North Carolina A&T

http://www.news-record.com/sports/local/aggies_060105.htm


I'm not sure if many of you guys are familiar with the story of the A&T team this season but it's a pretty good one. Playing in a conference of historically black schools they (and other conference schools) don't typically field strong baseball teams, partially due to the fact that a lot of young black kids are mostly playing football and basketball at the high school level.

A&T won the MEAC conference this year and with a 27-25 record they will be lucky if they win a game in the series but they are excited to be playing and just might sneak up and give Clemson a game in the opening round.

The best part about the team is with the exception of one player the entire roster is made up of local North Carolina high school kids. Two that I know of are sophomore Charlie Gamble who played at Southern Guilford and John Primus - a freshman from Garner. Gamble is a one of a kind 6’6” third baseman leading the team in homers and RBIs. He played for the Greensboro Legion team last year and has one of the sweetest swings I’ve ever seen. I’ve never watched Primus play but I know he pitched for the Legion state champs from Garner last season. Another local kid on the team, Dustin Ijames I believe is the son of the old Kernersville Glenn ( Ijames did coach at Glenn right?) coach.

Roster


But that to me is the best part of the story – the coach went out and found a whole team full of homegrown talent, many of them who flew under the radar of bigger schools. With all these local kids I figure a few of you guys may know some of them.



I wish them good luck in the series

 

I read this story yesterday .... it's a great one. The kids really strive to make it work.

.... walking a mile in the other guys shoes will really make you realize that where you sit on the bus isn't nearly as important as being on the bus to begin with.

Thanks for posting the link Wossa.

 

Coach Ijames

If you want to see Coach Ijames, his son Dustin, JP Primus, and of course, lots of other college kids play ball this summer, catch the Kernersville Bulldogs games. They play in the SCBL (Southern Collegiate Baseball League).

Website is www.kernersvillebulldogs.com. That will give you a list of their schedule and roster.

They were supposed to start their season Wednesday but were postponed due to rain and will travel to Athens for a doubleheader tomorrow.

Coach Ijames has put together winning teams for the past 3 years for the Kernersville team.

 

I ve...

known and competed against Keith for over ten years a good quality baseball man and communicator! He is doing a fine job as I knew he would once given the opportunity years ago and is finally paying dividends... Congrats to Coach Shumate and my boy Dustin!

 

Hey Wossa! Are you familiar with Garner? Ever heard of Butch Davis?

 

not really AJ - I'm from Greensboro. I remember Primus from Garner because he played against the Greensboro Legion team last year in the state championships