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Man! Things Have ReallyFve always wondered why I wasn’t a .400 hitter as a youngster, and maybe now I know. I simply didn’t have that ‘little extra something’ to keep me motivated and to cheer me on. But that isn’t the case with a group of ten to twelve-year-olds in Trap Bill. They should have all the incentive necessary to run all the other teams right out of the trap Hill District little League. They have a girl manager!Renee Shumate, a senior at Sophia High School, may be just what the doctor ordered to pull the Yankees from their dismal 1969 finish. Last season, the Yanks won only once in thirteen tries. Miss Shumate thinks that record canbe considerably improved.“We’re looking for a better season”, she says, “but then again, there’s only one way to go — up!” Renee, who was a cheerleader at Sophia for three years, is an avid sportsfan with a particular love for basebalL “I guess I couldwatch baseball games all day, everyday.”Renee says it all started two years ago. “I was the scorekeeper for our American Legion team (Sophia Post 169) and I was with the team every game, including the trip to New Jersey for the national American Legion tournament.9Then early this year. Dwight Daniel, who had managed teams in the Trap Hill District, asked me if I would be interestedin helping with the little League.”ii *'v *For three years, Daniel managed the Yankees in the Babe Ruth League, and two of his teams were unbeaten. “There are a lot of things a girl just can’t do,” Daniel explains, “and that’s where Icome in. I work with thepitchers and catchers, and Renee takes care of the other players. I have never been able to get the discipline she does.’-i • •Since Renee is 5«st over fivefeet tall and weighs only 197 pounds,’ it was difficult for me to understand how she was able to handle the ‘physical* part of a manager’s duties. “Oh, there’s no real problem there,” she says, “I hit to the infielders in practice, and Dwight usually hits to the outfielders,”And for the moment at least, you’d have a tough time trying no convince fifteen gung-ho youngsters that a woman’s . place is in the home. , .RENEE SlIUMATfi
Newspaper Details
Post Herald and Register
Beckley, West Virginia, US
Sun, May 17, 1970
Page 32
Full Page
Clipped by
Clayton T.
NA, NA 11 Dec 2021
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