Jubilation Frustration
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B1SPORTS Friday, August 1, 2014 wilsontimes.com 1B The WilsonTimes SportsSports www.wilsontimes.com Silver Lake is like an Meet old friend the Tobs Volume 2, Number 10 Editor’s Q & A with John Allen note: This is the Position: P third of a Height: 6-4 three-part Weight: 200 series. pounds Bats: L Silver Throws: L Hometown: Lake had Creedmor Bill shared College: Howard many Campbell Uni- memo- versity ries with me throughout Host Fam- the day, and I continued ily: Brian to paddle my way to the and Meredith Jenks. swamp portion of the Wilson Tobs’ third baseman Collins Cuthrell is doused with water by teammates after his walk-off, three- lake. Several small feeder run home run beat Peninsula 3-1 in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday night inside Fleming Stadium. streams come in here and The Pilots upended the Tobs in game 2, 12-4. Brad Coville | Times there used to be wood Campbell reliever a rare planks nailed to trees marking the inlets. Unof- side-arming left-hander ficial creek names such as Cuthrell thrills Cottonmouth Creek and By Randy Jones Moccasin Way adorned Fleming crowd Staff Writer the wood signs. Bobby Jubilation and I once followed one of with walk-off Wilson Tobs pitcher John Allen the creeks several miles blast in game 1; hopes he’s found a path to profes- until we just could not followed by sional baseball. paddle any longer due to In 2014, his third year of college shallow water and fallen Pilots dismantle at his third school (East Carolina, trees. We could hear the Tobs in nightcap Louisburg College and Campbell traffic from the Interstate University), and were mesmerized by frustration Allen was the experience. convinced I paddled into an open- By Tom Ham the opening game of a by one of ing in the swamp where Senior Staff Writer Coastal Plain League his coaches I once hooked onto the summer collegiate to throw largest bass I had ever had With one dramatic baseball doubleheader. a bullpen on my line. She fought swing of the bat, Col- But the evening was session side- with a vengeance on the lins Cuthrell left his not all pretty in pink armed. The left-hander impressed Mann’s worm and even Wilson Tobs team- for the Tobs. so much, he made the switch to a after several leaps that mates, attired in pink The buzz that Cuth- fulltime side-armer. would make a mako shark jerseys, and a partisan rell’s prodigious blast The results during the col- proud, I kept the line tight crowd in excess of created quickly sub- lege season for the Camels were and the hook in. Worn, she 1,000 tickled pink on sided when the Pilots mixed. He appeared in 10 games finally pulled up beside Paint the Park Pink exploded for eight runs mostly as a specialist, going just the boat. My friend, in his Night (a promotion in the second inning 52⁄3 innings for the NCAA Colum- excitement of both the bringing awareness to of Game 2 en route bia Regional-appearing Camels. battle and the size, quickly breast cancer) in Flem- to a 12-4 triumph and He struck out four and walked five grabbed the net and thrust ing Stadium on Thurs- doubleheader split. while posting an ERA of 12.71. it into the water. Unfortu- day night. NOTHING SETTLED But this summer in Wilson, his nately, the net whacked After the Tobs peaks have far outweighed his the largemouth and dis- looked passive in pink The split enhanced valleys, as he has struck out 15 in lodged the beast from my for six innings, third Wilson’s playoff hopes 131⁄3 innings of work spread out lure. We both nearly cried. baseman Cuthrell, a but settled nothing. over 13 appearances. His 3.29 ERA It was not far from here recent Barton Col- The Tobs’ magic num- is fifth-best among regulars and where I caught my larg- lege graduate play- ber of being assured batters are hitting just .152 against est bass. I was only seven ing just his 10th 2014 one of the four East him. years old and brought game with the Tobs, Division spots is three Tobs’ second baseman Matt Rembielak shows his Times staff writer Randy Jones her in on a Zebco 202 slugged a three balls, against Fayetteville displeasure after an error during a 12-4 loss to sat down with Allen in the Flem- reel with a Mister Twister two strikes pitch from and two against Wilm- Peninsula on Thursday night in Coastal Plain League ing Stadium press box on Thurs- worm. She stripped the right-handed reliever ington. play. Brad Coville | Times day afternoon to ask him a few gears in the reel and I Brandon Stephens Fayetteville seized questions about baseball, life and eventually pulled her in by over the left-field fence a doubleheader from three games remaining head City has four his time so far in Wilson. hand. I see her on my wall and far, far into the Morehead City on and stands 26-26 over- games remaining. as I type this. night for a three-run Thursday evening, all. Peninsula departed The Tobs can clinch Wilson Times: So, tell me about I cast a jitterbug just home run with one out while Wilmington 18-7 in the second half their first appearance the transition to a side-armed style as a boil surfaced in the in the bottom of the notched its third con- and a CPL-best 39-14 in the playoffs since of pitching? Didn’t the change occur direction of my throw. I seventh — or final — secutive win. overall. With three 2010 with a victory recently? reeled the bait in, walk- inning to power Wilson Wilson, 14-13 in games remaining, the against Wilmington John Allen: “I had trouble con- ing it across the surface to a 3-1 victory against Fleming this season, Pilots lead second- in their final 2014 trolling my pitches in the fall of this East Division-leading improved to 11-13 in place Morehead City past year at Campbell. My coach See OUTDOORS, Page 3B Peninsula (Virginia) in the second half with by three games. More- See TOBS, Page 2B saw me messing around with side- arm and submarine a little bit. I was playing toss literally the day before the first game of the spring season. He said ‘Why don’t you throw bullpen?’ And I was like Parrott takes reigns of Fike volleyball team See MEET THE TOBS, Page 2B By Randy Jones the Lady Demons went 21-5 TOBS BASEBALL Staff Writer and as the No. 1 seed from the Big East advanced to the fourth TONIGHT! Meagan Parrott and Cassie round of the North Carolina vs. Wilmington Sharks Blackmon have been best High School Athletic Associa- 7:00 PM (Gates Open: 6:00 PM) friends since they both arrived tion’s 3-A state playoffs. Ticket Prices Range from $6 - $7 on the campus of Barton Col- “She was a volunteer as- Children 4 & Under are Always FREE! lege for their freshman cam- sistant under Cassie and a paign with the Lady Bulldogs’ full-time worker at BB&T, so volleyball team back in August we weren’t sure how the hours of 2007. with her job and at BB&T “We’re great friends,” Par- would work out,” Varacchi rott said during an interview said. “But the girls really ad- on Wednesday afternoon. “We mire her and she ran all the were roommates for all four voluntary workouts this sum- years at Barton, that’s where The Fike volleyball team will get a new, but very familiar, head coach mer on her own time. Showing (252) 291-TOBS • wilsontobs.com our connection started.” this year as Meagan Parrott takes the reigns from Cassie Blackmon. her commitment. So once we BB&T FRIDAY 500 So when Fike High School Parrott was a volunteer assistant under Blackmon the past two sea- got it all worked out, it was the Tobs Giving Away $100 Five Times During The Game Athletic Director Toni Varacchi sons and the two were roommates and teammates on the Barton Col- best choice. Friday is “thirsty too” Select Beer Specials! needed someone to step in to lege women’s volleyball team. Randy Jones | Times “We’re excited to have her HOST FAMILY APPRECIATION NIGHT! the shoes Blackmon left behind stay on as the head coach and after three very successful sea- need to look far. East Conference by dividing up hopefully stick around for a THOMAS & FARRIS Presented By: sons as the Lady Demons’ vol- Parrott served as Blackmon’s regular season and tournament long while.” ATTORNEYS AT LAW leyball coach when she left this assistant coach for the past two titles with archrival Hunt. The Parrott and Blackmon are Every Tobs Home Game THOMAS & FARRIS summer to move to Burlington seasons — campaigns that saw upward trend reached never- is Presented ATTORNEYS AT LAW for personal reasons, she didn’t Fike rise to the top of the Big before seen heights in 2013 as See PARROTT, Page 3B in Partnership With: 243-3000.