Thursday, June 29,  2006

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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
    It was a big undertaking and a fairly big success, says Twin Valley Coach Brian Moore of the first Winner’s Circle team camp held Friday through Monday.
  Despite a few no-shows and a couple of teams leaving early for various reasons, things went well at the event, held at both Twin Valley Middle School and Twin Valley High School.
  “I feel like it was a success,” said Moore, who helped organize the camp, a joint effort among Twin Valley coaches and boosters and the Buchanan Basketball Foundation.
  “We had a few teams cancel out on us, but it still didn’t cause us any problems. We ended up with eight varsity teams and twelve JV teams.”
  Varsity teams came from Twin Valley, Grundy, Hurley, Lee, Northwood and Page County in Virginia and Winfield and Midland Trail out of West Virginia.
  Most of those schools brought junior varsity squads, as did Council, Graham and Big Creek (W.Va.). Hurley fielded two JV teams while Iaeger, W.Va. competed in varsity competition on Monday.
  Though the schedule had to be adjusted on more than one occasion, games ran with minimal interruption for three full days. Varsity games were played at TVHS and the JV contests were played at TVMS. Midland Trail won Monday morning’s varsity tournament and Big Creek won the junior varsity tourney.
  “I felt like the level of competition was pretty good,” Moore added. “It was fairly well balanced especially the JV teams. As for the varsity, there was no one team that stood out. There seemed to be a lot of parity.”
  Volunteers, including coaches, parents and boosters, donated time 24 hours a day. The out of town teams were housed at the middle school and were fed well. The camp took full advantage of the facilities at TVMS and it all went over well with most of the visiting coaches.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

Twin Valley's Goodman and Lester Ink Letters-of-Intent With Bluefield State
Twosome Will Join Shortridge on Big Blues Hoops Roster

    Jeremiah Lester and Kent Goodman played for a high school team that won 27 games last year. But the college program they hope to play for won just three of 31 games last season.
  The operative word, though, is play as Bluefield State recently signed its second and third recruits from Twin Valley High School. Lester and Goodman joined former Panther teammate Logan Shortridge in signing letters of intent to join the Big Blues, an NCAA Division II school.
  Lester, the BDD, Region D and Group A Player of the Year, is a 6-foot-3 forward who will vie for playing time with both the 5-10 Goodman and the 6-2 Shortridge at Bluefield State, which has just six players returning next season.
  “Having a chance to play with Logan and Kent is one of the reasons I signed with Bluefield State,” Lester said. “We’ll all get a shot at playing time. And we’ll be living right beside each other.
  “Plus I’m familiar with the area and it’ll be more convenient for mom and dad to come see us play. I want to try to play baseball down there, too.”
  Goodman, an All-Region D guard and former BDD Player of the Year, chose the Bluefield, West Virginia school for both academic and basketball reasons.
  “Their engineering program is one reason I’m going (to Bluefield State),” Goodman said. “And I couldn’t pass up a chance to play with Jeremiah and Logan.”
  While Goodman will pursue an engineering degree, Lester wants to coach after graduation. After tasting success in high school, both Lester and Goodman are anxious to be part of Don Jones’ rebuilding efforts at the once-proud program.
  “I want to major in education,” Lester added. “I want to teach and coach after I get out of college. And it’ll be nice to be part of something special. I think coach Jones will be able to rebuild the program.”

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

    Raeanne Slate, who pitched Honaker to a regional title and a state quarterfinal berth, has been voted Region D Pitcher of the Year by the region’s coaches.
  The hard-throwing right-hander was 13-6 with an 0.29 earned run average during her senior season. Slate struck out 191 batters in 102 1/3 innings.
  Haysi’s Whitney Compton, like Slate a four-year standout, was also named to the first team as a pitcher.
  Compton, who signed a scholarship offer from East Tennessee State Tuesday, was 11-8 and fanned 154 batters.
  Slate and Compton are among nine Honaker and Haysi Lady Tigers to earn All-Region D honors, including six on the first team.
  Four other Honaker Lady Tigers made the first unit, including freshman catcher Samantha Garrett, senior second baseman Amanda Hess and senior outfielder Katie Howard. Honaker freshman Paige Tiller made the first team as an At-Large pick.
  Honaker Coach Donovan Helton was named Region D Coach of the Year by his peers.
  Second team selections include Haysi seniors Brittany Stanley (infield) and Dana Edwards (outfield) and Honaker senior outfielder Whitney Miller.
  All-Region D Softball:
First Team:
  Pitchers—Raeanne Slate, Honaker; Whitney Compton, Haysi; Chelsea Osborne, Gate City.
  Catchers—Samantha Garrett, Honaker; Haley Odle, Gate City.
  Infielders—Amanda Hess, Honaker; Brittany Rogers, Gate City; Amber Salyer, Gate City; Tuesdee Woods, Gate City; Sarah Smith, J.I. Burton.
  Outfielders—Katie Howard, Honaker; Elicia Tate, Castlewood; Paige Begley, Powell Valley; Kayla Tipton, Gate City.
  At-Large—Paige Tiller, Honaker; Erin Wilson, Appalachia; Nikki Collins, J.I. Burton.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

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