Chuck McGill: Virtual Metheny, Post 53 and an 8-year-old soccer play vying for gold

By Chuck McGill -- cmcgill@nvdaily.com

It has its flaws and inaccuracies, but former Sherando football standout Ross Metheny is pleased with the video game version of himself.

Metheny, who has already arrived in Charlottesville as he prepares for his freshman season with the University of Virginia football team, landed in dorm rooms across the country with EA Sports' release of NCAA Football 2010 last week. A friend of Metheny's purchased the game and alerted the ex-Warriors QB of his virtual debut.

Metheny is listed as U.Va.'s fourth-string quarterback on the game.

"I have not had the luxury of playing as myself yet," Metheny said. "You don't get the full effect because I'm right-handed and slow. It's pretty neat that they actually give you a thought."

Metheny, of course, is left-handed in real life. And while he's not likely to be mistaken for an option quarterback, he's proven in the past he has some wheels. NCAA 2010 gave Metheny a rating of 58 for speed, which basically means he's as fast on the game as an interior lineman.

"What is up with that? That must be the generic pocket quarterback speed or something," Metheny said playfully. "It's cheating me."

Metheny received high marks otherwise, including throwing power and accuracy. To make up for the slight on speed, Metheny's build seems a little embellished -- not that he minds. Besides, for those that own the game, a quick roster edit can fix Metheny's handedness, jersey number (the game has him wearing 7, not 15) and speed.

Metheny arrived on campus last week to begin summer school classes and daily conditioning, and teammates in his dorm have been playing NCAA 2010. Soon the fantasy of racking up huge stats on Xbox 360 will be replaced by the reality of two-a-days.

The Cavaliers will hold their first full-fledged practice on Aug. 7.

"I'm not a huge gamer, but being on the game is pretty interesting," Metheny said. "It'll be a lot neater when the information's a little more accurate."

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Front Royal Post 53 American Legion baseball team has a chance to capture a state championship for the first time in a long time. A really, really long time.

Post 53 defeated Winchester Post 21 for the 16th District tournament title on Monday night. Post 53 has two state championships to its credit: 1957 and 1963. Head coach Mike Smith had no idea when the last time Post 53 had even advanced to the state tournament, which will begin Monday in Glen Allen.

"Everybody I talked to, nobody can remember," Smith said. "They won two state championships back in the '50s and '60s, and that's pretty much the last time anything like this happened."

Post 53 managed a 10-8 regular season record before blistering through the postseason tournament with a 4-1 record, surviving the eight-team double-elimination event.

"In the regular season we hit the ball well but our defense struggled," Smith said. "In the postseason we put everything together. All three phases of the game came together for the tournament."

Post 53 averaged nearly 12 runs per game and had 76 hits in the tournament. In Monday's win over Winchester, Jon Nicholson had four hits and four RBIs, Keaton Neeb had four hits and two RBIs, tournament MVP Nick Merchant went 3-for-3, drove in two and was the winning pitcher, and Jeff Porter had three hits and two RBIs.

There are 17 players on the team from Skyline, Warren County, Sherando and Millbrook.

"We've got a great group of kids," Smith said. "They get along. They do everything together. It's like a family. That's been the key to us playing as good as we have been."

* * *

A random day filled with boredom has turned into a trip to the Junior Olympic Soccer Skills competition for Kendall Herbaugh.

The 8-year-old Woodstock resident will compete this weekend for the gold medal in her age group. Kendall won a local competition in March and the regional competition in Manassas in May. She'll represent the Eastern region in San Diego, where she'll compete against Kate Daus (Missouri) and Alexis Yates (California).

Kendall's mother, Lisa Herbaugh, said the trip will last four days, highlighted by opening ceremonies at the U.S. Olympic training center in Chula Vista and an awards ceremony at the San Diego Zoo.

"We're very excited," Lisa Herbaugh said. "This all happened because she was bored one day. We had no idea what she had to do. They explained it to her that day. She got a little blue ribbon and a certificate and got to go on. Now we've been practicing once or twice a week."

The competition places an emphasis on speed. Three soccer balls are placed at midfield: one on each sideline and one at midfield. Athletes have to dribble with both feet to the 18-yard box and shoot the ball into the goalmouth before retrieving the next ball and repeating the process. The fastest time wins.

An avid soccer player since she was 5 years old, Kendall is ready to go.

"I know it's going to be fun and I get to go to California," she said. "I'm just really, really good at [the skills competition]."