From staff reports
Rowan County American Legion program athletic director Theo Heilig, an instrumental force in Rowan’s long history as a hotbed of American Legion baseball, passed away on Monday.
Heilig was 90.
In 1996, coach Jim DeHart called the Rowan Legion program “the best run in the state” and cited Heilig as the biggest reason. DeHart said Heilig did “the work of 10 men.”
New uniforms, new lights, whatever was needed, Heilig, whose gruff exterior always concealed a heart of gold, produced them or found someone who would.
Heilig’s list of duties over the years included everything from rubbing up baseballs, to loading equipment, to washing uniforms, to mixing Gatorade. His behind-the-scenes workload was heavy, but he pursued it with a passion and a love for the game and the teenagers who played ball for Rowan County.
More than once, Rowan coaches saw tears in Heilig’s eyes after one of the substitutes came through with a big hit.
Heilig was a tough guy who entered the Navy Air Corps five months after Pearl Harbor. He was a flight engineer, patrolling for lurking submarines, and he saw four years of active duty in the Pacific and the Atlantic.
He worked at Hanford’s Florist before the war and returned to the flower business after he came home. He worked at one business his whole life ó two, counting Newman Park.
Heilig is credited as the driving force in unifying the different Legion baseball programs in the county ó Salisbury, Spencer, Rockwell ó under the banner of Rowan County in 1961.
Salisbury went to the World Series in 1955 under coach Joe Ferebee, and Heilig helped convince Ferebee to return in 1967.
Rowan County then enjoyed a remarkable stretch from 1968-71, with two state titles and two runner-up finishes.
Heilig turned to DeHart after Ferebee retired in 1989, and DeHart guided a state-championship team in 1993 and a regional champion in 1996.
Heilig was inducted into the North Carolina Legion Hall of Fame in a banquet at Kings Mountain in January, 1973.
– Butler inks with Lions
Former Salisbury and East Carolina standout Matt Butler will sign a contract with the NFL’s Detroit Lions.
Butler was headed to Kent State as a graduate assistant and also had an offer from San Jose of the Arena League, but he was invited to mini-camps by the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions shortly after the draft. He picked the Lions as the best fit.
Butler’s father, Dennis, said the Lions were won over when they saw his 6-foot-4, 302-pound son could play all three line positions.
“He walked on in college, and now he’s walked on in Detroit,” Dennis Butler said.
Butler’s brother, Andrew, is the catcher for Salisbury’s baseball team. Another brother, Matt, played baseball and quarterbacked the football team at Salisbury.
A story on Butler is upcoming.
– Prep baseball playoffs
East Rowan, unbeaten in 18 games in the NPC, plays host to Southwestern Randolph in the first round of the 3A state playoffs on Friday at 7 p.m.
East has displayed outstanding defense, pitching and hitting.
East’s leading hitter last season was current Charlotte catcher Ross Steedley, who checked in at .329.
Through Friday’s game, the Mustangs (22-2) have seven regulars hitting above .340. Six Mustangs boast batting averages 90 or more points higher than they produced in 2007. One of them, first baseman Trey Holmes, has eight hits in his last 12 at-bats.
East has won 18 in a row and has lost only to two of its old 4A CPC rivals, West Forsyth and North Davidson.
East will count on Corbin Shive (8-0) to pitch the first game in the playoffs.
Southwestern Randolph (11-13) was spanked 13-3 by powerhouse Southeast Guilford, one of the favorites in 3A, in a Mid-Piedmont Conference Tournament semifinal.
* West Rowan, the NPC’s No. 5 seed, travels to SPC champion Marvin Ridge on Friday afternoon.
The game will be played at 4:30 p.m. because the first-year Mavericks don’t have lights yet. Zack Simpson or D.J. Webb will get the mound call for the Falcons, who climbed out of a 1-5 hole to go 9-9 in the NPC.
* NPC No. 4 seed South Rowan is at R.S. Central on Friday. In 2A, Salisbury will play at East Lincoln Friday night. In 4A, Davie will be on the road Friday against the No. 2 seed from the Queen City Conference.
– Intimidators lose two
The Kannapolis Intimidators finished off a two-city, eight-day, nine-game road trip by dropping a doubleheader to Lake County on Tuesday.
Kannapolis fell 3-1 and 2-1.
Danny Jordan hit a home run for the Intimidators, his third of the year.
– Kannapolis hoops camp
A.L. Brown basketball camp dates are June 16-19, July 7-10 and July 28-31.
Camp runs from 9-1 each day at Kannapolis Middle School.
Cost is $55 for each week.
Contact A.L. Brown coach Shelwyn Klutz at 704-933-5241.
– Carson football camp
Carson Youth Football Camp for grades 3-8 will be held May 12-15 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Carson head coach Mark Woody and his staff will conduct the camp, along with guest coaches from Southeast and China Grove.
This is a non-contact camp designed to work on position skill development and fundamentals and conditioning.
Cost is $35 for players who register early ó before May 1.
Cost is $40 for registration from 3-4:30 p.m. on the first day of camp
Call 704-855-7297 for information.
– Carson girls hoops camp
Carson’s Lady Cougar Middle School Basketball Camp will be held on June 16-19 from 8 a.m. until noon each day.
The camp is for girls who will be in grades 6-8. The cost is $50.
All campers will receive a T-shirt. Awards will be given for the free-throw and Hot Shot winners. Contact Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer at 704-855-5034 for more information.
– Catawba football camp
The Catawba Football Camp will be held July 7-9.
Contact coach D.J. Summers at 704-645-4558 or e-mail dsummers@catawba.edu.
– CIAA honors
CIAA coaches of the year for spring sports are Virginia State’s Torrie Lashley (softball), Virginia State’s Merrill Morgan (baseball), Shaw’s Sunday Enitan (men’s tennis), Virginia State’s Linda Person (women’s tennis), Virginia State’s Jeff Hamilton (golf) and George Williams of St. Augustine’s (men’s and women’s track).
– Bears get bid
Lenoir-Rhyne’s softball team received an at-large bid to the South Atlantic Regional tournament.
The Bears (42-12) are seeded third. Carson-Newman (48-6) is No. 1.
No. 2 seed UNC Pembroke is the host team. The tournament starts today.
– Prep softball
Whitney Ashley, Ericka Ashley and Taylor Lookabill had two hits each to lead South Rowan to a 12-6 victory over North Iredell on Monday.
Lookabill was the winning pitcher, and her hits included a two-run double.
The Raiders wrapped up a 4-14 NPC season on a high note.
* Carson had one of its best efforts of the season, but lost to West Iredell 4-3 in nine innings on Monday. Carson should be the NPC’s No. 6 seed for next week’s state playoffs.
* East Rowan will be home for the first round next week. The Mustangs will likely face Asheboro.
* West Rowan will be the NPC’s No. 2 seed, but the Falcons will be on the road for the first round against the Catawba Valley’s No. 2 team.
* North Rowan’s season ended with an 11-1 loss to West Davidson in the first round of the CCC tournament.
* Salisbury’s season ended with a 15-1 loss to East Davidson in the first round of the CCC tournament.
* Lexington’s season ended with a 22-0 loss to Ledford in the first round of the CCC tournament.
– Salisbury Academy golf
Salisbury Academy defeated Statesville Montessori 147-167 at Statesville Country Club.
The Jaguars (16-0) were led by medalist Alex Lee (35), Alex Nianouris (36), Joseph Rusher (36) and Troy Beaver (40).
– Catawba golf
Catawba’s Allen Tuttle fell back to 22nd after carding a nine-over-par 81 in Tuesday’s second round of the Southeast Regional men’s golf tournament.
– Corbin Hills golf
The Corbin Hill Ladies Golf Association played in a Criers event on Tuesday. Becky Isenhour won first-place low gross. She was followed by Ruth Bowles, and Susan Morris. First-place low net was won by Shirley Baucom. She was followed by DJ Whitfield, Donna Loman and Mary Seaford.
Donna DeVlieger and Sharon Deal tied for low putts.
– Pfeiffer lacrosse
Pfeiffer’s women’s lacrosse coach Julian Domenech has resigned his position. Over the past six seasons, Domenech led the Falcons to three conference titles.