SportsTalk: Lee Dreams Of National Title For Louisburg College Softball

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Louisburg College Softball Coach Eric Lee has a dream.  “I’ve always dreamed of bringing a national title to Louisburg College,” Lee said.  Lee was a guest on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  Sometimes dreams can be funny things though and this year those dreams have almost become a nightmare.  “It’s been the most challenging season of my career,” Lee said.

Starting off the pre-season as the #1 team in the country, Lee found himself immediately dealing with a variety of on and off the field problems.  Injuries to key players have been a part of the challenges but off the field family issues for some of his players has meant that backups have been pressed into service.  “We have had players in games who I never thought would be on the field at all this year,” Lee said.

Nonetheless, Louisburg remains a top 5 team in the country and has compiled at 39-6 record.   The challenges have been beneficial to some degree.  “We are more prepared for the tournament this year than last year,” Lee stated.

The Hurricanes will host the regional and divisional tournaments and, if successful, will move on the World Series.  “I like our chances,” Lee said as a summation.

Louisburg faces Brunswick in a two game series, Friday at 4pm and Saturday at 1pm on the college campus in Louisburg.

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Building A Culture Of Winning At Vance Co. High School

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Vance County High School Athletic Director Philip Weil has been on the job for less than a year but he is working to change the culture at the high school.  Weil and Head Football Coach Aaron Elliott were guests on Tuesday’s SportsTalk. Weil, who came from Las Vegas, Nevada, said he had goals for his first year.  “I wanted to bring new ideas and new projects to the school.  We still have more to accomplish,” Weil said.  Part of what he is attempting to do is build a culture of winning. “It takes a commitment to excellence to build a winning program,” Weil said.

Where does that start?  “It all starts with Coach Aaron Elliott,” Weil added.  Coach Elliot’s Viper squad won the conference championship last season and has the program on solid footing.  That winning culture has already filtered down form Elliott to the women’s basketball and softball teams as they have found success on the court and the field this season.

Weil also said that women’s flag football, coached by Elliott, will begin this May. “It’s probably going to be the next sanctioned sport,” Coach Elliott added.  Sixty-five young women are ready to hit the field for tryouts with the first game scheduled for May 23rd against Southern Durham.  The flag football program is a collaboration between Durham County Schools and the Carolina Panthers.  Durham County reached out to Vance County to become involved in the league.  The 7 on 7 league will likely play four to five games this year with a full season expected in January of 2025.

Elliott is also busy with his usual duties as he prepares the Vipers for the spring football game on Friday, May 3rd at 8pm at Viper Stadium.

When Weil was asked where he sees Vance County High School athletics in five years, he had two word answer: “State titles.”

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Prepare For Spring Football

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It may be the season for baseball, softball and other spring sports but Vance Co. High School Head Football Coach Aaron Elliott is ready to hit the field.  Coach Elliott was a guest on Thursday’s SportsTalk to discuss this year’s Spring football game. “It will be at 8pm on Friday, May 3rd at the high school,” Elliott said.  “The state allows us to practice for ten days during the Spring and we will finish with our offense playing our defense during the game,”  Elliott added. Coach Elliott expects between 50 and 60 kids to participate.

The Vipers lost all of last year’s receivers to graduation and will be looking at replacements during the game.  Additionally, defensive backs will also be evaluated during the Spring practices and game Elliott said.

The Vipers won their conference championship last season and that success has resulted in an invitation to the High School OT Kickoff Scrimmage in Wake Forest on Saturday, August 17th at 6pm where they will play Jordan High School.  The week before, on August 8th, the Vipers host their annual Jamboree at Vance Co. High School.

The season kicks off August 23rd with a visit to rival Warren County.

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SportsTalk: Yount Battles Rain And Injuries With Vance Charter Soccer

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Weather has certainly been a problem for local sports teams. Johnny Yount,  girls soccer coach at Vance Charter, is no exception. “The entire field has been unplayable for much of the season,” Yount said on Wednesday’s SportsTalk.  “There’s not a lot we can do about it,” he continued.  Vance charter has cancelled two games due to rain. They should have played seven games but so far have only managed to get five soccer matches in.  Missed games are difficult to make up. So far though, Vance charter is 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the conference. He says the team is young with four seniors, four juniors, seven sophomores and three freshmen. They’ve had to make a lot of changes this season as well due to injuries. Yount said it does create opportunities and he continues to ask the team to challenge themselves on the field. Yount added that “what I want is winning student athletes versus winning records.” Additionally, Yount says the team is still finding its chemistry, though and he wants them to have fun and engage.

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SportsTalk: KVA Finds WIns On The Baseball Field

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Practices cancelled and losing games from the schedule are just a couple of the problems that Mike Joyner, Athletic Director at Kerr-Vance Academy, has faced this season. It’s been a challenging year for Joyner and KVA with all of the rain that has happened this spring. “Seven of the first 10 games were rained out,” Joyner said. But it’s not just the rain and it’s not just the missed practices, “it’s juggling the schedule to find officials,” Joyner said on Wednesday’s SportsTalk.  Despite the rain and despite all of the events that have been cancelled this season, KVA finds itself at 5-1 in baseball.  They lost their first game but now have been on A five  game winning streak. Recently KVA’s baseball team took a trip to see Rutgers take on UNC in Chapel Hill, which Joyner described as a great trip for the team.  As for his girls soccer team, he says the team is young and inexperienced and although the team is winless so far this season, he hopes that further games will help them find a few victories as the year continues. KVA is on spring break next week but will return to action in April.

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SportsTalk: Former KVA Baseball Standout R.J. Johnson Returns To NC

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Rutgers University in New Jersey may seem like a long ways away from North Carolina but former Kerr Vance Academy and current Rutgers standout baseball player R. J. Johnson gets back to the area more than one might think.  “We are here almost every weekend,” Johnson said on SportsTalk.  Johnson and Rutgers were in the state this week as the school took on UNC.  The school plays a lot of teams in the south due to weather conditions during the early spring.

Johnson, an outfielder, is having a great season as a leadoff batter with a .300 batting average helping Rutgers to a 10-5 record so far this season.  Johnson, a Franklin County native and 2021 graduate of KVA, is looking forward to the rest of the season.  “We are in a rough patch right now but the future is bright,” Johnson said.

His advice for younger players?  “Always work hard and have fun everyday,” he says.  His former coach at KVA, Mike Rigsbee, had this to say about his former player: “He’s a great player and a great student.”

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SportsTalk: KVA Baseball Finally Gets On The Field

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Like so many other schools in the area, Kerr Vance Academy has had trouble getting in games due to the recent wet weather.  “Our first five games were rained out,” head coach Mike Rigsbee said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  The school has only just this week gotten on the field.  They lost their opener 3-0 against Lawrence Academy while beating Faith Academy 5-4 in nine innings in their second game.

Rigsbee is optimistic about his team.  “We’ve got potential,” he says. “We are young.  One senior, three juniors, four sophomores, one freshman and an eighth grader,” he added.

The team is travelling this week to see UNC play.  “It’s a bonding experience,” Rigsbee says.  Next week, weather permitting, KVA will have three games on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

 

SportsTalk: Hammett Rebuilds JF Webb Softball

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It was only a couple of years ago that JF Webb had no softball team.  Covid and a lack players meant the program had become dormant.  That has all changed with Corey Hammett.  Last year she brought the program back and took the Warriors into the state playoffs.  Hammett sees more success this year for JF Webb.  “We should be a top three team in the conference,” she said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  There are still challenges for Hammett.  “Our biggest challenges are getting girls interested and teaching the fundamentals,” Hammett explained.

She also had to overcome field problems since it had not been used in some time.  This year, the field is once again an issue.  Not because of non-use but rain.  The team has had several games rained out the wet field has meant they have only been able to get in two games, both losses, to Oxford Prep.  Hammett said she hopes to get the Warriors back on the field on the road against Riverside Monday night.

 

SportsTalk: Rain And Umpire Shortage Are Obstacles For KVA

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“Rain rain go away, come again some other day” might be what’s on the mind of Kerr Vance Academy Athletic Director Mike Joyner.  “We’ve had no baseball, no soccer and only one golf match,” Joyner said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  Rain has caused seven baseball games to be cancelled this year.  “We have nowhere for the water to drain,” Joyner added.

In addition to the rain, rescheduling has been difficult due to ongoing umpire shortages. “We need better recruiting,” Joyner said of the shortage.  Joyner also said disrespect from fans and low wages has made it difficult to recruit umpires. Additionally, Joyner said that not enough young people are going into the ranks as umpires to replace those who are aging out.

There is a bright side to the cancellations.  “We had a couple of player with nagging injuries and these cancelled games have allowed them time to heal,” Joyner stated.  With better weather forecast next week, KVA hopes to get all of their spring sports back out playing.

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Goalkeeper Peralta Among 2024 WFU Sports Hall Of Fame Inductees

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Back in the mid 1970’s, when José Peralta was in middle school at what was then Vance Academy, soccer hadn’t yet gotten a toehold in the area. But by the time Peralta and some of his Spartan teammates made their mark on the soccer field as Vance Senior High School Vikings, all that was changing.

It was early days for soccer when Peralta was in high school, but he told WIZS co-hosts Bill Harris and George Hoyle Thursday that the team began to make a name for itself. “We beat one of the Raleigh teams – Sanderson,” he recalled, a soccer powerhouse at the time.

And that’s when the letters starting hitting his family’s Ruin Creek Road mailbox, he said. College coaches, asking him to consider playing goalkeeper for them.

But Peralta’s focus was on academics, and ultimately he chose Wake Forest University. Earlier this month, his alma mater chose Peralta to join the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.

You see, it’s Peralta who still holds the NCAA Division I record for career saves at a whopping 620 – that’s 342 more saves than anyone else in program history.

Peralta is one of only two goalkeepers in NCAA Division I history who can claim more than 600 saves.

As a freshman, he had 164 saves – the most by any freshman in program history.

He holds the four highest single-season number of saves in program history: 218 in 1983; 164 in 1980; 126 in 1982; and 112 in 1981.

Peralta’s statistics at WFU have stood the test of time – he was a member of the very first men’s soccer team at the school.

“Wake Forest didn’t even have a soccer team when I went there,” he said. What’s more, he didn’t know the school was thinking about forming one.

But, he said, God has a plan.

He remembers back to 1979, sitting in the quad with his parents – both beloved Spanish teachers in Vance County Schools – “all of a sudden I see these guys,” he said, who said soccer tryouts were going to start in 30 minutes, if he wanted to check it out.

Peralta said he kissed his parents goodbye and headed off to try out for the team.

They played as a club team that first year, with Peralta in the goal. He was the only walk-on to make the team.

Coach George Kennedy’s brother did goalkeeper camps and Peralta credits him with teaching him the goalkeep position from not only a physical standpoint but a mental one as well.

Reflecting on his time in the goal as a Demon Deacon, Peralta said he and his teammates helped to lay a good foundation for the program, now more than 40 years later.

His children, one of the grandchildren, a dozen or more teammates from the old days and a bunch of fraternity brothers all attended the induction ceremony, held Feb. 9 in Winston-Salem.

“The ceremony was awesome,” Peralta said. And at the Wake-N.C. State basketball game held later afternoon, Peralta was called to midcourt at halftime to receive a plaque and be recognized for his achievements.

One of those accolades is that Peralta was an All-ACC academic every year he was at Wake.

“I dedicated myself to soccer, but the classroom was extremely important,” he said.