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2010-11 Year In Review
Baseball 27-14
The Apprentice School baseball team pulled out several late inning victories throughout the season as they ended with a 27-14 record along with a few school records.
Dramatic wins started quickly as in the season opener when Devorn Lake drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th inning as the Builders defeated College of the Albemarle 8-7. The Dolphins scored all seven runs in the second and after that were held to four hits over the last 10 innings.
A month later the Builders swept a doubleheader from Castleton State winning 6-5 in the opener on a wild pitch in the tenth inning. They took the second game 13-5 which started the Builders on a streak of eight wins in a row and 12 out of 13. In that was another last-inning comeback as a Zach Harding two-out triple scored Chris Aldridge to take the nightcap of a doubleheader sweep of St. Vincent’s.
Following a pair of doubleheader losses to NCAA Division III Tournament participant Tufts University, which included a school record 17-inning game, and eventual USCAA National Champion Briarcliffe College, the Builders reeled off wins in seven of their next 10 games. Key wins included knocking off Virginia Wesleyan College (12-2), avenging a 10-inning loss to Washington Adventist with a 16-5 win on Senior Day and exploding for 20 runs in a win at College of the Albemarle (20-1).
Josh Tuck ended with a team high .386 batting average while earning Virginia Sports Information Directors Association First Team All-State College Division and USCAA All-American honors. Aldridge was next with a .342 batting average followed by Andrew Hooper at .333.
Golf (8-8)
The Apprentice School golf team had a solid season in 2010-11 with five top-five finishes in tournaments, including a school record low round to highlight the campaign.
They opened the fall season in a dual match against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on the historic Engineers Country Club. Over a course that hosted the PGA Championship (1919), U.S. Amateur (1920) and dates back to 1917, freshman Ben Hunter won the medalist honor with an even-par 70 for the first of his five medalist honors.
After a dual match with juco power SUNY Delhi, the Builders took second place in the Builder Fall Classic, and the Builder Fall Invitational. In the fall invitational, the Builders carded a school-record 285 and finished one shot behind Christopher Newport in the event.
At the USCAA Nationals held at the Penn State University Blue Course, Hunter took control of the individual medalist race early and shot an even-par 144 over the two rounds to win by seven strokes as the Builders took third in the 17-team event.
Hunter carried his medalist run into the spring season when he took the top honors at the Virginia Wesleyan and Lynchburg Tournaments where he won both via playoffs. As a team, the Builders took second at the Lynchburg and fifth at the Virginia Wesleyan events.
The Builders averaged a 324.5 for the year which shaved 11 strokes off of last year’s average and finished with the fourth best scoring average in the last 20 years. Hunter was the lowest scoring average with a 77.5, while senior Wade Traynham was next at 80.7 and freshman Kyle Mutter at 82.3.
Men’s Basketball (12-13)
The men’s basketball team had a new leader in 2010-11 as Franklin Chatman took over the head coaching role. Riding a pair of USCAA All-Americans and facing a schedule with the first 13 games on the road, the Builders finished the year with a 12-13 record.
Apprentice School jumped out to a 5-2 start with a pair of wins over NCAA Division II opponents on the road in Virginia State and St. Andrews. The win over Virginia State was especially sweet for Chatman as the Builders knocked off his alma mater 84-68 in Petersburg. Against St. Andrews, the Builders pulled away in the final minute behind a career-high 26 points from Tim Johnson and three free throws in the final 14 seconds to ice the 82-78 win.
They closed the first half of the season with what turned out to be their biggest win of the year knocking off eventual CIAA finalist Livingstone College 86-84 in overtime on the road. In a game that saw 16 ties and 17 lead changes, Johnson’s jumper with 1:17 left along with free throws from Terrence Palmer and Joe Lyons for the win.
The men finally hit the home floor for the first Martin Luther King Classic where they hosted Barber-Scotia College, Rhema Bible and Robert Morris-Springfield. They took all three victories in the classic winning by 11, 17 and 33 points.
Junior Isaih Harrison was named first team USCAA All-American after a sophomore season where he averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Harrison scored over 25 points in 11 games while pouring in a season-best 30 points against UDC. His rebounding average topped the USCAA while he was second in scoring. Harrison hauled in a career-best 19 rebounds in a road win at NCAA Division II St. Andrews Presbyterian College. Harrison set or tied six school records including points scored (553), scoring average (22.1), free throws made and attempted (150-of-202) and rebounds (293).
Sophomore Tevin Andrews joined Harrison on the first team USCAA All-American squad after averaging 18.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and nearly three assists per game. He hit a team-best 52.5% from the field and scored in double figures in 24 of 25 games with nine double-doubles. Andrews scored a career best 31 points in a home loss to NCAA Division II University of District of Columbia and had a career best 15 rebounds against eventual USCAA National Champion Southern Virginia.
Women's Basketball (18-9)
The women’s basketball team started the season with a bang and ended up with a bid to the USCAA National Championships where they finished seventh and a final record of 18-9.
Apprentice School opened the season with a school-best seven straight wins. They won both games in the Great Ships Classic against eventual USCAA Tournament participants Briarcliffe College (76-70) and Penn State Fayette (90-44). Following that was a pair of NCAA Division III wins on the road against Goucher College (69-59) and a first-ever win at Salisbury University (65-60) in the Optimist Classic.
After a rough spell that saw them lose four in a row, the Lady Builders rebounded with wins in six of their eight games in January. Three of those came in the first Martin Luther King Classic the Lady Builders hosted. In the tournament they knocked off Rhema Bible College (68-57), Bennett College (76-39) and held on for a 76-74 win over Robert Morris-Springfield.
They closed the season with wins in five of their last seven games including rematches with Penn State Fayette (84-52) and Penn State Brandywine (77-69) to finish the USCAA Nationals in seventh place.
A very balanced Lady Builder squad should return in 2011-12 as seven players averaged between seven and 11 points per game, with six of those returning. Freshman Courtney Collins was a USCAA Honorable Mention All-American after averaging 10.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and shared the team lead with 14 blocked shots.
Wrestling (20-8)
The Apprentice School wrestling team set the bar in 2010-11 with the first 20-win season in the history of the program and also had its first 50-match winner in junior Ricky Anderson. When all was said and done, the team won its tenth straight National Collegiate Wrestling Association Conference title and took seventh at nationals.
They opened the season with four dual wins at the Electric City Duals in Scranton, Pa. In those duals, which the Builders took the team title for the second year in a row, they knocked off University of Maryland-Baltimore County (42-0), SUNY Morrisville (29-8), Penn State DuBois (38-7) and the host University of Scranton (38-9).
A pair of strong tournaments followed where junior Marcus Chevres took second at 133 pounds in the Citadel Open and Ursinus Fall Brawl. After a trip to Florida, the Builders hit the mat twice in December at the York Spartan Invitational (7th place) and at the UMBC Duals where they won for the second year in a row going winning five of six duals on the day.
In January the team participated in a pair of dual tournaments (Virginia Duals and NCWA National Duals) along with a pair of tournaments (second at Washington & Lee and winning Builder Invitational). At the NCWA National Duals, the team took fourth out of 20 teams. In the final match, Anderson set the single season falls record with a win in 17 seconds. He ended the year with 43 of his 51 wins coming by fall.
The month of February saw the team win all six dual matches and win tournament titles at the USCAA Invitational and NCWA Mid-Atlantic Conference. They ended the regular season with four straight dual match wins on the home floor knocking off Washington & Lee (36-9), St. Andrews (36-11), Hampton University (45-6) and William & Mary (50-0) for the 20th dual match win of the year.
Anderson ended as one of three NCWA All-Americans and set the school record with 51 wins on the year. He was joined as NCWA All-Americans by Marcus Chevres who took third at 133 pounds to become a three-time NCWA All-American and freshman Willie Crawford who took fourth at 184 pounds. Chevres and Anderson sit third and fourth on the career wins list heading into their senior seasons with 104 and 103 respectively.
Football (2-8)
The football team played the road quite a bit in 2010 with six games away from Apprentice Field, but showed plenty of fight and helped set a historic mark in the 91st year of Apprentice Athletics during the 2010 football campaign.
Apprentice School opened with a pair of road games heading to Alfred, NY to face Alfred State College where they fell 22-7. The next weekend they were in Washington, D.C. to take on Catholic University and lost a 42-32 shootout with the Cardinals. A 22-point fourth quarter comeback fell short as the hosts were able to recover an onside kick with 2:18 left and ran out the clock for the win.
The following week the Builders opened the home schedule with a locally televised game against Greensboro College. This contest was the first locally televised game in Apprentice School football history and the home team came out victorious as Nick Foor hit a 37-yard field goal with 10:59 left in the game for a 9-7 Apprentice School win.
That game started a three-game homestand where the Builders fell to FDU-Florham (28-14) and nationally-ranked Salisbury University (31-7) before traveling to third-ranked Wesley College where they fell 64-7.
The Builders returned to action off their bye week with a key in-state matchup at Southern Virginia University. Freshman Trey Tillman found senior Bryan Cain on a 16-yard scoring pass with 3:09 left as the Builders recorded a 20-18 win in Buena Vista.
They ended the regular season with a pair of closely fought losses to LaGrange College (21-14) and Frostburg State University (25-21) before hosting Webber International for the 61st annual Oyster Bowl and lost 40-7.
Senior Bryan Cain earned 2010-11 Apprentice School Athlete of the Year honors after being named Atlantic Central Football Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year. He caught 55 passes for 773 yards and eight touchdowns to lead the offensive attack for the team.
