Sports: Monday, May 17, 2021

SU Baseball Advances, Nats Blank D-Backs, Caps-Bruins Game 2 Tonight

Shenandoah University Baseball advanced to the ODAC Tournament Championship round by sweeping Eastern Mennonite Saturday 12-1 and 7-4. The Hornets reached the 30-win plateau for the fifth consecutive full season, and will now travel to 2-seed Lynchburg for 2 games on Friday. If a third game is neccesary, it will be played on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the SU Men’s Track & Field team posted 4 top-10 finishes yesterday at the Mount Olive Final Qualifier in North Carolina.

Eric Fedde tossed 7 innings of no-run baseball, and the Washington Nationals’ bullpen completed the shutout in a 3-0 Nats’ win yesterday in Arizona. Yadiel Hernandez broke a scoreless tie with a pinch-hit home run in the 8th as the Nationals improved to 16-20. The Nats take on the Cubs tonight starting at 7:10 on Sports Radio 1450.

The Orioles pounded out 11 hits yesterday and out-slugged the New York Yankees 10-6. The O’s take on the Blue Jays tonight at 7:05 in Baltimore.

The Washington Capitals try to take a 2-0 lead in their opening round playoff series against Boston. The Caps won the opening game Saturday in overtime, 3-2. Air time tonight is 7:15 on The River 95-3.

And, Hendrick Motorsports finished 1-2-3-4 yesterday in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover. Alex Bowman took the checkered flag, beating out teammates Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and William Byron.

Sports: Monday, April 19, 2021

Nats Settle For Split, Caps Fall To Bruins, Bowman Steals Win At Richmond

On the Shenandoah University scoreboard from yesterday, Softball split a twinbill with Ferrum. Men’s Golf finished 9th in the 13-team Hampden-Sydney Invitational. Number-2 Salisbury out-slugged 15th-ranked Baseball 19-10. Virginia Wesleyan defeated Women’s Tennis. And W&L downed Men’s Lacrosse. Today, Baseball hosts Salisbury again at Bridgeforth Field.

Arizona scored single runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings to beat the Washington Nationals yesterday 5-2. Trea Turner provide the only offense for the Nats with a pair of home runs, as Washington fell to 5-8 on the season. The Nationals host the St. Louis Cardinals tonight starting at 6:35 on Sports Radio 1450.

The Boston Bruins doubled up the Washington Capitals 6-3 yesterday. TJ Oshie had a pair of goals for the 29-13-4 Caps, who remain in first place in the NHL’s Eastern Division. The Capitals skate again on Thursday against the New York Islanders. Air time is 6:45 on the River 95-3.

Alex Bowman overcame a penalty and took advantage of a late caution to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond yesterday. Bowman, driving a Chevy Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, outdistanced Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano to take the checkered flag.

And, 47 year-old Stewart Cink won the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Classic yesterday at Harbour Town Golf Links. Cink shot a one-under par round to finish at 19-under, to finish 4 shots ahead of the field.

Sports: Friday, April 16, 2021

SU Field Hockey In Semis, Corbin Rocked In Nats Loss, Caps Thrashed By Sabres

On the Shenandoah Univertsity scoreboard, Volleyball swept Eastern Mennonite to improve to 5-4. Tonight, Field Hockey will take on top-seed Lynchburg in the ODAC Tournament semifinals. Match time is 7pm.

This weekend, it’s a full schedule of Hornet athletics, with Track & Field, Baseball, Tennis, Lacrosse, Softball, and Men’s Golf all in action.

Patrick Corbin gave up a career high 10 runs, 9 of them earned, in an 11-6 Nationals loss at Arizona last night. Starlin Castro homered for the Nats, while Juan Soto and Josh Harrison each had two hits for 3-7 Washington. The Nationals take on the D-Backs again tonight. Air time is 6:35 on Sports Radio 1450.

The Washington Capitals had their 3-game winning streak snapped last night by Buffalo 5-2. Nicklas Backstrom had an assist for the Caps in his 1000th career game. The 28-12-4 Capitals host the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow at 12:30.

On the PGA Tour, Cameron Smith leads after one round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, after an opening round 9-under 62.

And the NASCAR Cup Series moves to the short track at Richmond Raceway on Sunday for the Toyota Owners 400. Martin Truex, Jr. has the pole for the 3pm start.

Sports: Tuesday, March 30, 2021

SU Scoreboard, 2 Move On To Final Four, Caps-Rangers Tonight

In Shenandoah University sports yesterday, Men’s Soccer blanked E&H 3-0, Men’s Golf finished third at the SU Invitational, Bridgewater beat Women’s Tennis, and Roanoke swept Softball.

On the Hornet docket today, Softball and Baseball both play at Bridgewater, while Field Hockey travels to W&L.

One-half of the NCAA Men’s Final Four is set. Last night, 2-seed Houston held off 12-seed Oregon State 67-61, while 1-seed Baylor beat 3-seed Arkansas 81-72. In tonight’s Elite Eight games 1-seed Gonzaga takes on 6-seed USC, while 1-seed Michigan plays 11-seed UCLA in the nightcap.

Catch the Final Four and NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Saturday and Monday, respectively, on The River 95-3 and CBS Sports Radio 1450.

The Washington Capitals return to the ice tonight when they take on the New York Rangers. Air time is 6:45 on The River 95-3. The Caps are red-hot, having won 10 of their last 11.

And, Joey Logano won the delayed NASCAR Cup Series’ event yesterday, taking the checkered flag at Bristol. It was the first NASCAR Cup Series race on dirt since 1970.

Sports: Monday, February 22, 2021

Caps Skate Past Devils, Bell Gets First Cup Win, Weekend Hoop Recap

The Washington Capitals erased a 2-0 New Jersey lead on the way to a 4-3 win over the Devils yesterday. TJ Oshie had 2 goals for the Caps, including what would be the game-winner in the third period. Alex Ovechkin put the exclamation point on the win later in the third, as the Capitals improved to 9-5-3, good for second place in the NHL’s Eastern Division. Next up for the Caps, a Tuesday skate against Pittsburgh. Air time is 6:45 on The River 95-3.

Christopher Bell chased down Joey Logano and captured his first NASCAR Cup Series win yesterday on the Daytona road course. With the win for Joe Gibbs Racing in just his second start for that team, Bell earned a spot in the NASCAR playoffs.

And, in college basketball over the weekend, the Shenandoah University women were defeated at Roanoke 63-52, while the 7th-ranked UVA men were stunned by Duke 66-65, and number-13 West Virginia came from 19 down to beat number-12 Texas 84-82.

In the VHSL basketball playoffs on Saturday, the Handley boys were eliminated by Smithfield 61-54 in the Class 4 state final, while the Luray girls beat Gate City 61-56 to capture the Class 2 championship.

NASCAR’s Perfect Storm

SU field oversight
SU field oversight
Winchester Printers

Greetings from The Booth!

Talk about a strange sight. Recently, as I’ve been driving past Shentel Stadium on the way to my basketball public address gigs at The Wilkins Center, I notice the lights on and actual Shenandoah University football players practicing in the dead of Winter. Hopefully, the scheduled short season will happen starting in late February, but as a natural skeptic, I’ll believe it when I see it. Meanwhile, I’m going to invest in a nice parka and some thick socks. The Booth will probably be a little frosty…

With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror, we move on to another Super Bowl, “the Super Bowl of Stock Car racing,” the Daytona 500. The Great American Race happens this Sunday, and although I’m not a devout NASCAR fan, it’s the one race I do watch, because seeing sunny Florida on my high-def TV in February reminds me that Spring can’t be that far off.

The Daytona 500 is a truly iconic American sporting event, but it wasn’t always that way. Until 1979, NASCAR was basically a regional sport (southern), and races were not shown live. Rather, they were taped and run later, primarily on CBS.

That all changed in 1979, when CBS broadcast flag-to-flag live coverage of the Daytona 500. The eastern half of the country was socked in by a massive blizzard, thus a sports-hungry nation gathered around the television that afternoon for the now iconic race.

And what a race it was! On the final lap, a collision between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough, who were leading the race, allowed Richard Petty to come from a half-lap behind to win the Daytona 500, as Allison and Yarborough spun into the grass infield. The two were then captured on live TV duking it out as The King celebrated in victory lane.

The race also featured new innovations like the in-car camera, and the low-angle shot, which are standard in today’s coverage.

The 1979 Daytona 500 put NASCAR in the national spotlight, where it remains today. If not for a “perfect storm” of events, NASCAR may have remained a regional sport, an acquired taste for those primarily south of the Mason-Dixon. Instead, we have multi-million dollar race teams and ultramodern “super-speedways” from coast-to-coast and border-to-border, with a number of networks jumping on the bandwagon to provide coverage.

And it all began on February 18, 1979.

Until next time in the Booth, enjoy the race, and GO HORNETS!

RW