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On to round 2
News and notes for tonight's second round games By Justin Parker, sports editor The 10-month high school athletic season is like a basestealer - maybe it's Dominic DiBernardi - streaking toward second and sliding in amid a huge cloud of it-hasn't-rained-in-weeks dust. The bag is the News-Topic sports cubicle, which ends up covered in all the loose stuff that seems to swarm by as the play - or in this case, the school year - settles down. That's a fancy way of saying there are a few noteworthy items to pass along that we haven't yet. Could've thrown another set of standard preview stories your way today, but that'd be like a 3-0 fastball down the pipe. You're ready for it. But today, we're thinking curveball low and away, something different to mix it up. What better way to lead off, than with a note about a leadoff man. Not South's DiBernardi. More on him later. In just a short time, Hibriten's Thomas Mabe has gone from a periodic starter to a key ingredient in the lineup. Mabe started some early in the year, but has been a consistent starter since the midpoint of the season. He's been leading off for just a few games. And he seems to have found a niche in which to contribute. He's hitting for a .311 average, but more importantly, for a .426 on-base percentage, meaning he's on base about half the time. He's definitely doing his job. Perfect example came last Friday in the playoff opener against Ashe County. Mabe went 1-for-1 with a single and three walks, reaching base on all four plate appearances. Once he was on base, he came around to score three times. Often, whether he reaches or doesn't, he's forcing a 10-pitch at-bat, which is frustrating for the opposition and gives his teammates more time to take note of the pitcher's tendencies. His move into the top spot in the lineup also freed up Matt Edwards to hit lower in the order, where Edwards is very solid for a No. 8 hitter. UNDERDOGS? - South Caldwell was the clear favorite to win the 4-A crown a year ago, which it did. This year, the Spartans are 22-1 entering tonight's second-round game with Mount Tabor, but they're not the all-out favorites they were last year. This team clearly goes about things differently, which is fine. It has to. The Spartans are obviously not underdogs either. They're somewhere in between, among the pack of teams good enough to win it all if things go well. Last season, the Spartans had a larger safety net and would have to have had much go wrong in order to be upset. They were expected to win it all, should have and did. This spring, South has a chance. “If we hit, I think we can make a run,” South coach Jeff Parham said. The 400 (avg.) club - Currently, five players from the two county schools remaining sport batting averages at the .400 level or higher. Hibriten's Joel Woods leads the pack, hitting .471. Teammates Trent Reynolds (.426) and Jack Howard (.419) and South Caldwell's Cody Penny (.418) and Brad Chavis (.400) round out the group. Woods has driven in 31 runs. Chavis leads the county in home runs with nine. The next ERA - As good as South Caldwell's pitching was last year, the team's earned run average is better so far (through 11 less games) this season. Last year, South had a 1.45 ERA as a team. This year, it's at 0.63. Two is nothing - Hibriten and the other remaining CVAC teams have to love the Tuesday, Friday format of the playoffs. The CVAC teams played three conference games most weeks this year, playing a college-course-style schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday. The extra days of rest and practice aren't going unnoticed to Hibriten coach Terry Henthorne. “That's kind of a luxury we haven't had much this year,” he said. Tonight's opponents - It's mountain night in Caldwell. South hosts Mount Tabor - also the Spartans - from Winston-Salem, while Hibriten (21-5) has Mountain Heritage, which sounds more like a fall festival than a baseball team. Mt. Tabor is a No. 3 seed from the very tough Central Piedmont Conference and advanced with a 13-12 win over Northwest Guilford Friday. Mountain Heritage, of Burnsville, entered the postseason with just seven wins - second fewest in the 2-A West bracket - but the Cougars took down East Henderson (nine wins) 10-9 last week. TONIGHT'S STARTERS - Penny (7-0) is slated to pitch for South Caldwell tonight. Hibriten will put Dylan Crump (5-3) on the hill. the Dom-inator... - South's DiBernardi leads the county with 27 stolen bases. The speedy - what? like he'd be anything else - center fielder had five in the Spartans' playoff opener last Friday against Ashbrook. He also has two in-the-park home runs this season. Do you know the good thing about those? No dust. Justin Parker is sports editor of the News-Topic.
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