*Hats off to Sally Geis Smart, winner of the women's division in Saturday's third annual Roar Run to benefit the PE programs / equipment at Byars Dowdy Elementary.

Sally, who reportedly hasn't trained in quite a while, is a mother of four and the wife of local pastor Matt Smart. She ran a 24:33.

And by the way, Sally is considered by many as the greatest female distance runner in the history of Baylor University. She was inducted into the Baylor Sports Hall of Fame back in 2008 and still holds a record or two in Waco.

Over 400 participants ran / walked a brand new route for the Roar Run, utilizing Leeville Pike and Hickory Ridge Road. Over $6,000 was raised. Thanks to everyone involved.

*BTW -- my 15 year-old son Taylor Bryan finished second overall in the Roar Run with a time of 21:52. Later in the day he boarded the yellow bus with his LHS teammates for a baseball game at Cookeville. The boy said it was the first time in his life he was happy to stay on the bench.

Results for all four competitive divisions will be published in the Wednesday, April 13 print edition of The Wilson Post. Also photos of Sally and overall winner Jacob York.

*Saw one of the weirdest baseball games in my life Saturday afternoon as Cumberland defeated Bethel 18-15 in McKenzie.

The Bulldogs opened the top of the first with 8 runs. I'm thinking "run rule" and an early trip home. NOPE -- Bethel responded with 10 in the bottom of the first and things went downhill from there. The first inning took a full hour to complete. Bethel used six pitchers in the game, Cumberland four. The wind was howling out so every fly ball was an adventure. It was like four hours in the dentists' chair.

*There's a baseball taboo about keeping silent when someone is pitching a no-hitter. Friday afternoon in McKenzie CU lefty Will Locante had gone through five innings without giving up a hit in the second game of the twinbill with Bethel. While Locante was sitting in the dugout getting his thoughts together as his teammates were batting in the top of the sixth -- infielder Tommy Crews plopped down next to the Memphis native. Crews exclaimed to no one in particular, "Hey, Will's got a no-hitter going."

Locante promptly gave up a hit in the sixth and two more in the seventh, prompting the Bulldogs to dub Crews "Jinx" the next day.

*Bethel University is growing by leaps and bounds. Cranes and hard hats everywhere as new dorms, student rec center and a new gym are under construction. Looks like BU will be taking up the slack as Lambuth continues its downward spiral.

Several folks from my wife's hometown of Savannah, TN were on hand at the weekend series, including former CU pitcher Nick Thompson. Nick, a standout RHP on CU's 2004 NAIA World Series championship team, is the Bethel pitching coach.

*Saw highlights of Vandy's baseball game with Alabama Sunday afternoon. I was surprised to see red trim in the uniforms. Apparently it's a red, white and blue salute to the US Armed Forces. Looks like this is a Sunday home game thing.

Mt. Juliet's RHP Taylor Hill started for Vandy, went four-plus innings and wasn't involved in the decision. IMO -- Vandy baseball's public address announcer Steve Willard is the BEST in the business.

*Wilson County native and former Blue Devil Garrett Fanchier is a junior pitcher at Belmont. Had a good three-inning relief effort over the weekend at USC-Upstate, but gave up a walk-off HR. Garrett has an ERA of 3.89. He's 1-3 so far this season with 16 appearances, six of these are starts. He's third on the team in innings pitched with 39.1. Belmont is presently 16-17 overall / 6-9 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.