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Sports

Baseball: Eastern Tech Grad Aims for Spot with Four-Year School

David Williams, the top catcher this season as a sophomore at CCBC Essex, is looking to make the jump to a Division II program next year.

CCBC Essex sophomore David Williams played pitcher and shortstop in middle school.

But when he was a freshman at Eastern Tech, the team needed a catcher for the junior varsity squad.

"They asked if anyone wanted to catch. I have been stuck there every since," said Williams with a laugh.

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The tools of ignorance may not be glamorous, but most baseball scouts and coaches will tell you the best way to make a roster and move up the ladder—besides being a pitcher who throws in the 90s—is to don the chest protector and shin guards and try to do your best Johnny Bench impression.

Williams endured a broken wrist as a sophomore at Eastern Tech but ended up playing on the varsity team as a junior and senior. He also played soccer in high school, then looked at the opportunity to play baseball at Division III Salisbury University or York College in Pennsylvania.

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But heading to CCBC Essex was a cost-effective move for Williams, who was a freshman catcher for the Knights in 2010. This spring he is the main catcher for first-year head coach Mike Carter and hopes to have 60 academic credits by the end of the semester as he looks to a four-year school in the fall.

Williams has been in contact with coaches at Shepherd, a Division II program in West Virginia.

"He is a good Division II type of catcher," Carter told Patch on Tuesday. "He is smart enough to do that. The best part for him is calling a game and keeping an even keel."

In his first 82 at-bats this season, he hit .280 with six RBI. Williams said the team has taken to Carter, who was an assistant in 2010.

"He has believed in us from day one. He still does," Williams said.

The Knights have been around .500 after a slow start but Williams said the team has a better attitude this season.

"Compared to last year, we have a lot more consistency with everything, pitching, hitting and defense. A lot of us are returning sophomores," Williams said. "The freshmen that came in really stepped up this year. Our biggest problem last year was defense. We could not make the routine play."

Carter feels Williams is adept at handling at a pitching staff.

"Every pitcher is different. You have to know each pitcher. You have to know the mindset of them, their strength and weakness. We can sort of work together and throw what they feel is the right thing," said Williams, whose sister Allison is a junor at Eastern Tech and plays softball and basketball.

Ryan Headed to North Carolina

CCBC Essex pitcher Eric Ryan told Patch he signed a 70 percent athletic scholarship on Wednesday with Lenoir-Rhyne, a Division II program in North Carolina.

"My family may visit there in June," said Ryan, who has never been to Lenoir-Rhyne. He said the school's coaches got to see Ryan pitch earlier this season.

Through Wednesday, Ryan was 2-4 with a 3.00 ERA in 36 innings and allowed 28 hits and 19 walks with 29 strikeouts. Lenoir-Rhyne, in Hickory, NC, was 11-32 in games through Tuesday.

The head coach is Paul Knight, a former graduate assistant at the University of Richmond in the 1990s. The top pitcher for the Knights has been Blake Geiger, who was 3-2 with a 1.12 ERA in 40 innings.

Men's Lacrosse Downs HCC

The men's lacrosse team at CCBC-Essex fell for the first time this season, losing 9-5 on Saturday at No.2 Nassau Community College in Long Island, NY.

However, the Knights, ranked No. 3 in the country in the April 12 junior college poll, improved to 8-1 overall with a 23-8 win on Wednesday against Howard Community College.

The leading scorers in the first nine games for the Knights were Luke Phipps (27 goals), Dixon Green (21) and Brandon Kendrick (15). Green had five goals against Howard, Phipps added three goals, and Kendrick had two goals and four assists as head coach Shawn Burke got a win against his former team.

Burke was glad to see how his team responded after the loss on Saturday.

"I thought that was the biggest thing," he told Patch on Thursday. "Saturday we did not play badly. Offensively, we kind of got away from sharing the ball. We have been diverse offensively. Saturday we got away from that.

"It was definitely good to get back to the way we have been playing. The guys had a great attitude on Monday and Tuesday" in preparing for the game with HCC.

Next up for the Knights is a game at home at 1 p.m. on Saturday against Suffolk on Alumni Day.

Women's Lacrosse Struggles

The women's lacrosse team was 0-7 after Tuesday's 19-10 loss at Howard Community College in Columbia. Head coach Kerri Komobis could not be reached for comment.

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