Nothing better to break up the monotony than a road trip.
The most famous and unforgettable road trip has to belong to Otter, Boon, Flounder and Pinto (and their dates) in the movie Animal House when everything went south with Otis Day and The Knights at the Dexter Lake Club. And, the condition of Flounder’s brother’s Lincoln when they returned to Delta House. Accordingly, spring break around here offered the opportunity for the sports department to load up our jalopy.
When The Chief gave the green light for the Wild Bill show to head out of town, we chose a couple of ” Cs ” as our destinations, Charlottesville and Callaway.
Saturday afternoon kicked things off with The Star’s coverage of the Foxfield Steeplechase races in Charlottesville. Being his former stomping ground, The Chief informed me to expect a surplus of attractive UVA coeds and smooth bourbon.
I’ll give The Chief high marks for accuracy on both counts. While the steeplechase was an exceptional event, my Loudmouth ” Island Girls ” pants drew numerous requests from the coeds for pictures, all of which were obliged. Late in the day, the final picture was with what I’ll describe as a model, who claimed she could tell by my accent I was from Australia. Like The Chief said, a surplus of bourbon.
The Chief seemed pleased with my steeplechase picture currently on-line, with the horses and their jockeys clearing the fence and brush. For you non-steeplechasers, that’s the technical term for the obstacle the horses jump over. See, you always learn something when you read this column.
Sunday we stuck with two-lane roads for the trip to beautiful Callaway for the Franklin County Speedway’s inaugural Moonshine Modifieds shootout. Like the opening race of the season, Wild Bill rode shotgun in the Pacetti Pace Car where racing history was made. In the 10-car Mini-Cup feature, eight cars dropped out due to wrecks or mechanical problems. That sent our pace car back on the track for most of the event, and when the first and second place cars crossed the finish line, the pace car was the only thing left to claim third.
After much discussion with race officials we were declared the “running third.” The post-race interview asked if the finish by Chris Pacetti and Wild Bill was a team effort. Yep, Chris did the driving while I waved at everyone in the grandstands.
Trading paint moves to night racing for the next FCS barnburner on Saturday, May 10th.
The end of spring break has returned high school sports for the final half of the regular season. Rain postponements will leave hectic scheduling in May. Here’s a look at the Wild Bill ” Big-11 ” Top-3 in baseball and softball.
BASEBALL
#1) Hidden Valley: The local analysts who said we’ve had the top-2 inverted found out we’re on the top of our game when Hidden Valley blasted #2 Northside 14-4. Got to admit, I thought this was more of a tossup, but the undefeated Titans made a statement.
#2) Northside- The Vikings took their lumps in the loss to Hidden Valley. But, don’t underestimate Northside down the stretch. They’ve got the pitching, hitting and defense to go a long way.
#3) Salem- We could easily put any of three teams in the third spot, but the Spartans stay put. Salem gets its chance to stay in place in the upcoming week when they hit the meat of their River Ridge schedule.
SOFTBALL
#1) Cave Spring: The 11-1 Knights return after spring break to hit the stretch run in the River Ridge. This includes two games with Hidden Valley the week of May 19th.
#2)Northside: The regular season second-half in the Blue Ridge will be the test for the Lady Vikings. Byrd and Lord Botetourt are certainly capable of pulling out a win.
#3) Lord Botetourt: The Lady Cavs may be ready to make a move. The rainouts will require all teams to show their endurance. Can the Botetourt pitching hold up?
The Salem Red Sox stay in the mix for the Carolina League Southern Division first-half championship. The Sox return home Monday night May 5th for a weeklong home stand against Wilmington and Carolina.
The COSMO track and field competition plays out Thursday through Saturday at the William Fleming track. Considered one of the top high school meets around, the annual event attracts the best performers in the sport.
Until next week, get your own road trip planned and send your questions to [email protected]
