Mike Potter ·
20 Nov 2009, 11:01 PM ·
Comment
N.C. State coach Kellie Harper, with husband and assistant coach Jon Harper and Marissa Kastanek, #23, in the background, directs traffic during her 100th win on Friday night against Davidson. (Photo by Jeremy Lange).
REYNOLDS COLISEUM/RALEIGH Kellie Harper is quickly into her fourth home game in her short tenure as head coach at N.C. State, and tonight she has an opportunity to reach an early milestone.
The 32-year-old former Western Carolina coach, who comes into the game with a 2-1 record this season, can get her 100th career victory. Not in the realm of the 1,000-plus wins her mentor Pat Summitt has at Tennessee, but how many people have started careers as college or even high school coaches and never gotten to triple figures?
Tonight she’ll be facing an old foe, at least for her. Harper was 6-5 in her tenure at WCU against Southern Conference rival Davidson, which oddly hasn’t played the Wolfpack since 1976. The Wildcats, under former Wolfpack assistant Annette Watts, are 0-2.
And it’s a mismatch from the start, en route to a 79-54 Wolfpack victory.
The Wolfpack leads 3-0, then 10-2, then 41-15 at halftime.
Everything the home team does seems to work pretty well, as State outrebounds the Wildcats 30-11 at the break and shoots 47.1 percent to Davidson’s 24.1. Bonae Holston and Tia Bell are already in double figures at the break. Continue reading »
ACC, Basketball, N.C. State, Women's Basketball Alex Thompson, Annette Watts, Ashley Lax, Bonae Holston, Brittany Strachan, Davidson, Jon Harper, Marissa Kastanek, Old Dominion, Southern Conference, Tennessee Lady Vols, Tia Bell, Western Carolina, William & Mary
Mike Potter ·
14 Jun 2009, 8:45 PM ·
Comment
FIVE COUNTY STADIUM/ZEBULON It’s Game 4 of this crucial five-game series late in the first half, and the Carolina Mudcats are going to need to win two straight afternoon games to avoid losing a home series to last-place West Tenn.
And it’s hot, hot, hot.
(Spoiler alert: Mudcats win 4-3. That’s defensive hero Todd Frazier in the picture.) Here’s the grid.
My daily drive from Brier Creek (the Townhouses, OK?) is becoming routine after four trips. It’s basically get on I-540 East, follow instructions at the end of it when you have no other choice, look for the official brown sign that says “Five County Stadium,” and then turn right when you see the big baseball on top of the water tower.
As soon as I come through the gate I remember it’s “Family Fun Day,” since there’s a guy a bit older than me having a catch with a guy who’s probably his son. About 75 people are playing catch, and after the game the kids will run the bases.
It’s also “Pink in the Park” day, with the hosts wearing whites with pink trim, staff members sporting pink ribbons and all manner of pink Mudcats souvenirs for sale. Broadcaster Patrick Kinas, apparently the only other local media type at the game, is wearing a pink N.C. State shirt in memory of basketball coach Kay Yow who died of breast cancer in January after fighting it for 22 years. Kinas is also the veteran radio voice of the Wolfpack Women.
I complete my culinary circuit of the park with a cheeseburger and natural cut fries. The burger is a keeper (but really, how can you mess one up unless you have some old meat or knock it off the grill?), so now the rotation is Italian sausage to chicken tenders to cheeseburgers.
Let’s play ball.
Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Chris Heisey, David Bell, Duke, Durham Bulls, Florida State, Kay Yow, Logan Parker, Marshall Hubbard, Matt Mangini, N.C. State, Patrick Kinas, Ryan Jackson, Sean Henry, Southern League, Todd Frazier, UNC, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, William & Mary
