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Understandably, Northwest Guilford softball coach Jason Tew had a few other things on his mind before returning my call after his team was bounced from the playoffs with a 10-0 loss at North Davidson last night.

"There wasn't a dry eye in that last team meeting," Tew said.

I had conceded Tew's call for the night and was in my kitchen cooking some pasta when my phone rang around 11 p.m.

"Sorry I'm just getting back to you now," Tew said. "Wish I had better news to report."

Not wanting to lose the story or my dinner, I scrambled around my kitchen drawers for anything with which to dictate.

The only thing I could find was a box of crayons and a "Memo from the Desk of The Assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight K. Schrute" notepad...which allowed me to unconventionally take down Tew's comments and sneak this in today's paper. 

The Vikings' third-round opponent is North Davidson, which head coach Jason Tew jokingly called "The Compound" last night. The Knights are a perennial state title threat and consistently churn out Division I prospects, and their stadium feels as much like a college crowd as a high school one. Tew, whose team went on a miraculous five-run rally in the final two innings to upend Davie County 6-5 last week, "can't wait until the sixth or seventh inning" tonight, Tew said. Take a look at the damage caused by an errant fastball from North Davidson's Tess Swing:

Word from North Davidson is that the game is on as planned despite rain in the area. Ditto for McMichael's sectional final baseball game against West Stokes.

We got a call from someone this morning who saw a skirmish at the Ragsdale-Lake Norman boys tennis 3-A district final yesterday afternoon at Hester Park.

I called Ragsdale AD Glen Locklear, who explained it like this: "My coach said it was basically a disagreement between two Lake Norman parents — I don't really know about what, neither does she. When one of the (Lake Norman) kids lost, he got upset, threw some stuff around and broke a bathroom stall."

The incident occurred with Ragsdale leading 4-2, but after a brief delay, Lake Norman came back to win all three doubles points and the match. Locklear said his coach didn't think the outburst had any effect on the match. Anybody else there to see what happened?

The Charlotte Observer raises the idea.

From Phillip Gardner at the Gaston Gazette:

Forestview coach Dan Ghent expressed sadness for the Northern Guilford players and said the decision to vacate the title was fair.

"I hate it for the (Northern Guilford) kids because they played hard and it's a shame that it comes down to that," Ghent said. "I'm sure the kids didn't really pick which schools they wanted to go to. It's the adults that create the situation."

Although Ghent was sure some Forestview fans would be upset that the NCHSAA did not hand the title to Forestview, he had no problem with the association's policy of vacating the title. He pointed out the fact that Northern Guilford defeated five teams in the playoffs on its way to the state title game.

"Anybody that they played previously would have the same claim to the title," Ghent said. "It's the only thing they can do, so it's the fair thing to do and I think it's the right thing to do."

In the wake of the local football legend's recent passing, please enjoy this beautiful 2007 multimedia piece from our own Jerry Wolford, who was, in his words, "a tackling dummy" on Gregory's 1981 state championship Tigers team.

The architect of the Page basketball program will be inducted into the NCHSAA Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center at UNC. Also scheduled to be honored:

-Charlie Adams, the long-time executive director of the NCHSAA who has been on the staff of the Association since 1967 after a great career as an athlete and coach
-the late Bill Bost, who built the Bandys High School basketball programs in Catawba County, coaching both the men's and women's teams, into a power
-Ken Browning, veteran assistant football coach at the University of North Carolina who won 214 games as a high school head coach at Ledford and Northern Durham
-Richard Hicks, an outstanding athlete, coach and administrator who is a former president of the NCHSAA and a former principal at Hillside High School in Durham
-Jan Stanley, one of the top volleyball coaches the state has ever produced and is on her way to 700 career victories and has five state titles at West Henderson
-Tim Stevens, one of the nation's top media representatives who has been covering high school sports since he began at the Raleigh Times in 1973 and now at the Raleigh News and Observer
-Billy Widgeon of Morehead City, who coached a variety of sports but rolled up a 107-game winning streak as the women's basketball coach at Bailey before he headed to West Carteret

Congrats to Coach Morris on a well-deserved honor.

My question: What's your most memorable athletic achievement? I guarantee mine isn't as noteworthy as this kid's.

Story from the Associated Press:

Patrick Schuster doesn't have much of a beard to speak of, nonetheless the high school pitcher isn't about to shave the unruly patches of blond whiskers sprouting all over his face while his streak of four consecutive no-hitters is still alive.
The lanky 18-year-old Mitchell High School senior will try to become just the fifth prep player to toss five straight no-hitters Tuesday when he leads his squad into postseason play.
"The scruff is really bad," Schuster admitted after notching no-hitter No. 4 earlier this week, setting a Florida high school record. The national record for consecutive no-hitters is six: Chris Taranto of Notre Dame High School in Biloxi, Miss., did it in 1961, while Tom Engle did it in 1989 in Lancaster, Ohio.
Now a 38-year-old producer at ESPN, Engle says it will be more difficult for Schuster to do it because of the national attention.
"I'm from a small town in Ohio, and the media just wasn't there," said Engle, who wasn't even aware he owned the record until a couple years ago. "I think he has a lot more pressure on him now than I ever had."
Engle's advice: "Don't change anything. Don't try and throw a no-hitter. Just pitch your game, and if it comes, it comes."
It's not going to be easy. Mitchell's district of large schools in the Tampa area is considered to be among the state's toughest.
"I know he has the capability of doing it," said Mitchell's senior catcher, Doug Burlett. "We'll just have to see if he gets lucky."
Even if he doesn't, Schuster's stock likely has risen.
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound left-hander is ranked as the 79th best prospect — the 42nd best high school prospect — in the country by Baseball America. Schuster, who has signed with Florida, has a fastball around 90 mph and some nasty breaking stuff delivered with the same slingshot motion. He would likely be a second-round selection in the June amateur draft, said John Manuel, an editor-in-chief at the publication.
When it comes to pitching prospects, Manuel said, major league teams look at attributes such as mechanics, athleticism and arm motion, "things that have nothing to do with the opposing batter." But improbably stringing together four no-hitters at the end of his senior season can't help but improve Schuster's stock.
"I don't think he's a consensus No. 79 guy anymore," Manuel said. "He's probably a little bit better than people thought he was. It's a good bet that he's moved up."
Not surprisingly, Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan hopes Schuster ends up at college. He doesn't think the string of no-hitters and the attention are going to change the pitcher's direction that much.
"I think everybody assumes he's not coming to school because of what's happening, but I don't believe that," O'Sullivan said. "I think he's a great kid from a great family, and obviously we'd like to have him in the program. He'll have some decisions to make."
For now, though, Schuster said he's just trying to have fun as his prep baseball career winds down.
"I'm not going to worry what the draft status is," he said. "I'm going to Florida, or I go play major league baseball. It's a win-win situation."
Schuster has given up just nine hits in 55 innings this season, going 8-0 with 110 strikeouts and helping his team to a 21-3 mark. He has 60 strikeouts in the four-game no-hit streak, which began April 3. The last time he surrendered a hit was March 24.
On Monday night, only a walk, a hit batter and an error kept Schuster from a perfect game.
"You can't really expect something like a no-hitter because it involves a lot of luck," Mitchell coach Scot Wilcox said. "But I'll tell you what, you put together innings like that into a game like that, and luck doesn't have much to do with it."
Schuster insisted he was relaxed throughout the game, despite the national media attention he started getting after the third no-hitter, and being feted at "Patrick Schuster Day" at school. Last week he was interviewed by ESPN alongside Engle.
Around 1,000 spectators had crowded the fence lines and small bleachers around the diamond at the suburban school northwest of Tampa to watch.
After he rung up the last hitter on a called third strike, Schuster raised his arms in triumph and got a bear hug from Burlett before his teammates mobbed him. Reporters and TV cameras gathered around.
His feat was one of the top stories on ESPN's SportsCenter Tuesday morning, and he's been besieged with interview requests from local and national media since then. People are asking for his autograph.
His mother, Sharon, said he's taking it all stride.
"He's either hiding it really well or he's got a lot of composure," his mom said. "I'm really proud of him."

Three people are already out of a job, and the investigation is far from over. The question I'm most interested in now:

Where does Northern go from here?

Nighthawk students and parents, I'm most curious to hear from you. How are you dealing with everything flying around right now? E-mail me.

Courtesy Debbie Jones at Page, here are the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association's honorees for District 7, which includes all the public schools in Guilford, Forsyth, and Davidson Counties. Coaches have to be a member of the NCBCA in order to nominate and have players selected to the team. Players must make all conference in order to be nominated.

Player of the Year: Shay Jones, Mt. Tabor
Coach of the Year: Terry Allmon, East Davidson

FIRST TEAM
Shay Jones 12 Mt. Tabor All District 2008, All Conference 4 years, Conference Player of the year 2008 & 2009, All Northwest 2008, MVP Mary Garber, All Tournament Team, Triad Sports Dazzing Dozen. Signed with Charleston Southern
Anna Freeman 12 East Davidson Central Carolina Conference Player of the Year - 3 straight years. All Northwest region - 3 years, News & Record POY last year - Will play next year at ASU or Clemson
Paris Alston 12 Southeast Guilford Mid- Piedmont, Team MVP, Grant & Aid to S.C. State Univ.
Chevena Pickard 11 Page Soph: 4A-All Conference, All District 3rd Team Junior: 4A-All Conference, Pizza Hut All-Tournament Team
Samantha Coffer 10 Northern Guilford 08-09: Triad 3-A All-Conference Team, Rio Grande Player of Week 3 times, Co-Captain 07-08: Triad 3-A All-Conference, 3rd Team All-Region, Wachovia Classic All Tournament Team

SECOND TEAM
Ashlei Clodfelter 12 North Davidson All-Conference (CPC-4 years), All-Tournament (CPC-2 years, All Northwest (last year), All-Tournament LSB Christmas Classic - 2 years
Jennifer Penley 12 Mt. Tabor All Tournament 2 years Mary Garber, All CPC Conference, Triad Sports All County, All Northwest 2008. Jennifer will continue to play basketball next year at Navy
Carman Poricozzi 11 Ledford All Conference
Elizabeth Merritt 12 East Davidson All Conference 2 years - Signed with Catawba
Kelly Tessituse 11 Northern Guilford Triad 3A All-Conference Team, Co-Captain, Rio Grande Player of Week - 2 times 2007-2008 All Conference, Wachovia Classic All-Tournament

THIRD TEAM
Millesa Calicott 10 Mt. Tabor Freshman: MVP-Mary Garber, All-Tournament, All Conference Soph: All Mary Garber Tournament, All Conference, Triad Sports All County
Denika Harden 10 Grimsley All Conference
Alyssa Cutsham 12 East Davidson All Conference - 4 years, All District last year, All Western Region 2 years All County 2 years
Courtnei Clodfelter 12 North Davidson All-Conference (CPC), All-tournament CPC 2009
Santana Morrison W.S. Prep

In District 7, which includes Rockingham, Alamance, Caswell and Orange counties, Rockingham senior point guard Krystal Moore and Reidsville senior forward Eleisha Hairston were named first team, and Rockingham senior center Ashley Palm received second-team honors. Rockingham's Woody Wall was named coach of the year, and Graham point guard Beth Miller player of the year.