We have more baseball scores rolling in today and from the looks of things Northwest Guilford has won the Crystal Coast Classic with a 9-2 win over East Carteret on Wednesday. The Vikings defeated New Bern 9-7 on Tuesday to propel them into the finals against EC. NWG was led in the championship game by winning pitcher Robbie McIntosh, the son of Jim and Angie McIntosh(or is it Bobby and Laura?). Young Robbie struck out six EC batters, plus McIntosh was hitting the ball with authority when he got his chance at the plate, by going 3-3 with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2 RBI’s and 2 double cheeseburgers. Big Mac and NWG had quite a tournament and Seth Hanner was there to help out on Wednesday with a double and an RBI for the NWG Vikings.
Big Rob Mac was on the attack on Wednesday and we were talking yesterday about the work turned in by Logan Self on Monday, but the real man must have been diving into the waters of the Crystal Coast with full force as Alex Swim came dog-paddling back home to Greensboro, with the tournament MVP trophy in hand. Alex Swim of NWG, the MVP of the BB&T Crystal Coast Classic. Swim had(and I hope these are total tournament numbers) 5RBI’s, 4 runs scored, one home run, a double, and he went 4-10 at the plate and he is your MVP as NWG wins the title.
Tommy Houston also had a good tourney for NWG and I wonder if he is the brother of NWG Viking record-setting pole vaulter Scott Houston? There may be some other NWG players that made major contributions. If so, leave your name and numbers in our comment box…..
As we travel out to Northeast Guilford we find that Ragsdale continues to pour it on as the State’s #1 team, according to the Impact Baseball 3-A Poll, ran past Eastern Guilford 13-2. The Ragsdale Tigers improve to (11-1) and they are getting primed for that meeting next Tuesday with Southeast Guilford at SEG…
On Wednesday, Ragsdale was led by winning pitcher Bennett Hixon who struck out 5 Eastern Guilford Wildcat batters in 5 innings of work. Big Ben Fultz continues to put a hurtz on the baseball as BBF was 4-4, with a triple, a double, and 4RBI’s. The “D Man”, centerfielder DeSean Anderson had 2RBI’s and he scored 2 runs for the Tigers. No news on Nate Cash or Nick McBride, or Kyle Brandenburg or Billy Stone from Wednesday’s game. For Eastern Guilford, Derek Holbrook was the bright spot for the Wildcats with an extra-large double.
No news on what they are going to do today at NEG and nothing to report on the NEG-Southern Guilford game if there was one on Wednesday. What are they going to do out there today? Stay tuned, we’ll know more on Friday morning and if you know more today, then leave us a note in our comment box.
Robbie McIntosh’s parents are Bobby and Laura.
Alex Swim…not David
No Tommy is not related to Scott.
Tommy is a good 2nd baseman and he and Robbie turned 3 or 4 double plays.
Nathan Cook had a fantastic show on the mound.
Havelock game …Tommy Plante stepped up on the mound and helped Logan when he ran out of gas.
How about the Dixon kid for NWG in game one vs. Havelock. These Northwest Gulford connections are intriguing.
Swim is now Alex and no connection to David Sweum from a few years back in the local Palomino Leagues….
The McIntosh ties are now causing me confusion. Are Robbie and Hannah related> Robbie with the NWG baseball team and Hannah the All-Conference girls basketball player? Are there two different McIntosh families? One of the long-time local baseball coaches told me earlier this year that the Jim, Angie, Hannah connection was a done deal and you would think based on what I was told that the Robbie line would be right there with the rest.
No Tommy/Scott Houston connection….
Nathan Cook and Tommy Plante, good to get them in here and that Phillip kid was it Phillip Dixon?
One thing for certain, Northwest Guilford and Coach Sonny Gann’s team are getting some good Pub here on the site.
Thanks for the input and keep it coming. Maybe we can give ThisBoardRocks.com a run for their money…….
We will see NWG live and in person in a few weeks when they take on the Grimsley Whirlies……
*****Don’t forget the Gary Ewing(Ted Shackleford) and Val Ewing(Joan Van Ark) connection. One heck of a team.*****
The NW Vikings represented their school and community very well in the 17th annual Havelock Easter tourney. The 2008 team is coming together very well for Coach Sonny Gann and his staff. Pitching is very strong. Hitting and defense are improving. The team has improved to 7-3 after the tourney.
NW won the first game 5-3 over Havelock with Logan Self(2-1) getting the win in 5 1/3 innings and Tommy Plante(1-0 and 1 save) getting the save by striking out 4 the rest of the way.
NW won the second game 9-7 over a strong New Bern team with Omar DeLaRosa (1-1) getting the win in 6 1/3 innings with 8 K’s. Nathan Cook (1 Save) got the save by shutting down New Bern with two runners on base.
NW won the third and final game 9-2 over East Carteret with Robbie McIntosh (3-1) recording 6K’s in 4 innings. Stephen Mekita (1 Save) got the save by pitching the last three innings.
Alex Swim got the Tourney MVP on his birthday with clutch hitting that included a 3 run shot over the right center wall in 40 F weather. Alex was very deserving of the MVP. He has hit well all year.
Robbie McIntosh went 5 for 10 in the tourney and Tommy Houston went 3 for 6 in the tourney.
One other item that I would like to note about the five seniors on the NW team: Geoff Fahnestock, Trent McKenzie, Eric Presnell, Seth Hanner, and Tommy Plante. Three of the young men have been accepted into the school of engineering at NCSU where they plan to major in Biomolecular, Biomedical, and Chemical Engineering. The other two seniors have been accepted in other top level schools but have not confirmed which schools they will attend. I asked three of the boys what they think the cumulative GPA of the 5 might be and they responded around 4.4 tp 4.5. We are very proud of the NW seniors and the hard work they have put toward their studies. They are a tribute to their school and their community.
Congratulations to NW on a great tourney!
Thanks for the info about the 5 seniors. Student athletes don’t get the credit they deserve some time for being great students first and great athletes second. The Coach of one of the teams that my son has played for tried to get the newspaper to talk about the ‘students’ he had and they wouldn’t print it. What a shame! Thanks for giving these seniors academic recognition.
One last comment on NW Vikings winning the tourney. Congratulations need to be given to the NW catchers. The Havelock field had a deep backstop that punished catchers for passed balls and pitchers for wild pitches. The catchers for NW: Eric Presnell, Alex Swim, and Jake Sipe did an excellent job of blocking the ball.
The NW low ERA year to date is the result of the NW battery. Pitchers get their names in the paper, but it is the catcher that is the general on the field of play. At NW, Coach Sonny Gann allows the catcher to call most of the pitches. The catchers at NW have done an excellent job of calling the pitch and location. During the tourney, they would take that trip to the mound during tight spots to talk through the situation with the pitcher. They also took a few lumps on foul tips and blocked balls.
Tip of the hat to the other half of the battery. Keep up the great work.
Way to go NW Vikings, your play and the end results show this team is a force not to be taken lighty. One can’t help but be amazed abou some of the comments written here. First and foremost every player on the team contributed to their success irregardless of who or who is not mentioned. No doubt one of the most beaten up positions is that of a catcher. They are essential to a successful team just is every position player and every reserve player. Yes catchers call pitches, but calls are also shaken off by the pitcher….oh and lets not forget that they can call the pitch all day but if the pitcher can’t throw it… well we all know what happens then. And if potition players can’t make a throw, well we know what happens there too. It is obvious NW player have tallent. What will continue them on the road of success is there playing as a team unit without the worry of who’s name is mentioned. If bets were placed I’d say no kid ever sets out to make an error, have a bad throw, fail to block a ball up, throw a wild pitch, strike out when at bat, get picked off, miss a sign, misread a pop up….or even play to get his name mentioned here. They play for the love of the game, good and bad. That’s baseball.