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Eastside graduate Noah Rasnick is pitching for York College in the NAIA’s Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Noah Rasnick has worn the uniform of several different teams over the course of his baseball career and the kid from Southwest Virginia is now suiting up for a school located in Nebraska.
The Eastside High School graduate is pitching for the York College Panthers of the NAIA’s Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference these days and notched a save on Sunday in a 1-0 victory over Southwestern in the second game of a doubleheader.
That came three days after Rasnick threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings against Nebraska Wesleyan.
So, how did he end up at a college in the Cornhusker State?
“I was looking for somewhere to go to school on short notice,” Rasnick said. “I talked to my coaches here at York and realized this is a program that I want to be a part of. Our outlook on baseball was really similar and they know how to adapt to their players. I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Rasnick is settling in at a college less than two hours west of Omaha.
“I definitely still miss my mountains and rivers,” Rasnick said. “I definitely got spoiled growing up with amazing scenery. That being said, it wasn’t much of a culture shock. Everyone out here is really nice and made the transition into Midwest life really easy.”
Rasnick has made adjustments to new environments before.
He played at both Virginia High and Eastside during his prep days and had stops at Alice Lloyd College in Kentucky and Concord University in West Virginia before arriving at York.
“Each time it has been different,” Rasnick said. “I meshed really well with my teammates and felt like I had been on the team as a four-year guy not long after getting to campus.”
Rasnick certainly had a memorable moment on Sunday as he polished off a win by working a scoreless seventh inning in a pressure-packed, one-run game.
“I’ll be honest, that was the coldest game I’ve ever pitched in,” Rasnick said. “Felt like it was in the low-30s, bad wind and it was just not ideal. I couldn’t feel my fingers at all even with help from gloves and hand warmers. There were no physical keys, the biggest factor was just knowing my coaches had confidence in me.”
Rasnick has a 6.14 ERA in nine outings covering 14 2/3 innings.
“I think I’m doing OK,” Rasnick said. “I try not to think too much about how I’m doing, I just try to think about the next game and helping us put another number in the win column.”
Tanner time
Radford University’s Tanner Barrs (Abingdon) drove in all three of his team’s runs on Friday in a 3-1 victory over South Carolina-Upstate in the first game of a Big South Conference baseball doubleheader.
Barrs connected for a two-run single in the fourth inning and then launched his first home run of the season in the seventh inning.
He currently owns a .242 batting average.
Buchanan’s best
Matthew Buchanan is still shutting teams down as his 0.00 ERA proves.
The ex-Lebanon High School ace pitcher struck out three in 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief on Sunday for the University of Virginia as the Cavaliers dropped an 8-1 Atlantic Conference Coast baseball decision to Wake Forest.
Buchanan has allowed just four hits in 11 2/3 innings of work covering five outings this spring, while walking three and striking out 17. Opponents are hitting just .105 against the freshman left-hander.
Hungate gets win
Cade Hungate of Liberty University allowed two runs on Friday – the first he’s yielded all season – but he could still take solace in the fact that he posted the first win of his collegiate baseball career.
The former Abingdon High School star got the victory as Liberty posted a 4-3 Atlantic Sun Conference triumph over Stetson.
A right-hander, Hungate is 1-0 with six saves and a 2.16 ERA in eight appearances.
Hicks gets hits
Daniel Hicks continues to swing a hot bat for the baseball team at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Tennessee High graduate went 2-for-3 with two RBIs on March 23 against Christian Brothers and three days later went 2-for-2 and scored a run against Centre.
He is hitting .857 (6-for-7) with four RBIs in five games.
Bluefield trio
Bluefield cruised to a 10-1 win over Johnson University on Saturday in the second game of an Appalachian Athletic Conference softball doubleheader with three players from far Southwest Virginia leading the way.
Brooke Rowe (Tazewell) went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Laci Williams (Ridgeview) pitched three scoreless innings of relief and Kenzie Lambert (Tazewell) drove in a run.
Brown’s bat
Kinzie Brown (Sullivan East) went 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs on March 24 for Carolina University in a 9-8 loss to North Carolina Wesleyan in the second game of a softball doubleheader.
Brown is hitting .296 with 13 RBIs and has struck out just six times in 54 at-bats.
Top-20 for Thiessen
Competing for the University of Tennessee, Karl Thiessen clocked in at 28:59.51 in the men’s 10K at this past weekend’s Raleigh Relays track and field meet in North Carolina.
The ex-Abingdon High School star placed 20th out of 107 finishers and his time was the sixth-best in the 10K in the history of UT’s program.
Sizemore sets record
Chris Sizemore (Rural Retreat) of Indian Hills Community College in Iowa established a school record in the men’s long jump this past weekend with a leap of 7.01 meters (23 feet) at a track and field meet in Emporia, Kansas.
Sizemore finished seventh in the event.
Spring stuff
Caleb Goins (John Battle) and Zane Whitson (Dobyns-Bennett) were among the standouts during Carson-Newman University’s annual spring football game on Friday.
Goins made three tackles, while Whitson rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Final Four familiar faces
David McCormack played at prep basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons and the big man is headed to the NCAA Final Four with the Kansas Jayhawks.
A 6-foot-10, 250-pound senior, McCormack had 15 points and four rebounds in Sunday’s 76-50 win over Miami and is averaging 10.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Hubert Davis is in his first season as the head coach at the University of North Carolina and it was just five years ago he was guiding the Tar Heels’ junior varsity program in a game at Milligan’s Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. UNC earned a 100-78 win over Milligan’s JV in February 2017 in front of a sold-out crowd in Northeast Tennessee with Davis calling the shots.
thayes@bristolnews.com | Twitter:@Hayes_BHCSports | (276) 645-2570
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Members of Tennessee High’s baseball team gathered around head coach Russ Basham on that May afternoon in 1967 at J. Fred Johnson Stadium with feelings ranging from frustration to anger to self-doubt.
A trio of freshman made key plays in the final two innings to lift John Battle to a season-opening 4-2 win over Virginia High on a cold, windy and even rainy Friday night at Battle Field.
The Gate City, Virginia, native was 13-14 during his time at the helm and led the Blue Devils to two Region 1D playoff appearances.
Aidan James and Brody Jones among the standouts for the Bearcats.
Tight end James Mitchell only did the bench press — he did 19 reps — as the former Union High School star continues to recover from the torn ACL he suffered against Middle Tennessee State in Week 2.
The senior right-hander struck out 12 in crafting a four-hitter, carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, hammered out two hits and scored two runs.
Eastside graduate Noah Rasnick is pitching for York College in the NAIA’s Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
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