As sports continue to await word about the possible lifting of suspended seasons, the Standard would like to debut a new web-only segment, "On This Day." We hope to update it daily, bringing you some of the biggest moments in Warren County sports history (focusing mainly on the last 51 years since the school consolidation and formation of Warren County Senior High), as well as some famous birthdays and big national stories.
Logan Underhill was a standout as a Pioneer and nothing changed when he enrolled at Martin Methodist College. Back on April 2, 2017, Underhill was named the NAIA pitcher of the week after a dominant performance against Middle Georgia State.
Underhill was a standout in Warren County, earning District 6AAA MVP honors on his way to getting offered a college scholarship. Underhill also had one of the best hits for the Pioneers last decade, a game-winning single as a sophomore to give the Pioneers an extra-inning win over Ooltewah.
In other April 2 editions of the Standard, Kaye Bouldin and Franklin Martin were recognized for being top scorers for WCSH (1972), Warren Shirt Company won the women’s division of the Industrial Basketball league (1973), Rickey Terry, Tim Pedigo and Barry Panter were standouts for the Pioneer baseball team (1973), Sherry Drake was scoring buckets for City Bank (1975), Randy Nowlin was trying to take home for the Pioneers (1984), Brandon Smartt was throwing for the Pioneers (1993), Nolan Esparza led Boyd in hitting (1999), Jessica Grayson locked in defensively for the Lady Pioneers (1999), TJ Black flew through the air on his Suzuki (2000), Dakota Taylor took the mound for WCMS (2006) and WCHS track and tennis were delivering standout performances (2010).
Famous April 2 birthdays
1875 – Walter Chrysler, Automotive pioneer and thoroughbred breeder
1927 – Billy Pierce, Seven-time MLB all star
1945 – Don Sutton, MLB Hall of Famer
1966 – Bill Romanowski, NFL linebacker, four-time Super Bowl winner
1976 – Rory Sabbatini, six-time PGA tour winner
1994 – Pascal Siakam, NBA all-star
1999 – Krojhn Calbert, UT offensive lineman, former Pioneer
National April 2 sports headlines
1939 – Ralph Guldahl wins his only Masters title with a tournament record 279 (-), one stroke ahead of runner-up Sam Snead.
1972 – New Yorks Mets manager Gil Hodges collapses after completing a round of golf and dies of a heart attack
1976 – Oakland Athletics trade Reggie Jackson and Ken Holtzman to the Baltimore Orioles
1977 – Montreal Canadiens rout the Washington Capitals, 11-0, to set an NHL record of 34 straight home games without a loss
1978 – Martina Navratilova wins her first WTA tour championship
1980 – Wayne Gretzky scored for Edmonton to become the youngest player to reach 50 goals (19 years, 2 months)
1980 – Guy Lafleur scores twice to become the first player in NHL history to record six straight 50-goal seasons
1985 – Georgetown beats Houston 84-75 to win the 46th NCAA mens basketball championship. Patrick Ewing won tournament MOP; John Thompson became the first African American head coach to lead his team to any NCAA Division I title.
1989 – Tennessee beats Auburn, 76-60, to claim the NCAA title. Bridgette Gordon was named tournament MOP
1989 – Hulk Hogan beats Randy “Macho Man” Savage for the WWF
Heavyweight title at WrestleMania V
1990 – UNLV beats Duke 103-73 in the NCAA title game, recording the largest margin of victory in the championship game and winning the program’s first title
1995 – UConn completes a perfect season by beating Tennessee 70-64 in the title game; first undefeated season since Texas in 1986.
1995 – Longest strike in American major league sports history (232 days) ends as MLB owners accept players’ offer to return to work without a contract.
2001 – New York Yankee pitcher Roger Clemons becomes the American League all-time strikeout leader, recording his 3,509th strikeout in a win over the Kansas City Royals.
2001 – Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has two hits and becomes first Japanese position player to play in a regular season MLB game.
2003 – At 27 years, 249 days, Alex Rodriguez becomes the youngest MLB player to hit 300 home runs
2007 – Florida beats Ohio State 84-75 to complete back-to-back NCAA titles. Corey Brewer was named Most Outstanding Player
2012 – Kentucky beats Kansas 67-59 in the 74th NCAA men’s basketball championship; Wildcats guard Doron Lamb leads all scorers with 22 points
2019 – Thunder guard Russell Westbrook becomes the second NBA player in history to have 20-plus points, rebounds and assists in a game, records 20-20-21 in 119-103 win over Lakers.
