Troy eliminated

May 09, 2008

By Drew Champlin

Looks like North Texas eliminated Troy in the SBC softball tournament, hosted by Troy.

I think Ken Rogers was there covering it this morning, so we’ll have game coverage. Regardless, it was a disappointing tournament for the host Trojans. Most of the team is back next year with some good newcomers, so I figure they’ll be in the hunt again in 2009.

Friday link

By Drew Champlin

You guys probably don’t want to read about your team getting no-hit, but here’s my gamer from Troy’s loss to ULM yesterday in softball.

Right now, Trojans are tied with North Texas at 2-2 in the fifth in the SBC Tournament.

Troy falls to losers’ bracket

May 08, 2008

By Drew Champlin

The first Troy softball game I cover and they get no-hit, losing 5-0 to UL-Monroe, the No. 7 seed who is now in the winners’ bracket final. ULM had a girl hit a pair of 2-run homers and Troy never got anything going.

I’ll put in some quotes or 2 that I don’t use in a story later if I have any.

Troy plays North Texas in an elimination game at 10 a.m. If they win that, they have to beat ULM twice to get to the SBC final. The first game would be at 3 p.m., and if Troy won, would play sometime Saturday.

9:15 p.m. EDIT - Troy could ride the arm of freshman Ashlyn Williams, who won SBC Freshman of the Year honors, pitched in 51 games and has thrown some 280 innings this year. In softball, the girls can throw 3 games in a day effectively. That’s amazing.

“Ashlyn has been our workhorse,“ coach Melanie Davis said. “There’s no limit to the number of innings she could pitch. We do feel like she is the type of pitcher that can carry us. On another note, I’m proud of Cassie Lassiter for coming in and allowing Ashlyn to rest a bit.“

Lassiter pitched 2 innings of hitless relief.

Senior Jessica Lyle was also brought in to the interview room. She along with 2 other seniors are supposed to go through graduation Friday morning, but Troy’s 10 a.m. game will likely prevent that.

“I really thought Ashlyn pitched great,“ Lyle said. “But they had two big swings of the bat and all the sudden it’s 5-0. One mistake and they capitalized. We didn’t capitalize on the other pitcher’s mistakes, so we’ve got some adjustments to make.“

Check DothanEagle.com for a full game story Friday morning.

On Josh Allen

By Drew Champlin

The guy from Patriotsblog e-mailed me back regarding my entry below.

Here is what he had to say

“I can now confirm that Josh Allen was number eleven. 

Also, if you’re interested, he looked very good at the Friday practices.  He made good cuts, has soft hands, and seemed to have good speed.  However, on Saturday, he dropped a few catchable passes.  Overall, he seems like a viable option to be signed, and could compete for a practice squad spot.“

Off to cover Troy softball - Troy’s road to the SBC Tournament championship got easier when No. 2 seed Florida Atlantic got eliminated in two games earlier today, losing to North Texas on a walk-off home run. Troy plays No. 7 seed ULM at 3 p.m. today.

Thursday links

May 07, 2008

By Drew Champlin

From the Dothan Eagle, Ken Rogers writes on Troy’s come-from-behind win in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.

Also, for you guys in Pike County, ace prep reporter David Mundee writes on a successful high school coach stepping down in Brundidge.

A Patriots blog (I think it’s a fan blog) writes on some rookies at mini-camp/tryouts and mentioned Kenny Cattouse. WR Josh Allen was there and might be one of those unnamed WRs. I sent an e-mail to the guy to see if he knows.