Tiara Duffy’s GPA is higher than her BA, but she’s starting to hit

Sweet Tea - Tiara Duffy wanted to go play softball at the University of Tennessee coming out of Cape, but the Volunteers program, co-coached by husband and wife Ralph and Karen Weekly, had the recruiting class from T’s year already committed, having filled all those slots back when the athletes were playing travel T ball. Duffy is now a senior at South Carolina (28-4), where she was a walk-on. Tiara went 3-for-3, including a fifth-inning home run, in an 8-7 win over Tennessee (30-5) March 23, a game played in front of 1,400 fans. The Gamecocks also beat the Volunteers 4-3 March 24 and 15-5 March 25. Duffy had a three-run homer in the fifth inning of the Sunday game, which ended after five innings because of the 10-run rule. Duffy is majoring in public health with a 3.91 GPA and has applied to Eastern Virginia Medical School for her master’s. “She was batting .038 entering Friday’s game, so I’m glad her GPA is so high,” her mother Tenesha said jokingly. Duffy’s average jumped to .216 after three games versus the Vols. She was sidelined several games earlier in the season with a ligament strain in her elbow.

Singing and dancing - The PA went away March 23 at Champions Stadium, silencing “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to a girls’ lacrosse game, so the Stephen Decatur and Cape girls sang like they had practiced together. I wondered if that could happen before a boys’ game and concluded unilaterally and without consultation that, no, it could not. I was at Temple women’s lacrosse for a game against the visiting Cincinnati Bearcats March 24. Lots of music played on great speakers, the beat pulsating over the field, and these Division I women often break into dance, even during the game. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a guy do that in the middle of an overtime game, but it could happen. “Hey, Pots and Pans, do you want to dance or play lacrosse?”

Scouts sprout - Every scrimmage and game Cape baseball has played this spring I’ve heard of major league scouts being there to watch Cape’s prospects. I can only extrapolate and conclude that every small town in America must have three scouts hiding out impersonating regular people in the retail business. Just need a radar gun and iPad, and you are in business. The draft is June 4-6. It’s all pretty complicated from a distance. It reminds me of Match.com for baseball: “If you’re looking for a hard thrower who can also swing the bat, come find me!” 

Can’t sell it! - Post-game dejection syndrome cannot be sold around the folding tables at the tailgate party because you didn’t get much or any playing time. People who like you don’t even care; they are just hoping there are some hot dogs left after the players stop bong hitting them. (Weren’t you just holding a hot dog a second ago?) There was a protest song by Phil Ochs back in the ’60s with the refrain, “I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybody, except for a small circle of friends.” I’m a tracker of players, from middle school through college, and I know it is rough out there and most athletes can contribute given the opportunity. And when you get all dressed up and don’t see the field, it makes you feel like a chump. That’s why I don’t enter contests, because if I lose, nobody cares, and if I’m lucky enough to win, nobody is interested, except for a small circle of friends.

Snippets - Madi Bada (Sussex Tech) scored her first two collegiate goals in East Carolina’s 16-0 win over Delaware State. Loyola basketball is “on a mission from God.” It’s been a great story, but it’s about to end, I’m afraid, when Michigan tears into the Ramblers. I watched the YouTube documentary on the 1963 Loyola team that won the national title. It’s 30 minutes long and should be part of any class on American history. I watched the game live on a black-and-white TV back in 1963, with Checkers the cat sleeping on top of the television. Flat screens took away a warm perch for calicos everywhere. Winthrop beat Mercer 14-9 March 25. Kat Judge and Allie Yeager (both Cape) each had two goals, while Kat also had nine draw controls. Kristin Shriver (Worcester Prep) had one goal for Winthrop. Izzy Cryne (Cape) was in goal for Mercer and recorded 13 saves, which is pretty awesome. Former Cape lacrosse teammates Holden Kammerer (Franklin & Marshall) and Erik Stancofski (Swarthmore) were on the field together, as the Diplomats defeated the Garnet 16-2. Go on now, git!