Braves finish up PBC tournaments:Tennis winds up at .500, softball season ends at 17-30 and golf places sixth in the PBC Tournament

By Myra Frederick
Staff Writer

Three of UNCP’s sports' teams participated in separate Peach Belt Tournaments within the last two weeks. The Braves’ women’s tennis team, softball team and the men’s golf team all played well in the tournament and returned with great accomplishments.

Lady Braves Tennis

The Braves’ tennis team entered the tournament as the number 11 seed and they returned from the tournament as the number ten seed. The Braves went up against the number 6 seed Kennesaw State in the first round on April 15. The ladies were defeated by a score of 5-0. Head tennis coach Robin Langley said that Kennesaw State game was a tough match, but the team still could have played better.

“We made too many errors,” Langley said. “We were setting up the points well, but we were not putting the ball away in doubles.”

On April 16, the Braves played Francis Marion University, the number 10 seed, early in the second round. The Braves blew out the Francis Marion Patriots with a win of 5-1. Langley said that the team’s loss against Kennesaw helped them to concentrate on their upcoming match against the Patriots.

“The girls came out on fire against Francis Marion,” Langley said.

The win was especially sweet to the Braves since they lost against the Patriots earlier in the season. Freshman Natalie Dies played at number three in the singles match against the Patriots. In doubles, freshman Stacey Wood and sophomore Erin Saltzman played at number one. The Braves won all three of their double matches. Over all, the ladies’ win over the Patriots was a team effort and win.

“The girls played with a lot of intensity and a lot of heart and it was evident that they really wanted that match,” Langley said.

The Braves were not as successful later in the second round when they played the USC Aiken Pacers. The number 9 seed Pacers ousted the Braves 5-1. The Pacers’ win ended the Lady Braves’ run in the tournament and their season.

Lady Braves Softball

The Braves’ softball team also did well in the Peach Belt softball tournament. The ladies played USC Aiken in the first round on April 16. The ladies held a 3-0 lead over the Pacers until the bottom of the sixth inning. The ladies then succumbed to the Pacers and lost 7-3.

According to Head Coach Steve Johnson, the team was playing good against the Pacers.

“We were playing very well,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that USC Aiken got hits that the Braves were not getting and as a result, led to their victory. He also implied that he should have taken pitcher McCorkle out of the game earlier than he did.
“I didn’t take our pitcher out fast enough,” Johnson said.

In Saturday’s second round, the lady Braves went up against the number three Lady Ospreys of North Florida. The Lady Ospreys defeated the Braves with a 5-0 score. Johnson said that one of the contributing factors of their loss was that they did not get enough hits in the game.

“We played fine defensively, but when you only have two hits its real difficult to score runs,” Johnson said.

The Lady Osprey’s win ended the Braves’ season with a 17-30 overall record.

The team still won big even though they left the tournament early.

Freshman Nicole McCorkle was named an All Peach Belt Conference performer. McCorkle is the first Braves’ pitcher to receive such an honor. McCorkle also broke the single-season and career strikeout marks record. She broke the old record of 96 strikeouts with 211 total strikeouts. Danielle Peters, also a freshman, broke the record of single-season stolen base record with 35 steals in 39 attempts. The old record was 25 steals. Peters had the number one record in the conference. The lady Braves had a productive season this year. They are sure to have an even more productive one next year with only two seniors leaving.

Braves Golf

The golf team won sixth place in the Peach Belt golf tournament. The Braves finished the tournament with rounds of 311, 307 and 313.

Freshmen Robert "Chris" Helms and Mark Long led the team. Helms finished at 232 and tied for 15th place. Long finished with 227. He finished individually in eighth place. On the first day of the tournaments, Long recorded the low round with 75.

Junior Greg Dobbins had a three-day 233. He tied for the 18th place. Rex Willoughby, junior, and John Thompson, a sophomore, completed the Braves’ line-up. Willoughby finished at 239. Thompson finished at 254. With the Braves’ finish this season, we can look for them to do even better next year.