Auburn baseball left out of NCAA Tournament

To the surprise of just about no one, which likely includes the party of concern, the Auburn baseball team was left out of the NCAA Tournament field of 64 today.

The Tigers (31-25, 11-19) failed to make the SEC Tournament field of eight for the sixth consecutive season. That, along with a 3-9 finish to their conference schedule, was probably too much to overcome despite a killer RPI. All eight teams that made the conference tournament have baseball to look forward to in the near future.

Auburn finished as high as 31 in RPI, according to a number of Web sites. That makes Auburn the best team, per RPI, to be left out of the field.

(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)

They’ll show anything on TV nowadays

Looky here what’s going to be on Comcast Sports South tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.: Auburn High’s state championship game.

So if you haven’t seen the Tigers’ win yet - or just find the words I used to describe it inadequate (sniff, sniff) - tune into channel 35 tomorrow at 11:30.

OK?

A few good minutes with…

Auburn High’s Drew Eiland, Reid Carter, Scott Norrell and Chace Mitchell!!!

That big fella in the center up there is Mitchell (the catcher) surrounded by the Tigers’ three ace pitchers (from left to right): Eiland, a junior; Carter, a senior; and Norrell, another senior. The ones that got Auburn through the playoffs and to its first state championship in 23 years.

The four took some time out from their busy schedule anxiously waiting for summer vacation to talk about Uncrustables, Bull Durham and the many and varied nicknames of teammate Trey Gregg.

Do you have any superstitions or pre-game rituals?
Carter: Before I pitch, I got through…
Mitchell: ...a 45-minute ritual…
Carter: ...I’m probably the slowest person getting ready that you’ll ever see. I always run to the same spot on the field, I always do the same exact stretches, throw in the same exact spot - closest to the line - and, uh…yeah. I’m probably the most superstitious person on the field.
Eiland: I’m kind of the polar opposite. I just go out and throw until my arm feels good. And then I go to the bullpen and throw about 15 pitches, tell coach (Tommy) Carter I’m ready, but then he tells me that 15 pitches is not enough to be ready. So I have to go back and throw more.
Norrell: I’m more like Reid: I’m pretty superstitious when I’m getting ready. Just not the extent that he goes to. He’s kind of crazy about it. I just warm up with the same people, kind of in the same general area each time. If I’m ready, I’m ready. I don’t have to run to the same spot on the field or anything like that.

Who’s your favorite pro player?
Norrell: Mine would be Tim Hudson, because he’s like 5-foot-9. (Note: Norrell is about 5-foot-7) He got cut from his high school team - Central - when he was like a junior. And he got to Auburn throwing like 78. And he made it to the Braves organization. He didn’t give up on baseball, he just loves the game that much and stayed with it.

What’s your favorite meal?
Norrell: (laughing) Chace, this one’s probably you.
Mitchell: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Eiland: No it’s not.
Mitchell: Dude, I love those things. Get those little Uncrustables out of the freezer…
Eiland: ...that’s gross…
Mitchell: ...get about three of those, pop them into the microwave about six seconds, flip it over, about six more seconds. That’s the best, when they’re warm.

What’s on the iPods right now? What are we listening to?
Carter: I got into a group where through the playoffs, I would listen to the rap group, Youngbloodz. That’s the playlist I would listen to before every game and it would get me in the zone.
Mitchell: He kept me up at night listening to Youngbloodz.
Carter: It’s definitely good pump-up music.
Norrell: It’s a little bit different than Reid’s, but I have a reason, though. It’s a group called MercyMe. Because when I was warming up in Mary Montgomery (in the semifinals) - I’m surprised I could hear it over all those people - but they were playing one of their songs at the football stadium and that was the Final Four. So for the championship, on the way down there I just listened to it about five times.

What was the most annoying or distracting thing a Mary Montgomery fan shouted at you during the semifinals?
Mitchell: My mom’s name. And my girlfriend’s name.
Carter: They were calling me Abe Lincoln because of my beard. It was kind of funny. You kind of had to smile that off. That was pretty good.
Norrell: They didn’t say much to me. They couldn’t see me over the mound, they said.
Mitchell: ‘Circus freak?‘ Wasn’t that what they were saying?
Carter: They said you couldn’t ride the rides.
Norrell: They said if you’re as tall as your fastball, you can’t ride the rides.
Eiland: Grant (Massey) got it the worst. Grant was over at third base.
Norrell: They just talked to him about random stuff. Grant’s not one you want to yackback. He’s kind of like me. He gets angry sometimes for no reason.

What about your favorite movie?
Carter: Mine would have to be Bull Durham. Every time that comes on, I click on it and tell myself I’m only going to watch it for a little bit. But I watch the entire movie every time it comes on.

What was the deal with Trey Gregg going by “Happy” at the state finals?
Norrell: Nobody really calls him Trey. We call him “Happy” or “Happysaurus”...
Mitchell: ...“Happy Gregg”...“Happypotamous”...
Carter: He’s got a bunch of nicknames. He’s got the most nicknames on the team.
Norrell: “Paco”...

Where does “Paco” come from?
Eiland: He calls everybody “Pancho.“
Norrell: Yeah, and I called him “Paco” one time. And he’s like, ‘A’ight, Pancho,“ and we just went back and forth.

So if I’m writing about him in the paper: I call him Trey?
Norrell: I’d say “Dirkopotamous.“

Harper retiring as Lee-Scott baseball coach

After 10 years coaching the Warriors, Jay Harper is hanging up his hat and cleats.

Harper, who led Lee-Scott to a 202-114 record, seven playoff appearances and a state title in his 10 years there, said he is retiring to spend more time with his family and on his “real job” as an agent for Farmers Insurance. Harper has also been scouting high school players and helping coach youth teams in Opelika since 1978.

Harper’s son, Jace, just graduated tonight and will be looking at opportunities to play college ball in the next couple of weeks.

The Warriors were 18-11 in Harper’s final season, losing in three games to eventual state runner-up Monroe Academy in the first round of the AISA playoffs.

His replacement will be a familiar one to the Auburn area: Scott Sullivan.

Sullivan, 38, a 1992 graduate of Auburn University, played three years for the Tigers and compiled a 3.84 ERA and 138 strikeouts in 124.1 innings, mostly out of the bullpen.

He was a second-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 1993, and spent 10 years in the majors with the Reds (1995-2003), Chicago White Sox (2003) and Kansas City Royals (2004).

Sullivan, a submariner, posted a 40-28 record and a 3.98 ERA in 737.1 innings in the majors.

More on this in tomorrow’s paper.

Opelika finds its new girls basketball coach

And it’s Samson’s Devin Booth.

I have a picture, but my computer is not liking it for some reason. Perhaps I will figure it out later today. (Ed: I figured it out!!!!)

Anyway, Booth was approved at the school board meeting last night to replace Crystal Williams, who resigned to move with her husband (former Loachapoka star Anthony Williams) to Dublin, Ga., after he received a job promotion. The expected due date for their first child, a son, is July 4.

Booth has been at Class 2A Samson for the past three seasons, compiling a 79-14 record. The Tigers won the state championship in 2007 under Booth and went back to the Final Four in 2008. She also earned ASWA Coach of the Year honors in 2007.

Before that, she coached bassketball, softball and volleyball at Macon-East Academy in Cecil for five years, taking four basketball teams to the AISA playoffs. She was the Montgomery Advertiser’s Metro Coach of the Year in basketball in 2004-05, and won that honor in volleyball the next year.

She graduated from Opp High in 1996 and played college ball at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Huntingdon College.She was an All-Region player for Huntgindon her senior year and led the team in scoring and rebounding.

She was an assistant coach at Huntingdon for a year before taking the Macon-East job.

So she’s got quite a resume.

Opelika’s girls team finished at 15-15 this past season, going out in the sub-regional round to Dothan.

More to come…I promise…

And big ups to the Dothan Eagle’s David Mundee for helping with Booth’s coaching timeline and the picture.

CONVERGENCE!!!!