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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

A look back at Davie sports 25 years ago …
With the second and final state playoff berth from the CPC on the line between the Davie and visiting Mt. Tabor baseball teams, sophomore Andrew Daywalt lived every little boy’s dream in the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the score 3-3 in the CPC Tournament final at Rich Park, he rode the first pitch into the left-center trees to give the No. 2 War Eagles a 4-3 win over the No. 4 Spartans, who upset top-seeded West Forsyth in the semifinals.
“That’s stuff you dream about,” Daywalt said after he ambushed on a hanging curveball. “We had to win this game. We couldn’t let the seniors down. I was just trying to get a base hit, but luckily I ended it.”
The walk-off homer made Davie 14-5 in one-run games across two years and ignited a delirious celebration.
“That was perfect, a perfect ending,” Drew Ridenhour said. “(Assistant coach Mike) Lovelace told me: ‘Put your bat down, you’re not going to hit. Yard is fixing to end it right here.’ And sure enough – first pitch he hit it and I about went crazy.”
Tabor had 12 hits to Davie’s five, but the War Eagles escaped a first-and-third, nobody-out jam in the second, nailed two runners at the plate, escaped a second-and-third jam in the third, turned a 1-2-3 double play in the fourth and gunned a runner going to second in the seventh.
Brad Willard’s performance was nothing short of Herculean. He had a two-run single in the third for a 3-0 lead, threw to second baseman Thadd Johnson for a beautiful 9-4-2 out at home in the fifth, and after mishandling a single from the first batter in the seventh, he nailed the guy trying to take second.
When Davie and West Forsyth had a softball showdown at Rich Park in the final regular-season game, it was deja vu. The War Eagles beat Marissa Mickey for the second time, 2-0. The West fireballer was 15-0 against everybody except Davie, which finished first at 8-0 while the Titans were runner-ups at 6-2.
Sophomore Stacey Handy accounted for two of Davie’s six hits, but it was Ember Spillman who made something happen with the score 0-0 in the fourth, leading off with a bloop single over short. She advanced to second on Ashley Quinn’s sac bunt, moved to third on a passed ball and scored when the shortstop bobbled Kim Hilton’s bunt. Davie tacked on a just-in-case run in the sixth. Ashlie Sanders led off with a walk. Speedster Tina Harkness entered as a pinch-runner, moved to second on a Spillman bunt, stole third and came home on a bunt by Quinn.
Shannon Handy, who pitched her sixth shutout, and her superior defense were unflappable under pressure, stranding one runner in each of the first six innings.
“If I have to give anybody hype, it would be (center fielder)Kim Hilton,” Handy said. “A lot of those balls were hit really hard and she stopped all of them. I just want to thank her for doing that.”
The War Eagles came up short, 2-1 in overtime against high-powered West Forsyth, but they gave everything their heart could give in a 100-minute battle.
“It was a wonderful game,” coach Pete Gustafson said. “It was awesome, inspiring. It was definitely the most exciting game we’ve had in a long time.”
After facing a 1-0 deficit at halftime, Caroline Steed hooked up with Meredith Hendrix, who headed in a goal with 10 minutes left in regulation. Elise Whitaker, Erin Baldwin, Shannon Bokeno and Haley Queen anchored a fabulous defensive effort.
In the CPC Tournament at Salem Glen, Davie’s golf team was led by Shawn Brooks and James Stewart’s 3-over 74s. John Landen and Greg Brooks were next at 79 and 81, respectively. Stewart (third place in the CPC individual standings) S. Brooks (seventh) and G. Brooks (ninth) made the all-conference team.
In the state track & field meet at UNC Charlotte, Jhockton Dalton claimed second in the discus at 151-6, and Nick Propst was third in the long jump (22-7), eighth in the triple jump and 11th in the high jump.
“To see those kids get up on the medal stand was unbelievable,” coach Devore Holman said of the juniors. “We represented Davie County well. (Dalton) was grinning from ear to ear. (Propst) was tickled to death.”
The Davie baseball team’s magic during the 2000 season finally expired in the first round of the 4-A playoffs, when North Forsyth sophomore lefthander Jason Duncan struck out 11 and helped himself with a two-run homer that gave the visiting Vikings a 5-1 lead in an eventual 5-3 decision. The loss closed the book on Ridenhour’s fantastic three-year varsity career – .369 average and 62 RBIs in 222 at-bats.
Shannon Handy lowered her incredible ERA to 0.65 as Davie softball squeezed out 1-0 and 2-0 playoff wins over Crest and Northwest Guilford, respectively. Against Crest, Harkness drove in the only run with a third-inning sac fly. Against NWG, Stacey Handy singled in the fourth and scored on Hilton’s groundout. Quinn scored the insurance run on an error. It was the program-record 18th win for the War Eagles, who were 10-3 in games decided by two runs or less.
Stewart stood tall in the Midwest Regional in Laurinburg, shooting a 1-over 73 to finish one shot behind the medalist. S. Brooks was 10th overall at 78, followed by G. Brooks at 79 and Levi Browning at 81.
Stewart wasn’t done. A week later in the state tournament in Chapel Hill, the senior carded a 2-under 142 across 36 holes to capture third place. His scores were 72-70.
“He proved to everybody that he’s one of the top golfers in the state,” coach Doug Illing said.
Skipp Crider, a crafty lefty, logged seven innings on the hill, Kevin Shuping rapped four hits and the Mocksville Legion stunned unbeaten Eastern Randolph 11-8. Shuping’s two-run homer gave Post 174 a 10-1 lead over a team that was coming off a (get this) 41-2 win over Mount Gilead.
“They are picked to be one of the top teams in the state,” coach Mike Lovelace said of E. Randolph.
Ridenhour slugged the 17th and 18th homers of his Legion career in a 7-5 home win over Wilkes County, and in his bid for a third HR, he flew out to the fence.
“Three (homers) would have been a first and that would have felt great, but I’ll take two any day,” Ridenhour said.
Cody Wright, who pitched seven innings, ran his Davie/Mocksville season record to 7-1, and Erik Walker got the save.