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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

A look back at Davie sports 30 years ago …

The 1994 Davie baseball team ripped off seven straight wins to take over first place in the Central Piedmont Conference.

In an 8-3 win over North Davidson, the sixth inning began with a double by Neil Cornatzer and a Brack Beal walk. The next man was Brock Keene, who turned a 4-3 lead to 7-3 with one swing. He sent a drive to center field, the outfielder fell and Keene got an inside-the-park home run, capping a 3-for-4 day that also saw him run his pitching record to 5-1. It was sweet revenge for an earlier 12-0 loss to the Black Knights.

In a 6-3 win over Reynolds, Davie did all its scoring in the first inning. The big blow was a three-run triple by Matt Sain, who barely missed a grand slam. That was plenty of support for Beal, who struck out 11.

Davie’s winning streak ended when Mt. Tabor came to Rich Park. Jack Fowler blasted his third homer in a week as the War Eagles burst to a 5-1 lead. They led 7-3 after five, but Tabor poured across eight runs in the sixth, beat Davie 11-9 and dropped the War Eagles into a three-way tie for first with North Davidson and Tabor.

Davie girls soccer pulled out a tough 2-1 win in overtime against North Davidson. With the score 1-1, coach Pete Gustafson summoned Melissa Wooldridge off the bench, a move that paid immediate dividends. Ten seconds later, Wooldridge scored the game-winning goal. Melanie Stephens sent a cross toward the goal, and Wooldridge stepped in front of the goalie and put it home at the 99th minute. “The crowd went bananas,” Gustafson said. Earlier, Carrie Brown gave Davie a 1-0 lead at 50 minutes off a throw-in from Cara Hansen. North tied it three minutes later. The teams would battle for 100 minutes.

Matt Marion put a bow around his Pfeiffer baseball career by authoring a 16-game hitting streak and making one error at first base in 1994. Despite suffering a broken wrist late in the 1994 season, he hit .322 in Carolinas Conference play and finished with a career average of .301.

Davie’s golf team shot a sizzling score in a match at Hickory Hill Country Club. Freshmen Sean Boyd and Chris Tomel carded 36s, while seniors Jason Tutterow and Jackson Hendricks turned in 37s.

As expected, Davie track star Hamilton Cuthrell captured CPC titles in the 100 and 200 meters and won the league’s most valuable award for the second time. On the girls’ side, junior Maria Newsome took first in the shot put (33-0) and discus (102-11).

In the CPC Tournament at Hickory Hill, Davie golf finished second and two strokes behind Mt. Tabor behind a 76 from Boyd, a 79 from Hendricks, an 80 from Tomel and an 85 from Chris Bigenho. In the individual race, Boyd placed second, just two shots back of South Rowan’s Fred Corriher.

Davie girls soccer clinched its first ever state playoff berth by smacking South Rowan 6-0. Melissa Agrillo knocked in three goals, while Brown, Wooldridge and Shannon Umberger had one each. By finishing fourth in the CPC, Davie advanced to the postseason in its fourth year of existence.

The Midwest Regional for golf was held at Oak Hills Country Club and the top four individuals not only a qualifying team punched tickets to the state tournament. Davie’s extraordinary freshman, Boyd, needed a birdie on his last hole to force a playoff for the final spot – and he did just that to wrap up a 76 round. Boyd and two others went back to the first hole for the playoff. “It looked like a small version of the British Open,” coach Randall Ward said of the crowd that followed the three golfers. After his drive, Boyd was 110 yards from the green. He put a sand wedge within eight feet and sank the birdie putt to nail down fourth. Davie’s other golfers in the meet were Hendricks (83), Tomel (89), Tutterow (93) and Bigenho (93).

In the Midwest Regional for track, Cuthrell took second in the 100 and 200 and was a member of the 400 relay team that also finished second. James Clement (third in the long jump at 21-9.5), Cam Kofke (fourth in the pole vault at 11-0) and Chad Alexander (third in the 300 hurdles at 41 seconds) also qualified for the state by placing in the top four.

After struggling in 1992 and 1993, South Davie baseball made a run to the 1994 conference title. “We went from worst to first,” coach Grimes Parker said. “It was a pleasure to coach the type of kids I had.”

In the semifinals, the third-seeded Tigers clipped No. 2 Kannapolis 2-0 behind stellar pitching from Scott Carter. But with the score 0-0 in the top of the fourth, Clark Williams stole the show as a pinch-hitter. Chuck Phelps’ single and Aaron Elwood’s double set the table for Williams, who came off the bench and plated both with a double off the fence.

In the championship game, the Tigers erupted for 12 first-inning runs, held off Corriher-Lipe 16-12 and dumped the water cooler on Parker. Carter got the win, his eighth of the season, and Williams (.500) and Brian Campbell (.452) finished with the highest batting averages as South capped a 12-2 season.

West Forsyth softball beat Davie twice in the regular season, but the War Eagles were smiling ear to ear after the CPC Tournament semifinals at North Davidson, where Davie defeated West 11-8. West jumped ahead 3-0 in the first inning, but Davie surged to a commanding 10-3 lead and held on. Janis Barney launched a pair of home runs; Jonette Williard went 3 for 4; and Jenny Stewart, Tami Ramsey and Elizabeth Greene had two hits apiece. “The only green I like is money,” coach Darrell Steele said.

In the state tournament at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, Boyd just kept on keeping on, tying for 12th place. He was in seventh after posting a 73 on day one. He shot a 78 the next day. “We’re talking about a young man who won’t turn 15 until July,” Ward said. “He was definitely the youngest player in the tournament.”

Man, what a runner Cuthrell was. In the state meet in Chapel Hill, the senior finished second in the 100 meters at 10.91 and placed seventh in the 200. “He’s the hardest-working athlete I’ve had in any sport,” coach Cary Powers said. On the girls’ side, junior Christina Cassidy finished fourth in the discus at 106-7. She was one of only three from the CPC to score points.

The Davie football team’s season-opening 28-8 win at West Rowan was a testament to brilliant pass defense by a secondary of Josh Ward, Deryl Wilson, Mark Mason and Sain, who held West quarterback Tim Hogue to 10 of 40 passing. Cornatzer threw 20- and 46-yard touchdowns to Wilson and Ward, respectively, and Jonathan Vaughters ran for 93 yards on 12 carries.