The 2010 Coventry Commonwealth Games are in full swing this weekend at venues all over the Roanoke Valley, including Opening Night ceremonies at the Roanoke Civic Center on Friday night. Virginia’s official state games kicked off locally with the baseball competition last weekend, with a round robin tournament at Kiwanis Field in Salem.
Several local high school players competed for the West team, which won a bronze medal by defeating the Central team. Freshman, sophomores and juniors are split into four squads determined by geographic area. Commonwealth Games baseball coordinator Wally Beagle said about 50 college and professional scouts attended the baseball competition this year. That’s down from recent years where 60-65 scouts have attended, said Beagle.
“It’s average this year. It goes up and down year by year,” said Beagle of the talent level on display. The Games must compete with other baseball showcases up and down the east coast, which draw players away from the Commonwealth Games. “They can pick and choose where they want to go,” said Beagle.
“The number of showcases has grown in recent years,” Beagle noted. Nevertheless scouts and coaches tell Beagle the Commonwealth Games are “one of the best [showcases] they go to.” Over 100 players drafted to the pros have appeared at the Commonwealth Games in the past; about a dozen have made it to the majors.
Hidden Valley’s, Andy Richards pitched the first three innings last Sunday as the West team – which has only captured one gold medal in the 21 year history of the games – downed the Central team. Richards pitched two scoreless innings before giving up a long home run in the bottom of the third inning. He surrendered a second run in that frame as well.
The first baseman/pitcher was the only one of three Roanoke Valley players to start in the bronze medal game. Richards, a junior, was first team all River Ridge district this past season for the Titans, and honorable mention as a pitcher.
Other local players on the West roster included Tyler Fisher, an outfielder from Northside, who batted .373 this past season. Ray Harron, an infielder/pitcher for William Byrd, pounded 4 home runs on his way to winning the Most Improved Player award for the Terriers.
Former Byrd coach Rodney Spradlin, who won a state championship with the Terriers in 1997, returned to coach Commonwealth baseball for a 19th year.
The West team had not won a game in the Commonwealth competition before it captured the bronze medal contest last Sunday. Beagle stated that the lack of gold medals for the West team largely stems from the smaller talent pool it draws from, compared to other regional squads based in Virginia’s larger population centers.
“You’ve got a lot of single A and double A schools in southwest Virginia,” said Beagle, “in Northern Virginia / Richmond–Tidewater you’ve got more talent to pull from and bigger schools.”
Nevertheless the West team overcame that disadvantage to capture the bronze medal on the Sunday before the “main games weekend,” for the Coventry Commonwealth Games.
By Gene Marrano [email protected]