The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-10)

SUNDAY, APRIL 10 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D5

As Rice speaks near the 13 th tee, carts arrive carrying three White golfers from three Black schools. One of the players, from North Carolina Central, is from Sweden. Rice shakes his head. “HBCUs were created for a reason,” he says, “and it wasn’t to bring kids from Sweden over and put them on your campus.” He continues as the players tee up. “We emphasize winning, too,” he says. “I mean, we’re not trying to take ass-whoopings. But I won’t bring in the Swedish kid. I just don’t think it’s right.” The golfers climb back into their carts and motor away. Rice is still talking about the plight of Black golfers. “I just don’t w ant to leave them behind, man. They may not be the greatest. But we’ll bring them in, give them the resources; we’ll bring them along. If the coaches don’t pick them up, what are they going to do? They’re done.” A few minutes later, three more carts arrive at the 13 th. One is carrying Smith. Rice points out to a pair of Washington Post report- ers that they wouldn’t be at the Aggie Invitational if Smith weren’t playing. “Now y’all get to see there’s actually Black kids out here who can play golf,” Rice says. Smith pushes his tee into the turf, ad- dresses the ball and blasts another drive left, toward the woods. “Young kids are going to see him and be like: ‘You know what? Maybe it is cool to do that. Let me try it.’ ” But not if they never see Smith playing in college tournaments, which won’t happen unless he improves and makes A&T’s travel roster. The only reason he’s playing here is that Watkins orga- nized the Aggie Invitational and made an exception. “Having him out here is definitely a good thing, man. He’s bringing a little light to HBCU golf,” Rice says as Smith drives away to go looking for his ball. “I just hope he gets better.”

A community on the course Smith stands on the final green and putts for par. The ball lips out. “Oh, boy,” he says. He taps in for another bogey and removes his beanie. He shakes the hands of Kiley and Graham and poses for photos before joking the three freshmen will all meet up later at Waffle House. Then he drives back toward the Bryan Park clubhouse and finds his A&T teammates joking and talking about their rounds. Wil- liams overcame his struggles off the tee and was one of a handful of players to finish under par, ending the tournament in a tie for seventh. “How’d you make out?” Smith asks Martin Gutierrez, another teammate, who finished with a 6-over 78. “Well, I shot a whole lot more than that.” Watkins adds the numbers on Smith’s scorecard, tallying his 89. He f inishes plus-17 f or the tournament, the highest score in the field. A&T finishes sixth as a team, three spots behind Florida A&M. “Is he going to get better?” Watkins says of Smith. “Hell, yes. And quickly.” A&T’s golfers climb onto the bed of a pickup truck for a team picture. Williams is next to Smith, his famous teammate and friend. Smith sometimes asks Williams for golf tips; in exchange, Smith sometimes gives Williams, who wears the same size- 15 as Smith, extra sneakers and golf shoes. Though not always Jordans. “I’m not going to complain,” Williams says. He flashes two peace signs as the photo snaps. “We’re just adding a little bit of swagger and having a little bit of fun with it. I definitely think stuff like that will encourage kids to do it and say: ‘Hey, maybe golf isn’t just uppity, tighty. I have to be perfect.’ You can wear your hat a little tilted to the side and still respect the game.” Later, when Smith shares the photo on Instagram, LeBron James is among the more than 15,000 people who like the post, with countless others seeing it. It’s impossible to know whether any of this will lead to a young Black athlete picking up a golf club or sticking with it through the psychological endurance tests baked into the sport and someday playing for an HBCU. This mo- ment — for the institutions, the sport and Smith — may not last. But they’re here, brought to together for a while. Watkins, in fact, wants to docu- ment it with one more group photo, this time at the first tee. Smith asks whether he can drive his cart there, and the coach rolls his eyes but obliges. “Freshmen,” he says. Smith and his new teammates head down the path, past the parking lot, into the distance, laughing and talking loud enough they can be heard long after they can be seen.

has associations with North Caro-
lina Central and A&T, to a new
HBCU board of advisers.
Smith documented his back-
to-school journey on social me-
dia, notching straight-A’s in his
first semester. He asked Chris
Paul’s brother, CJ, whom he has
known since Smith and Chris
Paul played together for the New
Orleans Hornets, to call Watkins
to ask whether Smith could walk
onto the Aggies’ golf team. Wat-
kins played a few rounds with
Smith, seeing the good (monster
tee shots and an absurd competi-
tive drive) and bad (shaky short
game) of his abilities, and esti-
mated Smith is closer to a
12 handicap than a five.
Still, he could come out and
join the Aggies at Bryan Park,
their home course, and try to
qualify to be one of the five
players A&T can take to varsity
tournaments. Though Smith was
a pro athlete, the NCAA ruled he
could claim amateur status be-
cause he was paid only as a
basketball player. So if he could
beat out Williams, Ford or anyone
else, he could officially be a col-
lege golfer. In the meantime,
Smith would be a symbol of con-
tinuing education, a champion of
HBCUs and a neat golf story who
might inspire a new demographic
of youngster who will notice
Smith, think what he’s doing is
cool, and —
“They won’t,” Watkins says.
“Would I like to see it change?
Certainly I would. But it’s cul-
ture.”
Watkins used to coach baseball
here, and in the ’90s he started
noticing the beginnings of what
has become a dramatic decline in
Black participation in the game.
Basketball and football are the
popular sports; baseball and golf
are expensive and exclusive. Mi-
chael Jordan excelled at golf, as
would Curry later, but both were
basketball players first.
“He’s bringing more attention
to the HBCUs as a whole than to
HBCU golf,” Watkins says. “I
think he is a tremendous ambas-
sador for North Carolina A&T
University, whether he’s trying to
be or not. But is it going to help
me with golf, in terms of guys
playing golf, in terms of guys
coming in who could help us on
the golf course?”
The coach pauses and shakes
his head.
“Not counting on it,” he says.

‘We emphasize winning, too’

Two weeks before the Aggie
Invitational, Rice, the head coach
of the Florida A&M golf team,
traveled to Houston for the Mack
Champ Invitational. The event,
hosted by the foundation of PGA
golfer Cameron Champ, is essen-
tially a recruiting showcase in
which more than 100 golfers of
color compete for scholarships.
Rice, who is White, stood at the
first tee, watching the kids’
swings and contemplating how
many of them were ready for
college golf. He n oticed how com-
fortable the players seemed
among peers who look like them.
He a lso noticed something that
made him uneasy: for such an
abundance of talent, for all the
energy surrounding HBCUs, Rice
says he was one of five coaches
there from a historically Black
institution.
“The misconception is that
they think these Black kids can’t
play golf. They can,” Rice says.
“They’re all trying to come to
HBCUs or mid-major or bigger
schools. And we’ve got five HBCU
coaches there? It’s frustrating be-
cause they just want to win.”
Rice, A&M’s White coach, and
Watkins, A&T’s Black coach,
agree that, at least for now, pro-
grams must choose between ros-
ter diversity and being competi-
tive. Watkins insists there simply
aren’t enough top-shelf Black
golfers to go around. “My AD
knows where we’re ranked; my
chancellor knows where we’re
ranked,” he says, adding that he
likes the pressure.
Like many HBCU teams, A&T’s
men’s a nd women’s golf rosters are
filled with international talent:
Venezuela, Mexico, Spain, the
Philippines. Watkins s ays he’s a dd-
ing a golfer from France next year.
Rice disputes the need to do
this, saying it’s a matter of how
hard a coach is willing to look.
Florida A&M has nine players on
its men’s golf roster, and only
twins Marcus and Miles Taylor,
from South Africa, were born
outside the United States. Six of
the team’s golfers are Black.
“I recruit Black kids,” says Rice,
who attended and played golf for
A&M. “They’re harder to find, no
question, because they’re not ed-
ucated enough on knowing how
to really contact a coach. The
other thing is, they’re not going to
have — because it costs so damn
much, they play in smaller events.

... They’re out there; we just have
programs that aren’t even look-
ing.”

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

and 73 pitches — coming off a shortened spring training, teams are being cautious in how much they push their starters — but Lyles convinced him to go back out for another frame. After a 10 -pitch fifth, he tried to fight f or a sixth but gave way to Keegan Akin, who missed bats r outinely in three scoreless innings. Lyles had 25 five-inning out- ings in 2021, nearly a third as many as all Orioles combined. Mateo doubled in a run in the ninth, but pinch hitter DJ Stew- art struck out to end the game, leaving the Orioles with 24 strikeouts through two games to tie the 20 18 team for the most in franchise history. They are 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position. “Hopefully we can get some guys going a l ittle bit,” Hyde said. “We have some guys off to a little bit slow start. That’s not abnor- mal, but it’s a long year, and hopefully we can get them going.” — Baltimore Sun

him deep in the third, the outing was Lyles’s MLB-leading 13 th since 2019 in which he lasted five or fewer innings, gave up five or more earned runs and allowed at least one home run. The two-run shot was one of 10 balls put in play against Lyles at 101 mph or harder, tied with Ubaldo Jimé- nez for the most allowed by an Orioles starter since Statcast was introduced in 2015. Two came in a quick first in which Lyles needed only 10 pitches, but a 34-pitch second in which the Rays scored three times followed. The inning would have gone worse if not for strong defensive plays from first baseman Ryan Mountcastle and right fielder Austin Hays. In the third, Mountcastle pro- vided the Orioles’ first hit with a runner in scoring position this year, homering the other way after Jorge Mateo walked and stole second, but Mejía’s homer in the bottom half pushed the deficit back to three runs. Lyles said Hyde wanted to end his o uting after the fourth i nning

more’s pitching staff, with a deal guaranteeing him $7 million being the largest free agent con- tract Orioles executive vice presi- dent and general manager Mike Elias has given out in four o ffseasons at the organization’s helm. But those innings last year for the Texas Rangers were not always quality ones. Lyles led the majors in home runs allowed and posted a 5.15 ERA, leaving his career mark at 5.21 across 11 campaigns. Entering his start Saturday, the Rays were one of two teams against whom Lyles had a sub-3.00 ERA, but they tagged him for five runs in five innings. “A bunch of lefties in their lineup, I couldn’t place the breaking balls in the zone early,” Lyles said. “Just felt like I didn’t really make them respect the breaking balls in the zone, so all they were doing was just sitting, waiting for my heater. Had to be perfect with it, and most times, I wasn’t.” With Francisco Mejía taking

BY NATHAN RUIZ

st. petersburg, fla. — Balti- more Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde sees the value of right- hander Jordan Lyles as a veteran presence and innings-eater. Al- though he brought both of those traits to the Tr opicana Field mound Saturday for his Orioles debut, Lyles also carried the same run-prevention issues he has had throughout his career. The Tampa Bay Rays hit Lyles hard and often in a 5 -3 victory as Baltimore dropped its first series of the season. The Orioles, 0-2 for the first time since 20 10, have lost 14 straight games to the reigning American League East champions and will try to avoid a sweep Sunday. One of only 20 pitchers to throw 180 innings in 202 1, Lyles, 31, is the highest paid and most experienced member of Balti-

Baltimore stays winless as Lyles struggles in debut

RAYS 5, ORIOLES 3

JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Mets slugger Pete Alonso hit his first career grand slam in the fifth inning Saturday against the Nationals, helping his team to a victory.

five-man rotation of the season? Erick Fedde will face Mets starter Carlos Carrasco in Sunday’s series finale. But after that, the N ationals are waiting to see whether Aníbal Sánchez can square off with the Braves in Atlanta on Monday. Martinez called t hat “TBD.” Sánchez, a 38 -year-old righty, has had a s tiff neck s ince the t eam flew north from s pring training i n West Palm Beach, Fla. He played catch Friday but some pain lin- gered, according to Martinez. If he doesn’t make his first start since 202 0, Washington could look to the minors — perhaps tapping lefty Josh R ogers — or try to p atch the hole with long man Paolo Es- pino. What has attendance been like for opening weekend? Bad weath- er and a recent spike in coronavirus cases probably affected the crowds for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But the best comparison point, back w hen things were “normal” in 20 19, still shows a notable dip in early season buy-in. Facing the Mets to start that season, the Na- tionals hosted 42,263 fans on Opening Day and 33, 765 the first Saturday. This year, the Nationals had 35,052 for Opening Day, 2 5,67 7 on Friday and 21, 369 on hand for Saturday’s loss, many of them cheering for the Mets.

either, with 15 games in the next 15 days before it finally breaks April 25. “We got to go deeper in games,” Martinez said of his rotation. “It’s three days now w e couldn’t g et o ut of the [fifth] inning. Adon was cruising, I thought he was doing well, b ut the w alks. The walks and then one swing of t he bat.” What made Mets starter Chris Bassitt so effective? Acquired by New York in a trade with the Oak- land Athletics last month, Bassitt completed six scoreless innings on 93 pitches, yielding three h its (two of them singles for Juan Soto, the other a single for César Hernán- dez). B assitt, who struck out eight, leaned heavily on h is s lider, induc- ing six whiffs on 11 swings. He got seven called strikes with his low- to-mid 9 0s f astball. The bottom half of Washing- ton’s order, sixth through ninth, dropped to 1 for 37 with 18 strikeouts on the season. As a team, the Nationals have scored four runs in 27 i nnings. “If we were talking about the middle of the season, we wouldn’t be talking about this,” said desig- nated hitter Nelson Cruz, who is 1 for 1 2 with eight g roundouts. “But since it’s the first three games, yeah, we definitely have to talk about it. We t rust what w e have.” Any bright spots aside from Adon’s flashes on the mound? Scoreless innings from relievers Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey. The team’s new cherry blossom City Connect uniforms. Victor Robles’s defense in center. Robles, 24, made an excellent play in the third, sprinting straight b ack t o catch Alonso’s l in- er against the wall. In the fifth, he ranged into the right-center g ap to make a running grab in front of the warning track. The Nationals have stressed that, even if he struggles at t he plate, Robles can’t bring t hose mistakes into t he field with him, where he was a Gold Glove-caliber defender in 2 01 9. Good suggestion, too, because Robles has yet to collect a hit in five at-bats. Who will round out the first

That brought Alonso, the Mets’ slugging first baseman, into the game’s biggest spot. Adon slipped behind 2-0 and inched back with a well-placed fastball. Yet his next pitch, a 91-mph middle-in heater, was clobbered with the score-tilt- ing swing. “I was just trying to go and locate the pitch o utside, repeat the same p itch I threw on t he p revious one,” Adon said. “Just missed a little bit, a nd i t ran over the plate.” Otherwise, Adon was able to settle in his night after throwing 43 pitches to the first nine hitters. He needed just 23 for his second trip through New York’s order, slimming the average per batter from 4.9 to an efficient 2.6. In the end, though, Adon l eft 14 o uts for a bullpen that h as worked way more than Manager Dave Martinez would have l iked in the first series of the season. He always had a tough assignment with five lefties and the switch-hitting Lindor on Buck Showalter’s lineup card. Adon’s final line included four hits, four walks and three strikeouts, two of which came on his slider. Since he was the first Nationals pitcher to retire a batter in the fifth, their relievers felt a bit less strain than Thursday and Friday. And realistically, Adon would have exited after Alonso n o matter what, with Austin Voth warming and t he Nationals l iking his cutter against the u pcoming l efties. But his relatively early exit un- derlined a few of the Nationals’ pressing issues: A thin rotation has shown its colors against the division-rival Mets. Washington has been outscored 7-0 in the fifth this series, right as its starters have slowed and the bullpen has warmed. Then Mason Thompson, one of its 10 relievers, threw three pitches in the eighth before exit- ing with h ead athletic trainer Paul Lessard, squeezing his right hand into a fist. Thompson had biceps soreness and will undergo an MRI exam Sunday. The schedule offers no favors,

NATIONALS FROM D1

Alonso and B assitt drop Nationals to 0-3

NATIONALS ON DECK

vs. New York Mets

Today1:35 MASN

at Atlanta Braves

Tomorrow 7:20 MASN2

Tuesday7:20 MASN Wednesday12:20 MASN

at Pittsburgh Pirates

Thursday6:35 MASN Friday6:35 MASN

Saturday6:35 MASN2 April 17 1:35 MASN2

Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)

Mets 5, Nationals 0 NEW YORK AB RHBIBBSOAVG Nimmo cf........................ 422010 .444 Marte rf.......................... 400001 .214 Lindor ss......................... 311020 .222 Alonso dh ....................... 511403 .286 McNeil 2b ....................... 501000 .462 Do.Smith 1b ................... 401002 .200 Jankowski lf................... 302010 .500 Guillorme 3b................... 300011 .000 McCann c........................ 411001 .167 TOTALS 35 59458 — NATIONALS AB RHBIBBSOAVG C.Hernandez 2b.............. 401001 .250 Soto rf ............................ 402001 .300 Cruz dh ........................... 400001 .083 Bell 1b ............................ 301011 .300 Thomas lf ....................... 400003 .000 Franco 3b........................ 300001 .000 A.Escobar ss................... 300001 .100 Adams c.......................... 300002 .000 Robles cf......................... 300001 .000 TOTALS 31 040112 — NEW YORK............. 000 040 001 —591 WASHINGTON........ 000 000 000 —040 E: L indor (2). LOB: New York 9, Washington 5. 2B: Nim- mo (1), Lindor (1). HR: Alonso (1), off Adon. RBI: Alon- so 4 (4). SB: Jankowski 2 (2). NEW YORK IP HRER BB SONP ERA Bassitt ........................ 6300189 30.00 Dr.Smith...................... 100001 13 0.00 Rodríguez..................1.1 00002 13 0.00 Ottavino....................0.2 10001 11 0.00 NATIONALS IP HRER BB SONP ERA Adon .........................4.1 444438 68.31 Voth..........................0.2 200001 513.5 Finnegan...................... 1000028 0.00 Rainey.......................... 1100021 30.00 Thompson.................... 0000103 0.00 Machado...................... 2211012 85.40 WP: Bassitt (1-0); LP: Adon (0-1). Thompson pitched to 1 batters in the 8th Inherited runners-scored: Machado 1-0. HBP: Adon (Marte). WP: Adon(2), Machado. T: 3:14. A: 2 1,369 (41,339). HOW THEY SCORED METS FIFTH James McCann singles to left field. Brandon Nimmo walks. James McCann to second. Starling Marte flies out to center field to Victor Robles. Francisco Lindor walks. Pete Alonso homers to left field. Francisco Lin- dor scores. Brandon Nimmo scores. James McCann scores. Jeff McNeil lines out to center field to Victor Robles. Dominic Smith singles to left field. Travis Jankowski singles to center field. Dominic Smith to third. Luis Guillorme flies out to left field to Lane Thomas. Mets 4, Nationals 0 METS NINTH Brandon Nimmo doubles to shallow right field. Starling Marte flies out to right field to Juan Soto. Brandon Nimmo to third. Brandon Nimmo scores. Francisco Lin- dor doubles to center field. Pete Alonso strikes out swinging. Jeff McNeil flies out to left field to Lane Thomas. Mets 5, Nationals 0

What’s for dinner? Search our database of tested recipes by ingredient or name. wpost.com/recipes

S0315 1x2

The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-10)

Get our desktop app

Company

Features

Documentation

Resources