Penny named recipient
of 2007 Powers Award

Robbie Penny led the state in strikeouts last spring with a 168 while carrying a 0.84 earned run average as the Whiteville High baseball team advanced to the Eastern N.C. 2A Regional finals. He also had a .363 batting average and led the state in doubles with 20. Penny will open his college baseball career this coming spring with Coach Mike Fox’s University of North Carolina Tar Heel squad.

Staff photo by Mark Gilchrist

By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

Robbie Penny, whose arm and bat were major factors in the Whiteville High School baseball team’s march to the Waccamaw Conference championship and the Eastern N.C. 2A finals this past spring, has been named the recipient of the 2007 Jiggs Powers Memorial Award as the Columbus County’s Most Outstanding Athlete.

Penny is now a freshman at the University of North Carolina where is a member of the Tar Heel baseball team. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Penny is one of several young pitchers the UNC team will be relying on during the 2008 season. The Tar Heels have advanced to the finals of the College Baseball World Series in each of the past two seasons.

Ginny Haley, daughter of the late Vernon “Jiggs” Powers made the presentation last Thursday at The News Reporter. Powers served as a sports publicist in Southeastern North Carolina for more than a half-century. He was sports editor of The News Reporter from 1946 until his semi-retirement in 1980.

Powers established the award in 1951 and presented it annually until his death in 1997. Mrs. Haley has continued to present the award in memory of her father.

“It’s an honor to present this award to a young man like Robbie Penny,” Mrs. Haley said. “My father was an N.C. State man, but I don’t think he would mind too much that this Carolina man is getting his award today.”

Penny, a three-year member of the WHS varsity baseball team, led the state in strike-outs this past baseball season with a 168 and was among the top five in several other pitching categories. His season earned run average was 0.84 and he had a 12-3 won-loss record.

Penny was also the Wolfpack’s most reliable hitter as he finished with a .362 batting average and led the state in doubles with 20.

Penny, a righthander had a 12-3 pitching record for the Wolfpack, which finished with a 22-7 record after bowing to two-time defending state 2A champion North Lenoir in the Eastern finals.

“I really appreciate this award because I know there is a lot of pride and tradition behind it,” Penny said. “I grew up hearing about Jiggs Powers and all he did for sports in this area, so this is a real honor.”

Penny is the son of Phillip and Sharon Penny of Whiteville. His father served as a longtime assistant basketball coach at WHS and now teaches and coaches in Bladen County.

Penny’s second cousin, Ryan McCleney, was the recipient of the 2006 Jiggs Powers Award after a stellar two-sport career at West Columbus High School. McCleney is now a rising sophomore infielder on the Barton College baseball team.

WHS head baseball coach Brett Harwood, the 1992 Jiggs Powers Award winner, said he was very pleased to see Penny receive the honor.

“Robbie works very hard on his game every day, and he is a very determined competitor,” Harwood said. “Even on those rare days when he doesn’t seem to have his best stuff, he keeps on battling and gives everything he’s got. I think he’ll do very well as a college pitcher.”

Penny said that he is looking forward to his first season with Coach Mike Fox’s UNC squad, even though the Tar Heels will be leaving campus for every game they play during the 2008 schedule. Boshamer Stadium, the longtime UNC baseball facility, will be undergoing a major overhaul during the coming year, and the Heels will be utilizing a field in Cary, nearly a half-hour’s drive away.

“Right now, we’re practicing everywhere,” Penny said. “We’re still working out some at Boshamer because they haven’t started tearing up the field yet. We also go over to Cary some, and we go to a couple of the high school fields in Chapel Hill also.”