The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 9

Sports Friday, February 14, 2014 Smith's college journey culminates with return to Erskine By ANDREW MACKE One of the main newcomers for the Erskine College baseball team this season is not really a newcomer at all. Zach Smith played for the Fleet as a freshman in 2011 and after a year each at USC-Sumter and South Carolina, Smith has returned to Erskine as a redshirt junior. "Erskine is a different place. It takes a special kid to go to Erskine and understand what Erskine is," Erskine coach Kevin Nichols said. "With the surroundings that we have and those sort of things, kids sometimes think they want bigger and better and all the lights.

"But he was more happy with us than anywhere else." Smith went to Erskine after graduating from White Knoll High School in Lexington because the Fleet was the only team to recruit him. During his freshman campaign in Due West, Smith lit it up. He batted a team-high .379 and mashed nine home runs with 42 runs batted in. Off the field, he loved Erskine and his coaches and teammates. But, Smith said he did not know how to handle college and college baseball, and his grades forced him to go to junior college at USC-Sum- ter.

"I loved everything about (Erskine)," Smith said. "I was a freshman with a bunch of older guys, and they made me feel like part of the team. Coach Nichols is awesome, and all of his coaches are pretty awesome, too. "But I didn't too well with grades second semester. I was still getting to know how to handle myself during the season with school and all.

So, I had to go the junior college route." The summer after his freshman season, Smith played for the Columbia Blowfish of the Coastal Plain League, a wood-bat college summer team. He put together another strong season and attracted the attention of South Carolina, who offered him a scholarship in October while he was at USC-Sumter. After his one year at Sumter, Smith headed off to Columbia to play for one of the top teams in the ZACH SMITH See SMITH page 2B OLYMPIC HOCKEY GAINING TRACTION COLLEGE FOOTBALL By SCOTT CHANCEY I last inaugural College All-Star Bowl, former Emerald High School standout A.J. Jones was the defensive MVP after finishing his gridiron career at North Greenville. That set things in motion for Jones to play football this past year in Brazil.

As the second edition of the game prepares to be played 6 today at Paladin Stadium, the scope now extends beyond South Carolina. After the 2013 contest only featured players with some kind of state con- nection, prospects from all over the country now get one final chance to impress NFL scouts on the CBS Sports Network (not on Northland Cable, but on DirectTV channel 221 and Dish Network 152). whole week has been about the increased exposure this is said Steve Riley, who is event coordinator for the game and South Carolina Football Hall of Fame. a national game now. The game is being evaluated by ESPN, NFL Network and Fox Sports for the possibility of them broadcasting this great game in the Riley, who owns Emerald Ink Stitches, is responsible for his company handling the game apparel and souvenirs.

being around these athletes and getting to know them as people and not stars is an amazing Riley said. very humbling. exciting to be in the middle of all To answer perhaps the most important question today, answer is, the game is still moved players from practicing at Furman to the indoor facility at Riley said. players have had their playbooks for about a month. Rescheduling has not been a focus because the weather was supposed to clear (Thursday).

The game has to be played Although quarterbacks Connor Shaw team), of South Carolina, and Tajh Boyd team) are honorary captains, neither is expected to play See SMASH page 3B SPECIAL TO THE INDEX-JOURNAL The Citadel's Ben Dupree (2) is among those vying for national recognition in tonight's College All-Star Bowl at Furman. According to the game roster, Dupree could play at either running back, receiver or kick returner. All-Star Bowl rapidly earning nationwide exposure in 2nd year Want to watch? What: College All-Star Bowl When: 6 today Where: Paladin Stadium, Furman Univsity TV: CBS Sports Network (DirectTV channel 221 and Dish Network 152 Tickets: From $15 (general admission) to $130 (skybox) See TRACTION page 3B By GREG BEACHAM Associated Press SOCHI, Russia With just one game to prepare for its Olympic showdown with Russia, the United States men's hockey team decided to cram an entire tournament's worth of hard work and highlights into one spectacular opener. Paul Stastny scored twice during a six-goal barrage in the second period, and the Americans got off to a roaring start in Sochi with a 7-1 victory against Slovakia in preliminary-round play Thursday. Ryan Kesler, David Backes, Phil Kessel and Dustin Brown also scored as the U.S.

battered Slovakia for six consecutive goals in a 13:51 span, turning what was expected to be a tough matchup into a laugher with their relentless offense. "I guess you never really expect to beat a team like that 7-1, and you never do it in a tournament like this," captain Zach Parise said. "We just capitalized on the chances we had, moved the puck well and used our speed." Although their goal celebrations declined from elation to excitement to sheepishness while the score skyrocketed, the Americans answered any lingering questions about their offensive abilities and their aptitude on the big Olympic ice by decimating a Slovak roster studded with NHL players. "You have to do a lot of skating out there on the big ice, but I think we handled it all right," said Kessel, who led the U.S. with two goals and an assist.

Jonathan Quick made 22 saves in his Olympic debut for the U.S., which hopes to improve on its silver-medal finish in Vancouver despite a roster that isn't thought to have the offensive power of Canada, Russia or Sweden. In their only warmup for Saturday's game against Alex Ovechkin and the host Russians, the Americans had more than enough potency to leave U.S. men smash Slovakia Six-goal second period key in 7-1 victory Ware Shoals, Tamassee-Salem brawl could have and should have been avoided he Jan. 31 postgame fight involving Ware Shoals and Tamassee-Salem high schools' boys' basketball teams was a nightmare. Instead of shaking hands, they traded fists.

Fans got involved, and it ventured from Ware 600-capacity gym and into the parking lot. The fallout was stunning with 11 arrests. Fans and law-enforcement officials were injured. Five Ware Shoals players were suspended. Four from Tamassee-Salem.

People talking about the thrilling game, which Tamassee- Salem won by one point. Media from the Southeast and even in New York City are talking about just the fight. This happen again. And how to stop it: Let the game officials determine if postgame handshakes should happen. If there are no obvious signs of tension building between the teams toward the end of the game, let them exchange postgame handshakes.

If there is tension and signs of a possible postgame fight, let them shake hands Sound extreme? Well, what happened after that game was extreme. Sportsmanship, of course, is important. Safety, though, is paramount. Anytime people are injured in a setting in which families are supposed to enjoy a fun time out watching sports, time to take a hard look at what can be done in the future to keep this from happening. According to the police report from this incident, police officers noticed tension escalating between the two teams.

And, before the game was over, there were shoves. Why the game officials tend to this, if this was the case? Game officials are there not only to make the right calls, but also manage the game from getting out of hand in an sense. Pull players aside and talk to them. Pull coaches aside and also talk to them. If that help, there are options for technical fouls and ejections.

Then, if players or coaches who are prone to causing a confrontation later are not even on the court to cause problems. safe to say, near the end of this contest, the game officials did not manage this game correctly. The police report states a racial slur was used by a Tamassee-Salem player toward a Ware Shoals player. Tamassee-Salem denied a racial slur was used. Maybe it was said; maybe it was not.

If it was, a horribly vicious thing to say. SCOTT CHANCEY SPORTS LOUNGE See BRAWL page 2B.