Help on the way for outdated school facilities; State softball teams gearing up for postseason.
Long after many other schools had switched to glass backboards in their gymnasiums, Cameron High School still used the fan-shaped fiberglass boards.
The school, for years, had portable school rooms in the back of the property because of lack of space.
It was outdated, for sure, up to the poorly-draining football field.
That will no longer be the case when work begins no later than early July on a $31 million high school to include a 1,000-seat auditorium and an auxiliary auditorium.
Currently, the Cameron High gym seats 800.
The new school will be located approximately two miles outside of Cameron city limits near the village of Clouston – on the hill above Cameron High’s football field.
Cameron High features one of the state’s top Class AA-A wrestling programs, while the football team had remained competitive throughout the 1990s. The basketball team has never reached the state tournament.
The state School Building Authority announced that $23,301,238 was being allocated over a two-year period for construction of a new school. The remaining $8 million will be funded by the Marshall County Board of Education.
Softball: Wheeling Central with eyes on the prize
Since Wheeling Central owned the Class A softball championship – winning titles from 1995-2001 – five different teams have won small school crowns.
The Maroon Knights won two during that time (2006-2007), wrapped around crowns by Richwood (2005) and Man (2008).
Wheeling Central has no seniors as it looks for its 10th title in 15 years.
“We are starting to come around at the right time,” said Coach Rick Magruder, whose team is 10-7. “We have moved some girls around to try and find our best defensive setup, and we are getting better at the right time of year.”
Huntington has won the last two Class AAA crowns, but the Highlanders will be hard-pressed to repeat. At least one team will have something to say about that.
St. Albans, led by 5-foot-5 junior Samantha Snodgrass, owns a 14-1 record, which includes a 10-0 victory over Huntington.
She owns a perfect game and a no-hitter, with an earned run average of 1.01 and 111 strikeouts. Offensively, Snodgrass bats .388 with four home runs and 29 RBI.
Coach Greg Garber said Snodgrass has progressed well since he decided to move her to pitcher.
“It shocked me, I didn’t know I’d be pitching as much as I have,” Snodgrass told the Gazette.
The Red Dragons are seeking to become the first Class AAA team from the Kanawha Valley to win a state championship.
In Class AA, there has been a different champion every year since 2005.
In fact, no team has won back-to-back Class AA championships since Sissonville claimed the first three of the century (2000, 2001, 2002).
Chapmanville won the title in 2004 and 2007 and is poised to win the 2009 championship.
Leading the way for the Tigers is senior Andi Williamson.
The daughter of former Marshall standout Andy Paul Williamson, her brother is Logan basketball star Paul Herbert Williamson.
The Tigers are 14-0, with Williamson owning 12 of those victories, allowing one earned run (0.08 ERA) and 208 strikeouts in 84 innings.
Williamson has three perfect games and four total no-hitters. She also had 33 strikeouts in a 13-inning victory over Logan.
Since the Secondary School Activities Commission began sanctioning state champions in 1981, Chapmanville has won three titles.
It appears primed to get its fourth.
The softball sectionals are May 6-12, the regionals are May 14 and May 21 and the state tournament is May 27-28 at Vienna.
Rich Stevens, a sportswriter for the Charleston Daily Mail, covers West Virginia for MaxPreps.
