Changing of the Guard

The musical chair for coaching continued this week when Roger Gentry stepped down at Whitley County and took a coaching job with Chuck King in Georgia.
I was really looking forward to working with Gentry this summer and fall but will not get the chance. I think he made the right move. A move that will certainly benefit his family, especially his two daughters who will no doubt become outstanding softball players on the high school and college level.
Katie-Jo pitched for Whitley County High School and did a super job. With a little fine tuning she will become a strong player in a softball crazy state. Georgia has produced some of the best talent in the nation. Katie-Jo will get to play softball nearly year around.
The timing was bad for Gentry and he took a lot of heat over his decision, but I am certain it was the right one for himself and his family.
Jim Black will take over as head coach of the Colonels. Black is an outstanding coach and person. He will put a lot of enthusiasm in the program and I’d say footballs will be flying around Whitley County has he likes the open air attack.
I, for one, am excited to see Black make the move, but at the same time hate it for Williamsburg. He has done a great job with the softball program, building a lot of confidence in his team along with a new complex for the girls to play. The softball program might take a bigger blow than the football program at Williamsburg.
I am sure it was a tough decision, knowing he will miss seeing his daughter, Corissa and wife, Teresa, at his football games. Teresa is the cheer coach at Williamsburg and Corissa will be a senior cheerleader at WHS.
“It will be extremely difficult.” Black said at a press conference Tuesday. “They have been there for all my career. Hopefully, after Corissa graduates things will change a little bit and they will be back here with me.”
Now, Joy Mack and Dennie Bird will be looking for a football and softball coach at Williamsburg. Black was a fixture at Williamsburg and will be tough to replace.
Playoffs
The post-season is here and four teams were eliminated Monday night. Williamsburg took it on the chin against South Laurel in both baseball and softball. It’s so hard for a tiny Class “A” school to compete against a 4A school like South Laurel.
However. both Don Stricklin (baseball) and Jim Black (softball) were very proud of their teams and have all rights to be. The Yellow Jackets lost 10-0 in the baseball game while the Lady Jackets lost 9-0.
“I would like to have put a scare into them,” Stricklin said Tuesday. “I was disappointed that we didn’t play well. That one inning really hurt us.”
Stricklin felt his team would be able to hang around and give the Cardinals some trouble. “But, we have played this way several times. It was those little things that hurt us.”
The Lady Jackets made South Laurel go the limit. The Lady Cardinals won 9-0 in seven innings. Cecily Sears had a good game on the mound for Williamsburg but the Lady Cardinals were just to powerful.
South Laurel, ranked 18th in the state, will make a run at the regional title behind Miss Softball candidate, Morgan Alsip. The Lady Cardinals are a sound team. When it is all said and done the regional showdown should be held in London. I’ll be shocked if North Laurel or South Laurel doesn’t win the region. They should play for the championship but because they are in different districts they may meet in the semifinals.
North Laurel won their district Monday, beating Clay County 9-0.
All-Stars
Staying with softball. Two local ladies were chosen to play in the East-West All-Star Series in Lexington, June 16-18. Corbin’s Felicia Pigg and Whitley County’s Annie Wilson, will play for the junior team. They will play six games in two days.
Pigg is the first Corbin’s player to ever play in the games. She will get to pitch against the West All-Stars and play second base. Wilson is the third player from Whitley County. She will catch for the East All-Stars.
State Champion
Elizabeth Patrick, a seventh grader at Williamsburg, won the middle school pole vault title in the Kentucky Middle School Track meet Saturday.
She won the event with a vault of 7’6″. She had two nice attempts at eight-feet but failed to clear the bar. Patrick is also a member of the high school team and qualified for the state Class “A” meet last year.
State tennis
Whitley County doubles’ team, Becca Wilson and Elouise Lynch will be in this week’s Kentucky High School Tennis Tournament. The duo lost in the finals to Middlesboro, 6-7 in a tie breaker and 5-7.
Both are seniors at Whitley County High School. This is Wilson’s second straight trip to the high school tennis tournament.
Colby Wilson, a semifinalist in the singles, will also return to the state championships for the second year in a row.