athletes and transfers, though.
     Transfers are going to happen in high school athletics.
Actually, transfers are quite common. The list on the S.C. High School League Web site is constantly updated. Maybe not daily, but close to it.
     There are 76 athletes currently listed by the High School League as being approved – and those are just the athletes whose last name starts with “A.”
     Thousands of transfers go through under the radar each year. It is just when bigger-named players (i.e. Xavier Dye, Nick Melton) are involved that it becomes news.
     Back to the point of this blog – I have no problems with athletes transferring if parents are willing to uproot kids, move to a new location and have their kids change schools, even if it is to hopefully garner more attention or the better chance to earn a scholarship.
     It’s a family’s decision on where to live.
     Would you have a problem with a great violin player who wants to go to a school with a better orchestra?
     Or with a student with a great aptitude for chemistry who goes to a new school with a better lab and/or chemistry teacher?
     Living with an aunt or uncle to circumvent the rules? I don’t agree with that.
     If a dad thought moving his kid to another school would help garner a college scholarship, then go for it. As long as the family ups and moves to make the transfer legal.
     So, what do you think about transfers?


Please note: I’ll be making sure comments on this blog aren’t bashing Davis, his family or the schools involved.

        
Broome's Shelbey Spencer (left) and Chapman's Kristen McClure are two of the area's top pitchers. Last year the two girls faced off often in Region II-2A play, but now McClure and the Panthers are in 3A.

     There are a lot of standout softball pitchers in the area, those who can whip a ball past an opposing batter as quickly as you can speed under a yellow light.
     If you are a fan of good pitching, this is the time of the year to catch a couple of 1-0 or 2-1 games and even have the possibility of seeing a no-hitter or perfect game.
     Softball fans might not always know who to go see or which players are performing at the highest level.
     To help, I’m offering up five pitchers that you shouldn’t miss going to see.
     I know I’m leaving out some talented pitchers and I’ll apologize up front for that.

     Here’s a look at the current stats of five pitchers you should see:

     Jordan Farmer, Landrum
     Farmer (at right) is 6-1 with 45 innings pitched. She has allowed 21 hits, walked 11 batters and struck out 66 batters. Opponents are hitting .120 against her and she has a 1.24 ERA.

     Cheyenne Griffin, Byrnes
     Griffin, a sophomore, has moved into the full-time starter’s role for the Rebels. She is 10-1 this season and has thrown 70 innings. In that time, she’s struck out 63 batters and has a 0.80 ERA.

     Kristen McClure, Chapman
     McClure isn’t having as dominant of a season as last year as the Panthers moved up to 3A but she’s still a dominating force. She has struck out 52 batters in 49 innings and has compiled a 4-4 record this season.

     Julie Sarratt, Gaffney
     Sarratt has allowed just three earned runs in 61 innings this season and has a 0.34 ERA. She has struck out 98 batters and walked 11. She helped her team win the Gene Lee Tournament (and took home MVP honors) and threw a perfect game last week.

     Shelbey Spencer, Broome
     Spencer has a 5-2 record (with two no-hitters) and has thrown 41 innings. She has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 10.1-1 (71 strikeouts compared to seven walks). Opponents are hitting .138 against her and she has a 1.07 ERA.


     Alright, I’m thinking of dusting off my cleats, grabbing a batting helmet and trying to hit against one of these girls. Any takers?

     Well, I took a week-long hiatus from blogging last week. Call it my spring break.
     There are multiple reasons for the lack of blogs, but the main reason was the lack of sunshine.
     No, I didn’t go into a depressed state because I didn’t see the sun.
     I simply didn’t get to cover a lot of events – like I had planned – because of the rainy days.
     Lacrosse, softball and baseball were on my schedule of must-see events last week.
     Instead, I watched my bracket come unglued.
     This week, though, is a new week. I’m sitting here on a Sunday morning and actually see the sun outside my window.
     The problem is that this is spring break for most area schools, which means the number of scheduled events is kind of limited.
     No matter, I will get back to writing more blogs this week. Anything is more than zero, right?
     As always, send me questions, story or blog ideas and your thoughts on local high school athletics.

     Also, if you like music that deals with the beach, check out Sand Bar Radio (http://site.sandbarradio.com) if you get the chance. It isn’t as good as Radio Margaritaville, but it’s still a good listen.

         
I know that guys like Union County's Joe Pitt (left) and Landrum's Lyn Smith can coach, but can they help me with my bracket?    


     I’m about to sit down and complete my NCAA bracket, but I’m not sure who to slide into my Final Four.
     Unlike Greeny on Mike & Mike In The Morning, I can’t simply call up Seth Davis, Andy Katz or any of these other so-called experts for advice.
     So I asked some local high school basketball coaches for their picks to make the Final Four.

     Here are their predictions:

     Michael Dalton, Gaffney assistant boys coach: “Louisville, UConn, Duke, Oklahoma. Louisville over Oklahoma in the national championship.”
     Sharon Dillon, Spartanburg girls coach: “Wake Forest, UConn, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, with Syracuse winning it all.”
     Layne Fowler, Byrnes girls coach: “Louisville, UConn, Duke, UNC, with UNC beating UConn.”
     David Garner, Chesnee girls coach: North Carolina, Memphis, Louisville, Villanova.”
     Doug Lowe, Spartanburg boys coach: “UNC, Louisville, Memphis, Pitt.”
     Jason McCraw, Chesnee boys coach: “Louisville, UConn, Texas and UNC. Louisville over UNC in the championship.”
     Travis Miller, Blacksburg boys coach: “Louisville, Memphis, Villanova and UNC. UNC and Louisville in the finals with Louisville winning in all.”
     Jeff Neely, Greer boys coach: “Louisville, UNC, Syracuse, UConn.”
     Jeff Parks, Woodruff girls coach: “Louisville, Connecticut, Villanova, UNC. North Carolina over UConn in the title game.”
     Joe Pitt, Union County boys coach: “UConn, UNC, Villanova, Louisville.”
     Kristy Ray, Dorman girls coach: “UNC, Pitt, Memphis, L’ville.”
     Thomas Ryan, Dorman boys coach: “North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, UConn. UConn beats UNC 83-80 for the title.”
     Lyn Smith, Landrum boys coach: “Wake Forest, Memphis, Pitt, UNC. In the finals - Heels 82, Memphis 76.”
     Susan Tate, Boiling Springs girls coach: “Louisville, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Oklahoma.”
     Jerry Waters, Chapman boys coach: “Louisville, Memphis and I’m still debating on the others.”
     Greg Wilson, Chapman assistant boys coach: “Wake Forest, UConn, Pitt, UNC. Pitt over Wake in the finals.”


     After getting all of these, I’m going to sit down and come up with my own Final Four.
     Last year: second place.
     This year: another title for me.

     Who do you have in your Final Four?

     Let the madness begin...

     Jerry Waters’ tenure as an assistant coach at Georgia never ended in the “Big Dance.”
     The Bulldogs, though, did taste a smaller version of the NCAA Tournament.
     Waters, now the head basketball coach at Chapman High School, was an assistant coach under Ron Jirsa for two seasons (1997-98 and 98-99).
     Each year, with different levels of success, the Bulldogs played in the National Invitational Tournament. In their first season, the Bulldogs played in the tournament semifinals and they lost in the first round their second year.
     In 1998, the Bulldogs lost to Penn State 66-60 in the semifinals, but beat Jerry Tarkanian’s Fresno State team 95-79 for third place, according to the NIT Web site.
     “It was great,” Waters said of the experience. “We flew first class. Got to play in the Garden and practice in there. We went to a Broadway show while we were there, ate at the Tavern on the Green restaurant and stayed in a great hotel looking over the city.
     “Going to the NIT, I don’t care what anyone says, is a good deal for a team.”
     After the NIT experience that first year, Waters and Jirsa had to hop on a plane and head back to Athens just to hop on another plane for the Final Four in San Antonio.
     Their luggage got lost en route.
     They made it to the games, though.
     It wasn’t the only time he made the trip to the finals. Waters said he was a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Congress and the group met each year at the Final Four.
     He said he probably went to 10 Final Fours and had great seats.
     Still, Waters would have loved to have been invited to the field of 64 as a college coach.
     He and the rest of the Bulldogs met at Jirsa’s house on Selection Sunday and waited for their names to be called.
     They didn’t hear their names.
     “We thought we had a decent shot,” Waters said. “Like always, there are 10 teams who think they had a shot. We were in that boat.”
     This year, though, Waters will sit at home, pen and pad in hand, and watch the games. He’ll try to learn something to help his Panthers make their own postseason run next season.