COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Virginia State heads CIAA poll
Virginia State was picked first and defending champion Virginia Union second in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association preseason poll.
Fayetteville State, J.C. Smith, Bowie State, Winston-Salem State, Shaw, Lincoln of Pennsylvania, Livingstone, Elizabeth City State and 11th-place Bluefield State rounded out the group. The two-division structure was eliminated this year.
Virginia Union’s preseason first-teamers included returning All-American running back Jada Byers, plus tight end Kalen Carver, offensive lineman Jamaree Moyer and Mathias Nielsen, kicker Brady Myers, defensive lineman Isaac Anderson, linebacker Shamar Graham and punt returner Larry Hackey.
Byers ran for 1,186 yards on 205 carries and accounted for a league-high 16 touchdowns last season.
Virginia State’s only preseason first-team choice was offensive lineman Bruno Onwuazor.
BASEBALL
Pilots win for 15th time in 17 games
The Peninsula Pilots erased an early three-run deficit and edged Wilson 5-4 Wednesday night before 1,532 at War Memorial Stadium, extending a remarkable run.
The Pilots (28-10 overall, 12-2 in the Coastal Plain League’s second half) have won 15 of their last 17 games, including two in a row.
Carlos Pena’s two-run homer in the fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie and put Peninsula ahead 5-3. Shutout relief from winner Dylan Morrill, Gardner Meeks and Cayden Ochsenfeld, who held the Tobs without a hit in the last two innings, preserved the victory.
Thanks in large part to Chris Amparo’s two-run double in the second inning, Wilson (22-17, 7-8) went ahead 3-0 off Peninsula starter Sam Rochard.
The Pilots answered back in the bottom of the second with Jackson Tone’s RBI single and Coleman Calabrese’s theft of home as part of a double steal.
Ryan Dooley scored the tying run in the third on Jorsixt Jimenez’s bases-loaded walk, then moved ahead on Pena’s two-out homer.
Outhit 11-6, the Pilots still won. They’ll head to Shepherd Stadium in Colonial Heights to face the Tri-City Chili Peppers in a 5 p.m. doubleheader Thursday.
PRO FOOTBALL
Nansemond River grad among UFL draftees
Virginia Tech defensive end Pheldarius Payne, a Nansemond River High graduate, was chosen by the St. Louis Battlehawks in the United Football League draft. Payne is trying to make the NFL’s Houston Texans, but if he ends up in the UFL, St. Louis will have his rights.
Also chosen were former Memphis Tigers and Old Dominion running back Blake Watson, by the Memphis Showboats, and James Madison defensive lineman Jamree Kromah, who went to the San Antonio Brahmas.
BASKETBALL
Keyontae Johnson to hold camp
Oklahoma City forward Keyontae Johnson will hold a two-day basketball camp at Norview High from July 24-25.
Johnson, who began his high school career with the Pilots, will return to Norfolk for the camp, which will focus on individual skill development.
The camp, which costs $100, is part of Johnson’s Key To My Heart Foundation. To register, go to https://thekeytomyheart.org/
Johnson was the 50th overall selection by Oklahoma City in the 2023 NBA draft. He played nine games with the Thunder last season.
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Pitt’s Capel gains contract extension
Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel received a three-year contract extension through 2029-30, the school announced.
Capel is 97-92 in six seasons with the Panthers, who hired him in 2018 after he served as an assistant at his alma mater, Duke. His staff includes two aides who grew up in Hampton Roads: his brother Jason, from Indian River High, and Milan Brown from Kecoughtan.
MORE COLLEGES
Old Dominion’s Stephon Dubose-Bourne, Virginia’s Will Bettridge, Virginia Tech’s Jaylin Lane, William & Mary’s Charles Grant, James Madison’s Jacob Dobbs, Liberty’s Quinton Cooley and Richmond’s Wayne Galloway are among the 178 football players nominated for the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. It recognizes excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, and it will include 22 players and a coach.
The 11 coach nominees include Army’s Jeff Monken, N.C. State’s Dave Doeren and North Carolina A&T’s Vincent Brown (a former W&M assistant).
Old Dominion received an American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the fifth consecutive year — the program’s entire history. The Monarchs were among more than 1,400 collegiate and high school programs to earn the distinction this year; teams must maintain at least a 3.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale to be awarded.
Former Virginia men’s lacrosse attackman Connor Shellenberger was named a first-team Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators. He lately has been playing for the Premier Lacrosse League’s New York Atlas.
