Lenoir Rhyne

Lenoir Rhyne started off their season with an intense first game beating Lander 4-3. Now I'm not a stats man and I don't keep a scorebook, so I may not get everything accurate, but I do know what happened. I have found that if the next 50 games or so are like the one I watched Wednesday, I will never survive the season.

I rode down to Nowheresville with Mark Tarleton and his lovely family. Fortunately, Mark had me sit in the front seat as his navigator. After taking a short 3 hour nap, I woke up and... voila...we were there. Please don't ever ask me for directions to Greenwood SC because you may end up in Georgia.

The baseball park was outstanding, the food was ok, the umps were late (fortunately, they heard we were running a little late ourselves due to the navigator) and the game was great! Jesse Jordan was outstanding. He completely baffled the high potent offense of Lander for nearly 8 innings. In the 9th inning "Da Bears" tacked on two more runs cruising into the bottom of the 9th with a 4-1 lead. I switched to my relaxed mode and started to regale the local Landerites that they should know better then to think they could beat Da Bears. Many schools bring their football team to heckle the opposing team.....Lander brought their golf team. They were pretty good hecklers, but they kept confusing strikes and balls with birdies and bogeys. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but the thought of golf players trying to intimidate an opposing team just ain't right.

Taylor MacCurdy played outstanding at SS and had some key hits to lead the LR offense. Da Bears hit the ball well, but struggled all day driving home runners in scoring position. But for their first game they did well. Bobby Kennett, after not playing for 2 years, came on in relief and threw strikes picking up the save. It was a welcoming sight to have Bobby pitch so well. He will be needed.

Okay...I saved this for last. I know how some of you think. ~ yeah Braves..you are saying this to ensure your freeloading status to another out of town game~ but you will be wrong. Dallas Tarleton, the freshman catcher for LR, is going to be a beast. I told everyone last year that Dal was the most underrated HS catcher in the state. I can confidently say that Dallas was the best HS catcher in the state. The young man has grown a couple of inches and has packed on 15 pounds of muscle...and he's still growing. He has a cannon for an arm (throwing out 2 baserunners on off speed pitches], but has surprising power at the plate. Mark my words...Dallas Tarleton will become the best college catcher in the state and one of the best in the country. He is the full package!

Alright, if the next 50 games are like the first, ol' Braves will not last the season.

 

"Dallas Tarleton, the freshman catcher for LR, is going to be a beast. I told everyone last year that Dal was the most underrated HS catcher in the state. I can confidently say that Dallas was the best HS catcher in the state. The young man has grown a couple of inches and has packed on 15 pounds of muscle...and he's still growing. He has a cannon for an arm (throwing out 2 baserunners on off speed pitches], but has surprising power at the plate. Mark my words...Dallas Tarleton will become the best college catcher in the state and one of the best in the country. He is the full package!"

Absolutely agree! I can tell you that he has helped to develop some good pitchers out of Piedmont while he was here (Morgan Tyson, Timmy King, etc.). Dallas knows how to call a game and understands the nuances (sp?) of being a catcher. So basically, he has the mental part down and he adds a great bat along with a tremendous arm. The kid is simply one of the best catchers I have seen in this area. Not to mention that he is down to earth nice and comes from a great family!

 

Braves ...

Karen and I (along with John) will be up there at Da Bears game on sunday. rc is planning on attending too.

 

pops...i'm not sure of sunday due to rain. i will be there saturday for sure...jr is pitching 2nd game saturday

 

should be a good one!

 

Braves

Dallas flew under the radar for sure. Mark has done a great job thru the years with him and I enjoyed watching him this past summer as the Copperheads and Anglers must have played atleast 5 or 6 times against each other in some great games. I know Coach Suggs mentioned he was one of the best hitters he had seen.

Depending on which weather report you look at it's going to me raining either Saturday or Sunday. http://weather.msn.com/local.aspx?wealocations=wc:USNC0312

 

anybody have a portable heater i can borrow

 

heater

Braves we are watching from here in Roxboro (Jerrod and myself) and we are going to try and catch some games. I will bring my heater when I come and I certainly want to meet you face to face!!!!:229031_ha :229031_ha
Do they have any hot chocolate????

 

I hope to meet you then B...but you can forget about getting any hot chocolate. Whatever is available will be claimed by John MacCurdy...and he won't share!

 

Dallas Tarleton has finally got the recognition he deserves. The kid is a STUD behind the plate and I can honestly say he is the best catcher I have ever had. The kid thinks like he is a pitcher and know's how to set up a batter and has great feet. He gunned Grag MiClat from JM Robinson 4 out of 5 times when I played with Dal. The kid has an amazing arm and can throw people out on any pitch the pitcher throws. I remember I threw him a changeup low and away and he came up and gunned Greg out at 2nd and Greg got a good jump on the pitch. I knew that Dal had my back and could throw out anybody at anytime.

Oh yea, I forgot to mention how great of a hitter he is. Has an awesome stroke for a left-handed hitting catcher. Can spray the ball to both sides of the field and has great hands and even though he can get fooled on some pitches, he keeps his hands back and still can get a hit. I remember he hit near .400 his junior year and I am sure he was right near there his senior year. Dal was by far the most underrated player in the state of NC in high school. He will do nothing but shine at LR and we will hear his name for years and years to come.

:229031_ha = The Tarleton family.


Hey Braves, Mark is a awesome guy and I can tell you and him will take many trips together for the next four years. Tell him I said "hey and hope all is good with him and his family"