The VHSL Spring Jubilee in now in the record books and congratulations go out to all ‘Big-11’ teams that reached play at Radford University and Virginia Tech. Here’s a quick rundown on how our local teams fared last weekend:
BASEBALL – Group A Division 2
The Glenvar Highlanders were the only local team at any level to reach the state Final-4. Glenvar advanced to the final Sunday morning after knocking off Nandua 4-3 in Saturday’s semifinal. Facing Wilson Memorial in the title game, Glenvar fell behind early and could never quite recover in losing to the Hornets 6-4. Good things look to be on the horizon for a Highlander team that was made up of 13 underclassmen and only 3 graduating seniors.
SOFTBALL – Group AA
Like Glenvar, the Cave Spring Knights were the only local representative among all levels at Radford. The Lady Knights converted the opportunity, winning the first softball state championship in school history. It was a dominating performance by a team anchored by underclassmen, as Cave Spring fought through 4 postponements before defeating one-loss King George Saturday night 7-1. Less than 24 hours later, the Knights topped defending state champs Woodgrove 9-3 to bring the hardware back to Southwest Roanoke County.
GIRLS SOCCER – Group AA
The Salem girls were the only local representative at any level, and the Lady Spartans gave a hard-fought effort before falling to eventual state champion Woodgrove 6-1 in Saturday’s semifinal.
BOYS TEAM TENNIS – Group AA
Hidden Valley reached the state semifinals before falling to Briar Woods 5-3 at Virginia Tech
BOYS TEAM TENNIS – Group A
Glenvar defeated Windsor 5-1 in Friday’s semifinal at Sun Tennis Center before falling in the final to George Mason 5-0 at Radford University on Saturday.
BOYS DOUBLES TENNIS – Group AA
Hidden Valley’s Tim Roehr and Grant Brown fell to Parker Wilson and Carter Watts of John Handley 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) in the semifinal round.
BOYS SINGLES TENNIS – Group AA
Salem’s Michael Drougas captured the state singles title with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Thacher Jennings of E.C. Glass in the semifinals, followed by a 7-5, 6-1 win in the final over James Monroe’s Fitzhugh Johnson Thursday at Virginia Tech
GIRLS TEAM TENNIS – Group AA
Hidden Valley reached the state semifinal at Virginia Tech on Friday, before dropping a 5-0 decision to eventual state champion Jamestown.
GIRLS SINGLES TENNIS – Group AA
Hidden Valley’s Ceyda Durmaz won the state title Thurday at Virginia Tech defeating Northside’s Karlie Pope 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals before dispatching Emily Kochard of Western Albemarle 6-0, 6-2
Luke Hancock, the former Hidden Valley standout and last month’s NCAA Final-4 most outstanding player with national champion Louisville, will be the guest speaker at the June 17th meeting of the Roanoke Valley Sports Club. The dinner meeting will be held at Roanoke Country Club beginning at 5:45 at a cost of $20 for members and $25 for non-member guests. Reservations are on a first come, first served basis and seating is limited. For information and reservations, call Maggie Drewry (725-7387) or Tom Marchi (588-2969).
The Salem Red Sox continue a week-long homestand with a four-game set Thursday through Sunday against the Lynchburg Hillcats. Game times are 7:05 Thurs./Fri; 6:05 Sat ; 4:05 Sun. After Sunday, the Red Sox do not return home until June 28th.
We now go to the mailbag, where a reader wants an update on the ever-popular late-night product reviews.
Dear Wild Bill: Seems everything has been quiet on your television product reviews. No new items to give us the heads-up on? (Wilma, Bent Mountain)
Au contraire, Wilma. The recent Washington Nationals west coast trip shed new light on a couple of hair care gadgets that are supposedly hot as sliced bread. Read on, and you be the judge.
The first is what I call a psychological marketing masterpiece-The Perfector. This gadget is for the person (everyone) who always wants a change. The pitch says it makes straight hair curly and curly hair straight. My suspicions were aroused when the inventor’s name was identified as McCool.
The jury is out on this one. Every actor is agog over every twirl of what simply looks like a curling iron, with apparently a reverse button to remove the curls if, instead of Shirley Temple, you prefer to resemble Marsha Brady; and, vice versa.
Our second product is clearly designed to appeal to those scientifically oriented. The pitch for the “Power Cloud Force Dryer” bombards us with talk about negative ions, positive ions and a button to switch to the ions you need that day. It also offers a bunch of free accessories that look like nothing more than hair clips, a couple of nozzles and a bag.
We have the before and after model in this one that even scared the bejeezy out of my cat Bombay via the TV screen. The woman looks like one of the brides of Dracula in the ‘before’ with the pitch saying, “She looks like she’s been in a hurricane.” I’ll agree with that assessment.
No problem. After using the “Power Cloud” things; she still looks like she’s been in a tornado and the ‘after’ shot still has my feline running for cover. But I’ll give this product a thumbs-up. Autumn is only 4 months away and I’ll need something to blow the leaves off the sidewalk.
Until next time, I’m just going to wash my coif and left it dry in the summer wind.
Send your wind-blown comments to: [email protected]
– Bill Turner