June 5, 2009

Pocahontas' successful year was a minor miracle

GIVEN THE inevitable stops that must be made along the way, it will take Pocahontas County's baseball team roughly four hours to return home today. The Warriors will do so without a state baseball championship, that dream having been crushed to the tune of 9-2 by Moorefield in Friday night's first Class A semifinal game at Appalachian Power Park.
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
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GIVEN THE inevitable stops that must be made along the way, it will take Pocahontas County's baseball team roughly four hours to return home today. The Warriors will do so without a state baseball championship, that dream having been crushed to the tune of 9-2 by Moorefield in Friday night's first Class A semifinal game at Appalachian Power Park.

And let's be honest here. Does that surprise anyone? In the school's 39-year history, athletic excellence has not exactly been a trademark.

You want numbers? OK. Just in the last dozen years prior to this one, only seven Pocahontas County teams in any sport had won regional championships and advanced to the state tournament. State championships? Fuggedaboudit.

So when the baseball team won its way through the sectionals and regionals this spring and had a moment in the spotlight, it was cause for celebration, right? Well, yes. And no.

You see, all of a sudden that's become the norm and not the exception. Those seven state tournament teams since 1997? Shoot, the Warriors had seven this school year.

Huh?

That's right. Of the 10 sports the school sponsors, seven won regional championships and/or made the state playoffs this school year. In the fall, the football team made it to the quarterfinals of the Class A playoffs, the boys' soccer team lost in the state championship game, the girls soccer team was in the quarterfinals and the golf team finished seventh in the state. In the winter both the boys and girls basketball teams made it to the state tournament and this spring the boys track team finished sixth in the single-A state meet two weeks ago. Then baseball.

That leaves just volleyball, girls track and softball on the outside looking in, and even volleyball more than doubled its win total from a year ago.

"We've got some good coaches, but we've also got some good seniors, athletically and academically,'' principal Tom Sanders said. "Sixty-four of my 77 seniors are enrolled in college. I mean, Charleston Catholic gets a hundred percent going on to college, but not a country school like ours.''

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Make no mistake about it, this is a country school in almost every sense.

Geographically, there are plenty of schools dotted around West Virginia that face the same types of challenges, but one would be hard-pressed to find another in the state - perhaps even the nation - that presents the logistical challenges of Pocahontas County. Spread over 942 mountainous square miles, a trip from Droop or Hillsboro at the southern end of the county to Durbin or Thornwood in the north can take 90 minutes. And that's not taking into account the chance of snowy weather, which is present, oh, maybe in every school month save September and May.

The school itself, which opened in 1970, is in Dunmore, essentially a wide spot on State Route 28 just south of the Green Bank Observatory. That's 30 to 40 minutes south of Durbin and more than an hour north of Droop and Hillsboro, which are just over the border from Greenbrier County. Virtually the entire county is a part of the Monongahela National Forest, which is all one needs to know about the terrain, which includes Snowshoe Ski Resort, Cass Scenic Railroad and Droop Mountain Battlefield.

OK, so why the geography lesson? Well, because aside from the obvious - good athletes, coaches and facilities - required to run a successful athletic program, there's the not-so-small matter of simply getting kids to practices and games.

For example, two athletic activity buses leave the high school at 6 p.m. each day, one going north and the other south. Obviously the buses can't make it to every nook and cranny of the county (there are none, for example, that go to Snowshoe), so even after riding for an hour some kids have to get in a car and drive home.

"It can be 8:30 or 9 o'clock before they all get home and they still have to keep up with all their school work and make the same kind of trip back to school the next day,'' Sanders said. "It's just a commitment.''

OK, so why the sudden surge of success? Well, there are a lot of reasons, not the least of which was a solid senior class this year.

"It wasn't that we had one or two kids who lifted us up, which is sometimes the case in a small school,'' Sanders said. "The truth is we probably had eight or nine. And we may have some more coming.''

It started out tough but that only served to show what the Class of 2009 (and the underclassmen) accomplished this year in athletics.
Thanks for posting the article.

I read this article this morning and thought it was a testimony to the great teams PCHS had this year. Hummm.... guess it depends on whether you're looking for the negative or for the positive.

I thought it was a great article! It shows the commitment these kids have given to their sports and studies!

Some people evidently did not read the whole article. I am SO glad that, finally, someone pointed out what handicaps our students face in competing with people who have a far easier ride. Hats off to this year's class who excelled and made it to Charleston, but hats off, too, to all the athletes over the year who have doggedly traveled thousands of miles, played on multiple teams,in the band, competed in foreign language festivals hundreds of miles away, done homework between practises and at midnight after an away game AND stayed civil and good-humored when they were defeated by better-rested opponents. Adversity has certainly created strong men and women who wonder at the ease of college and work life in a more "normal" environment. I am proud of every one of you!

Give me a break...this is a well-written POSITIVE article about the phenomenal year PCHS has had across the board. I went there and we took many losses on the chin, and it is awesome to see athletes have a great year and be recognized in the State Flagship Newspaper. Hats off the D. Hickman for taking the time to write the article and give props to the Warriors. It wasn't nasty or putting them down, it was shining some good light on PCHS, something that rarely happened in the past. Reading it, I was proud to be an alum and share in the joy for this years kids. GO Warriors! Pull your head out your backside if you believe it was slapping PC in the face. It couldn't be further from the truth in my opinion.

I thought the article was wonderful. I intend to let the writer know that also.

no it was just norman trying to stir up something once again

I agree with jarhead. Norman is starting up something once AGAIN! By the way Norman, I heard you LOST AGAIN ON YOUR APPEAL ABOUT YOUR LOSS TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION!!!! WHEN will you ever learn? Oh, probably never!

poor norman.off course he already sent all the coaches and teachers to hell a long time ago.

This is a great article! I don't have any kids in high school, but it made me very proud of the kids who do attend, and I think it beautifully showcased what these kids go through, and the success they have.

Nasty? Not at all. Norman, why don't you get on here and explain what, EXACTLY, you find nasty about this? Don't mention Dr. Law or Alice, don't mention the BOE, or any lawsuits. Look at the article, and tell us what you don't like about it. (Yeah, I know, this isn't going to happen, but still...watch how Norman will either ignore this completely, or deflect attention away to some other, unrelated topic)

I'm sending copies of the article to my brothers out of state; they'll love it!

I know the author personally; trust me this is a GOOD article. If he was being sarcastic or demeaning PCHS you would know the difference!
I think he knows what the kids here are up against and admires them for their committment. Probably isn't another school in the state whose kids face such challenge to participate in sports. I applaud them all!

OUR kids in OUR county are the best in the state. But, that is MY opinion and I believe, fact. Our students do have to work longer and harder sometimes to achieve what other schools take for granted. And they deserve all the honor they earn. Our kids have to play some of the schools that get to pick their players and students. Our kids come from good hard working families from all over our county. And that makes them even better for it. Now this is how I feel, personaly. Way to go Pocahontas County. Way to go to All our wonderful kids.

If you read the entire article from start to finish, you will see that he is simply trying to show how strong our teams have to be to excel, with our terrain, our weather, or miles traveled...it is a very good article, very well written, and I was proud to be from this county after I read it...way to go to the writer.

See there you are again, Wondering 2!