1970 Baseball Season Opener
Title
1970 Baseball Season Opener
Subject
Motlow Sports
Description
The Tullahoma News covers the Motlow Baseball season opener—highlighting players Bill Hill and Glenn Taylor
Creator
Latham Davis
Source
The Tullahoma News
Date
March 25, 1970
Language
English
Coverage
Motlow Sports
Transcription
Motlow Opens First Baseball Season Today at Dyersburg
By Latham Davis
Motlow College will open its first baseball season today with a double header at Dyersburg State College in Dyersburg.
Coach Joe Johnson will take a squad of 16 to Dyersburg. They’ll leave Tullahoma about 6 a. m. for the game which starts at 1 p. m. today.
The first home game of the season will be Monday against Columbia State at Tullahoma Municipal Stadium. Motlow will play a 19-game schedule this spring.
Coach Johnson said right-hander Randy Cunningham, former Tullahoma High School pitcher, would start on the mound in the first game at Dyersburg. Right-hander Glenn Taylor of Shelbyville will get the call in the second game.
The catcher will be either Bill Hill of Manchester or Mike Shelly of Memphis. Coach Johnson said he may start Hill in one game and Shelly in the other, but he added that if Hill makes as much progress in the next two weeks as he has made in the last two he’ll be the regular catcher, and Shelly will play mostly at second base.
Hill Shows Promise
Hill did not play high school baseball, but according to the coach, he possesses the size and mobility to stay behind the plate.
The remainder of the infield includes B. H. (Junior) Sanders of Shelbyville at first, Glenn Taylor at second, Mike Woodall of Winchester at short stop and Larry Tucker of Tullahoma at third. The outfield will consist of Bobby Whitlock of Tullahoma in left, John Smith of Woodbury in center and Kenneth Golden of Flintville in right.
Coach Johnson said Smith and Eddie Ivey of Tullahoma would be the top relief pitchers.
Completing the roster are Danny Roberson of Shelbyville, Danny Barber of Nashville, James Mason of Winchester, Glen St. John of Manchester, and Larry Damron of Shelbyville.
Rain has plagued practice from the start, and Monday’s batting practice was held on a soggy puddle-spotted field at Tullahoma East Junior High. The rain has fallen on the competition’s field, too, but lack of consistent practice has been especially damaging to Motlow, which is low on game experience.
Lacking Field Practice
“It has been so muddy that we’ve had no infield practice in a week and a half. So I can’t say a lot about the defense,” said Coach Johnson Monday. “We worked some on rundowns and other things we can do inside.”
The coach added that he knows some players can hit the ball, but he is not sure of others.
“I won’t know until I see them play, but hitting is definitely a question mark.”
Rain also washed out tentative scrimmages with Tullahoma High School.
Player enthusiasm has cheered the coach. He said earlier that he believed the boys have talent and with some hard work will win some games this season.
“We didn’t lose anyone because of grades,” said Coach Johnson, “which shows at least the boys are willing to study as well as play ball.”
The new athletic field at Motlow has been far too wet for practice, and the coach said he doubted if the team would be able to practice there any this season unless considerable work is done on building up and sloping the field.
Home Motlow games will be played at Tullahoma Municipal Stadium.
The Motlow schedule includes eight double headers. All opponents are members of the Tennessee Junior College Athletic Association.
19-Game Schedule
The Motlow schedule follows: March 25, at Dyersburg State (2); March 30, Columbia (2); April 1, Cleveland (2); April 6, Jackson (2); April 9, at Columbia (2); April 18, at Jackson (2); April 25, at Cumberland (1); April 29, at Cleveland (2); May 4, Cumberland (1); May 6, at Martin (1), and May 11, Dyersburg (2).
Image Text:
The Tullahoma News March 25, 1970
Practice Swinging —
Glenn Taylor, a pitcher-fielder for Motlow College baseball team, practices batting at East Junior High School in preparation for the opening games today at Dyersburg. Bill Hill of Manchester is behind the plate. Coach Joe Johnson said he was depending on both Hill and Taylor for a good season this year.
By Latham Davis
Motlow College will open its first baseball season today with a double header at Dyersburg State College in Dyersburg.
Coach Joe Johnson will take a squad of 16 to Dyersburg. They’ll leave Tullahoma about 6 a. m. for the game which starts at 1 p. m. today.
The first home game of the season will be Monday against Columbia State at Tullahoma Municipal Stadium. Motlow will play a 19-game schedule this spring.
Coach Johnson said right-hander Randy Cunningham, former Tullahoma High School pitcher, would start on the mound in the first game at Dyersburg. Right-hander Glenn Taylor of Shelbyville will get the call in the second game.
The catcher will be either Bill Hill of Manchester or Mike Shelly of Memphis. Coach Johnson said he may start Hill in one game and Shelly in the other, but he added that if Hill makes as much progress in the next two weeks as he has made in the last two he’ll be the regular catcher, and Shelly will play mostly at second base.
Hill Shows Promise
Hill did not play high school baseball, but according to the coach, he possesses the size and mobility to stay behind the plate.
The remainder of the infield includes B. H. (Junior) Sanders of Shelbyville at first, Glenn Taylor at second, Mike Woodall of Winchester at short stop and Larry Tucker of Tullahoma at third. The outfield will consist of Bobby Whitlock of Tullahoma in left, John Smith of Woodbury in center and Kenneth Golden of Flintville in right.
Coach Johnson said Smith and Eddie Ivey of Tullahoma would be the top relief pitchers.
Completing the roster are Danny Roberson of Shelbyville, Danny Barber of Nashville, James Mason of Winchester, Glen St. John of Manchester, and Larry Damron of Shelbyville.
Rain has plagued practice from the start, and Monday’s batting practice was held on a soggy puddle-spotted field at Tullahoma East Junior High. The rain has fallen on the competition’s field, too, but lack of consistent practice has been especially damaging to Motlow, which is low on game experience.
Lacking Field Practice
“It has been so muddy that we’ve had no infield practice in a week and a half. So I can’t say a lot about the defense,” said Coach Johnson Monday. “We worked some on rundowns and other things we can do inside.”
The coach added that he knows some players can hit the ball, but he is not sure of others.
“I won’t know until I see them play, but hitting is definitely a question mark.”
Rain also washed out tentative scrimmages with Tullahoma High School.
Player enthusiasm has cheered the coach. He said earlier that he believed the boys have talent and with some hard work will win some games this season.
“We didn’t lose anyone because of grades,” said Coach Johnson, “which shows at least the boys are willing to study as well as play ball.”
The new athletic field at Motlow has been far too wet for practice, and the coach said he doubted if the team would be able to practice there any this season unless considerable work is done on building up and sloping the field.
Home Motlow games will be played at Tullahoma Municipal Stadium.
The Motlow schedule includes eight double headers. All opponents are members of the Tennessee Junior College Athletic Association.
19-Game Schedule
The Motlow schedule follows: March 25, at Dyersburg State (2); March 30, Columbia (2); April 1, Cleveland (2); April 6, Jackson (2); April 9, at Columbia (2); April 18, at Jackson (2); April 25, at Cumberland (1); April 29, at Cleveland (2); May 4, Cumberland (1); May 6, at Martin (1), and May 11, Dyersburg (2).
Image Text:
The Tullahoma News March 25, 1970
Practice Swinging —
Glenn Taylor, a pitcher-fielder for Motlow College baseball team, practices batting at East Junior High School in preparation for the opening games today at Dyersburg. Bill Hill of Manchester is behind the plate. Coach Joe Johnson said he was depending on both Hill and Taylor for a good season this year.
Collection
Citation
Latham Davis, “1970 Baseball Season Opener,” Motlow State Community College Archives, accessed May 8, 2024, https://msccarchives.omeka.net/items/show/1.
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