Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/842433
24 UCW JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The lure of playing professional baseball this summer was enticing to Cape Fear pitching standout Gavin Williams. But after giving it some thought, Williams decided the best thing for his future was to honor his previous commitment to East Carolina Uni- versity and enroll in summer school in Greenville. Williams reported for classes last Wednesday. He said he decided that at only 17 years old he wasn't ready to move out completely on his own and join the Tampa Bay Rays rookie league team in Naples, Florida. Tampa Bay drafted Williams in the 30th round of this year's Major League Baseball draft. "I just felt I wasn't ready at the time,'' Williams said. "Going off at 17 would be kind of hard to do by myself.'' Williams turns 18 in late July and he's looking forward to spending time working out with his new teammates at East Carolina. He already knows quite a few of the players he'll be joining, having played with or against many of them during summer travel ball. One who won't be there is Whiteville stand- out MacKenzie Gore. Gore, ranked by many as the best left-handed high school pitcher in this year's draft, was the third player taken this year, going to the San Diego Padres. Williams and Gore have been friends for some time, and at this writing Williams said he expected Gore to sign with San Diego and report to a team in Arizona. There have been published reports that Gore could be getting a deal from the Padres in the range of $7 million. Even if Gore had elected to stay with East Carolina, Williams is confident he would have gotten his share of playing time with the Pirates this fall. Now that he's enrolled, he's committing to the Pirates for at least three seasons before Major League Baseball can try and draft him again. "I'm just going in there to throw strikes when they need to put me in,'' Williams said. He'll spend the summer working with his teammates and throwing a little, and then get his first taste of college competition this fall when East Carolina takes part in fall baseball. Despite starting the 2017 season with a knee injury that required surgery, Williams finished his strongest year ever for Cape Fear. He was 6-0 with a 0.35 earned run average. He pitched 39.2 innings and had 65 strikeouts. Playing shortstop when he didn't pitch, Williams batted .419, tied with teammate Jackson Parker for best in Cumberland Coun- ty Schools. Williams had four doubles, two triples and drove in eight runs. Summer Solheim ran cross country and track at Jack Britt High School during her years there, but some of her fondest memories on the track likely came from this year's Color Me Buc run held at the school in April. Solheim is the daughter of Lt. Col. Kent Solheim, a special operations soldier and founder of Gold Star Teen Adventures. This year's Color Me Buc run, which featured a one-mile fun- run and a 5K run, raised $1,000 for Gold Star. Summer described Gold Star as a foundation created by her father in 2011 with the objective of offering special adventures and experiences to the children of fallen special operations sol- diers from any branch of the United States military. "We go on outdoor adventures and scuba adventures,'' Summer said. "A lot of the mentors come from the service academies.'' She said the participants and mentors build relationships over time, and that the experience is often as beneficial for the mentors as it is for the young people who take part. "A lot of the members go on to become mentors for the new members of the camp,'' she said. "A lot of the teams come back and help fundraise for the program itself.'' Summer, who just graduated from Britt and will enroll at the University of North Carolina at Cha- pel Hill this fall, said she has been attending the Gold Star camps since she was 12. "I've done a lot of fundraisers and run half mar- athons,'' she said. "I really enjoy being a part of it.'' Cape Fear's Williams Sticks With ECU by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Gavin Williams L-R: Jack Britt Principal Scott Pope; CMB coordinator Danielle Steinhauser; Summer Solheim, 2017 Jack Britt graduate and daughter of Gold Star Teen Adventures founder Lt. Col. Kent Solheim; Assistant Principal Mike Picciano EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? EarlUCWSports@gmail.com. HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Gold Star Benefits Children of the Fallen by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Do you have a story or idea to share with High School Highlights? Email us at highschoolhighlights@upandcomingweekly.com