Courtesy of John Olszewski and SportsCarolinaMonthly……
Sophomore Season Equals Growth for Greensboro Adult Baseball
By Judy Caldwell-Midero and Gina Marie Hampshire
Spring is on its way back to the Triad and baseball fever is spreading. The
Greensboro affiliate of the National Adult Baseball Association (NABA) expects great
things out of 2012, with good reason.
The NABA enjoyed a banner inaugural season in 2011, highlighted by a no-hitter thrown by Tim Hawkins of the Greensboro St. Patty’s Day Yankees. The Greensboro Reds took home multiple honors, including league championship, league MVP for Jeremy
Jones, and Dale Robertson garnering Pitcher of the Year.
Overwhelming community support for last year’s five participating teams indicates
that the Greensboro NABA will nearly double its size in 2012, featuring at least
nine teams. The league welcomes two established teams to their ranks, the
Greensboro Yankees and the Carolina Rebels. Yankees Manager Omar Wright
says that he is bringing his team over to the Greensboro NABA to improve its game. “We built my team up and we want to face the best competition out there,” says
Wright.
Also joining the NABA, as league advisor, is Rick Young, who spent over a decade
as a head coach in Kalamazoo, MI, and currently serves as assistant baseball
coach at High Point Christian Academy. Young is also the father of Elon University
pitcher Nate Young. “I am very excited to have Rick join us. He’s got a lot of experience building athletic programs,” says Greensboro NABA President Enad Haddad. “As we head into the upcoming season, everything seems very bright!”
Greensboro will host this year’s NABA national regional tournament in late
June, where hometown teams will face other NABA affiliates, such as Nashville,
Charlotte, Richmond, and the newly formed Fayetteville team.
The NABA’s selection of Greensboro as the tournament location is a powerful vote
of confidence for the local league, notes Haddad. “They are very supportive of what
we are doing here.
Joe Collins, who is vice president of NABA national and head of league development, approached me about having the tournament here because we are so passionate about baseball.”
Also on Greensboro’s agenda are a number of out-of-league games with Carolina-
Virginia Collegiate League teams. The league counts some noted players
among its ranks, including:
Alex Starbuck– Guilford College, ODAC All-Conference 2010.
Jeremy Jones– A&T, MEAC player of the year 2005; Independent Frontier League All-Star, and former draft pick. Colorado Rockies.
Kyle Wooden– Guilford College; Division 3 All-American 2011
Jason Rook -2008 12th round pick Baltimore Orioles; All-time strike-out leader, Appalachian State.
Damon Newman-1993 ninth round pick for the Oakland A’s.
But, at the heart of the Greensboro NABA is something very simple, a love of the game. The league actively seeks, “anyone 18 and up who wants to play baseball,” says
Haddad. “Just regular baseball players.”
The 2012 season begins in mid-May, with The Rally Monkeys of Downtown
Greensboro as official league sponsor for the Greensboro NABA.
INFO:
State Wide, State Pride Season Opener Classic against Charlotte NABA: April 29
Greensboro NABA All Stars Vs. Catawba- Valley Stars LP Fran Stadium (Home of the
Hickory Crawdads.) July 14
Visit Greensboro NABA at: www.greensboronaba.com