New NCBCA site now operational

New NCBCA site has opened.

Go to: http://ncbca.org to check it out and book mark it.

If you would, please give any ideas on things you would like to see included on the site and/or how best to implement that idea within the site.

 

Preview of comming attractions

Special to the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association


Star-Crossed
By Evans Lalas

Roy Hobbs, the one season wonder for the mythical New York Knights, reflects in the movie The Natural: “Things sure turned out different. . . For years, I’ve lived with the idea I could be . . . be the best in the game . . . I could have broken every record in the book . . . And then, when I walk down the street people would’ve said: ‘There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game’.” Mention the name Steve Streater and most long time North Carolina high school baseball enthusiasts will have two thoughts similar to Hobbs: “Things sure turned out different” and he was the “best there ever was”, at least on the mound.

Streater, a multi-sport star, grew up in the sleepy little town of Sylva in the mountains of Western North Carolina. There, Steve and his brothers played the games of our youth with such excellence that the Streater name can still be heard echoing off the peaks and across the valleys of Jackson County. One brother would become the quarterback for the University of Tennessee where he would set the Volunteers’ record for rushing yardage by a quarterback. The others, including Steve, would make their way to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where they would star on the gridiron and help lead the Tar Heels to their last Atlantic Coast Conference title in 1980; a win over Texas in the Blue Bonnet Bowl; and a top 10 final ranking in both the AP and UPI polls. But it was on the high school diamond, and more specifically the mound, that Steve would establish marks so great, that they seem unimaginable today.

The year was 1977 and Sylva-Webster coach Babe Howell, a North Carolina sports hall of famer, knew he had something special in pitcher Streater. In fact, Streater had already won 38 games, the most ever for a North Carolina high school pitcher, in his prep career before he even toed the rubber for the first time his senior season. Howell had won championships before too, the latest coming just three years earlier with the help of Streater as a freshman, and in 1977 he knew another title was well within reach.

Not surprisingly, Streater would be on the mound as the starting pitcher come opening day for Sylva-Webster that spring. He would be there again the next time the Golden Eagles took the field too, and the next, and the next. For 24 consecutive games Streater would be the starting pitcher, pitching every inning of every game, less one inning, as Sylva-Webster would go 23-1 and win the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 3A state title.

“Like any position player, Steve wanted to be out there for every inning. It just so happened that his position was pitcher,” quipped one long time observer, as others fretted about overuse or abuse of Streater.

For the 3A state finals in 1977, Wake Forest-Roseville hosted Streater and the Golden Eagles for the three game championship series. After tossing a one hit shutout in the opening game, several of the Roseville players commented that “Streater was good, but they wished they could face Streater again. They thought they could hit him if they had a chance,” reported long time prep writer Tim Stevens. “Sure enough, Streater pitched the next day and the Wake Forest players were right, (they) touched Streater for two hits,” wrote Stevens, as Sylva-Webster celebrated the 3A title.

By the time Streater was done, he had set the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) records for most career wins (61) and wins in a single season (23). He also had 12 shutouts in 1977 (2nd all-time nationally) and had eight career no-hitters (tied for 8th nationally). He was named Eason National Player of the Year.

Following his collegiate football career, Streater flew to Washington in the spring of 1981, signing with the Redskins. After his return to RDU airport that evening, he was involved in a car accident that would leave him paralyzed from the chest down, never to walk again, and eventually resulting in his death in 2009.

North Carolina has had the good fortune to have many great players grace the prep diamonds though the years. Seven men in the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Luke Appling, Rick Ferell, Catfish Hunter, Buck Leonard, Gaylord Perry, Enos Slaughter, and Hoyt Wilhelm called North Carolina home. And like the big leaguers, North Carolina has had more than their share of prep stars listed in the NFHS record book as well:

· Tommy Greene tossed nine no hitters (7th all time) and had 270 strikeouts (5th) in ‘85
· Ron Williamson tossed 91 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run (3rd)
· Eric Faulk had 32 consecutive wins in ’94 -95
· Shawn Gallagher – 51 game hitting streak and five HRs in a single game in 1994-95
· David Mae struck out 640 in ‘81-84 (7th all time)
· Neil Thompson hit home runs in nine consecutive games in 1999
· LJ Grantham tossed two perfect games in the late ‘50’s
· Gary Johnson had 22 strikeouts in a seven inning game winning 4-3 in 1968
· Trot Nixon was Baseball America (BA) national player of the year in 1993
· Josh Hamilton was the overall number one selection and BA national player of the year in 1999

But none of them has a loftier place in the record book than Streater.

In 1984, the Olympic torch trekked the streets of America as it made its way to Los Angles for the Games of the XXIII Olympiad. Steve Streater, in his hand powered wheelchair, was one of the torch “runners.” As he rolled by several spectators, there to watch the Olympic Flame pass, you can imagine one whispering to the other: “Things sure turned out different,” as the other replies, “there goes the best there ever was.”

 

Nice article. Can't wait to see the new site. Hopefully more stories like this will surface.

Trivia Question: Two of the seven Hall of Famers from NC played for the same high school baseball coach. Who were the two players and who was their coach?

 

Site recently updated. Check it out!

 

Just saw this. My only question is this, why the choice to utilize the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill logo in your logo? You know that alienates lots of college programs throughout the state, right? I know you can't please everyone, but maybe developing your own logo will not set off fans of other programs within your own state. I like the the NCHSAA logo and how it attempts to unify programs in the state of NC. Maybe a small thing to you guys, but perhaps a big deal to others.

From a legal standpoint, using that logo may imply an affiliation to that collegiate baseball program, which could be construed as a violation and cause the Tar Heels to be penalized.

 

Site looks great and the work of the Association is solid...
BUT I too thought "oddly" of the logo choice as well.
Qurky I'm sure, and maybe even totally irrelevant, but I have to concur with Hoopsradio on this one.
Please don't take offense as none is meant!
(I realize the logo has more than just the NC overlapped.)

Hey - maybe a silhouette of RV with a cap on, placed in the center of the shield.
Huh? Huh? Thoughts?

 

I agree...you need to change the logo (for the reasons Hoop gave.) However, the site has been greatly improved. Kudo's to those responsible for taking their time to develop it.

I hope we can generate a lot of enthusiasm for the new site. It can become a coach's (HS/Amateur) resource. I believe they will have an updated "openings" list of schools needing to fill their HC position.

It can become a terrific place for HS coaches to interact with each other

 

I'm all for that!!!!!!!