Burns High School - Blazes Yearbook (Lawndale, NC)

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EX) Ele INGE: GAINED “We didn’t have a winning season but we worked hard, had a lot of fun, and gained a lot of experience.” This is what coach Mable Carpenter had to say about this year’s girl’s tennis team. The team finished the season with an overall conference record of 2-6. Senior Marsha Ward said, ‘‘We didn’t have a winning season but it was a good expe- rience for all of us.” The Bulldogs won the opening game 8-1 against R.S. Central. The next match was non-conference, against West Lincoln. Burns won, 5-4. Playing without the third and sixth seed players, Burns lost to North Gaston 5-4. After this disappointing loss, Burns came back to defeat Chase 5-4. Next came five more losses, the biggest being Kings Mountain and Shelby, both 9-0. This year’s top-seed player, Valerie Baker said, ‘““The competition was hard- er but I learned a lot from it.” Junior Lisa Lackey commented on the team, ‘“‘We get along real good, like a family.” -. ee Girls Tennis 33

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Page 32: In a home match, Burns’ girls tennis players show off their form. Page 33: TOP — Top seed Valerie Baker uses a backhand to return the ball to her opponent. BOTTOM LEFT — Lisa Lackey returns a shot. BOTTOM RIGHT — Val- ee ee . erie Baker easily returns her opponent’s serve. LS Ra XXX KKK YA AA AAA XX RX XX YX AA AA KK XXX XX o y ‘ SWAAA AX X AX XXX XY AA x 32 Girls Tennis

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ALMOST PERFECT RECORD For the second straight year Burns’ baseball team reached the conference finals. Tied for first place with Crest, Burns was determined to win. But Kings Mountain had other plans. De- spite profound efforts, the Bulldogs lost both games to their arch rival in the “best two out of three series.’’ And for the second straight year, the Mounties’ took the trophy home. Dark clouds and pouring rain caused postponement of many games. Even practices were affected by this unusu- 34 Baseball ally “wet” weather. However, this didn’t seem to make a big difference to spectators. They came, rain or shine, with spirits soaring, watching intently until the last out was made. This sup- port from the Bulldog fans could be the reason for Baseball’s 14-3 season record. Through all this there were many exciting times. The home run spree against Chase began when Barry Shuford hit a three-run blast, and then he and Tony Abernathy hit solo home runs later in the game, the final score 10-4. Other home runs by Ken Byrd, Mel- vin Clark, and Tim Williams through- out the season kept the fire burning. Skillful pitching done by senior Louie Grigg 5-0, and juniors Al Floyd 4-2, and Tim Williams 5-1, did not suc- ceed in making the Bulldogs confer- ence champs. However, their 14-3 record is the best in Burns’ history.