NABF notebook

Ted Allen and Chris Humphreys


Published: July 26, 2008

Playing with wooden bats makes for a more natural sounding game, like that at the professional level. But it also takes some of the power of the hitters and makes it more of a finesse game. In three days of tournament play at City Stadium, a total of 12 games, there hasn’t been a home run hit out of Calvin Falwell Field.

“I like wooden bats,” said Franklin County Panthers pitcher Ryan Ward, who threw a complete game 8-1 victory over East Cobb (Ga.) on Friday. “You get a lot of pop, but the ball dies. It helps pitchers out a lot.”

“It changes the complexion of the game a little bit,” Panthers coach Fred Heatwole added. “It makes bunting more important – executing bunts and fielding bunts.”

Organizers receive props

Heatwole, like many of the coaches in town this week, was appreciative of the efforts of Virginia Amateur Baseball, Inc., commissioner G.R. Wiley and his administrative staff of Susan Hall and Mary Love, the 2007 NABF Woman of the Year, in organizing the tournament.

“G.R. Wiley and Susan and Mary have done a great job,” Heatwole said. “We’re thankful to them for allowing us to play in our state. Most of the time, we have to travel to do something like this. This is very big for the kids. They get to play in great facilities.”

Rustburg High coach Barry Godsey, who organized that site this weekend, said the feedback from players and fans has been predominantly positive.

“We’ve gotten lots of compliments on the field, the teams in our area and the hospitality,” Godsey said. “That’s a tribute to G.R. (Wiley).”

Brizendine belts one out

Brookville’s Kent Brizendine, one of the Bees’ drafted players from Hill City, had a pretty impressive tournament at the plate, especially in Thursday night’s 5-1 victory over MacCombs (Mich.) Storm at Rustburg. The rising E.C. Glass senior smacked a line drive double off the wall, in about the same spot as Alec Thompson’s shot in a previous at-bat, before hitting a three-run home run. He finished with four RBIs in that game before delivering an RBI double in Friday’s 8-2 loss to the Delco Diamonds.

Recruiting

Lynchburg College and Liberty University’s baseball programs probably couldn’t have been happier than to offer up their fields to be venues for the NABF 17-& Under Worlds Series. “It’s been a great tournament and were able to get kids on our campus and watch kids from 33 different teams,” Hornets coach Percy Abell said. “We are looking kids that fit the program, are quality players and play hard.”

In addition some of the local colleges that had representatives spotted were VMI, Randolph Macon and Longwood.