I'm not India's Warren Buffett: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

MUMBAI: India's best known stock investor, billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, doesn't much like the moniker of 'India's Warren Buffett'.

"It's not a fitting comparison. In terms of wealth and success and maturity, he's far, far ahead," says Jhunjhunwala in an interview at his office in a prime location in Mumbai overlooking the Arabian Sea.

Much like the famed Omaha investor, Jhunjhunwala has made a fortune from some savvy investments - Forbes magazine puts his net worth at $1.1 billion, ranking him 41st on India's rich list - but the similarities end there. Dressed simply in a white shirt and grey pants, he draws heavily on a cigarette, burps loudly, tells ribald jokes and peppers his interview with the cliches and one-liners that have become his stock-in-trade.

The 51-year-old has the brash confidence of a self-made man - he built his fortune from an early bet on Tata Tea - and of a risk-taking investor. "I'm not a clone of anybody. I'm Rakesh Jhunjhunwala," he booms. "I've lived the world on my own terms. I do what I enjoy. I enjoy what I do."

Unlike Buffett, Jhunjhunwala has been an advocate of leverage, which he has often used in his career and perhaps best defines his big, bold bet investment philosophy.

"See, I'm a risk taker," he says. "If I feel very opinionated, I can really put the money on the table. I don't think too much deep research is needed. I don't go into analysis paralysis," he says. "All you need is common sense."

VIRTUE OF RISK

"Trend is your friend," he quips, adding that at a time of intense global market volatility he is fully invested, yet cautious about adding too much risk. He has, however, extolled the virtue of risk and profited from being able to make big contrarian bets - as he did in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Markets, he says, have priced in a Greek exit from the euro zone, but the bigger concerns are about other vulnerable single currency members, a United States that's "on steroids" and a "crisis of governance" in India. "When there's doom and gloom, don't forget there's darkness before dawn," he says.

Despite the concerns over weak governance, he's still a believer in the India story that has made him rich. "When a child is sick, the mother is concerned. It doesn't mean the child's going to die," he says.

In a country that reveres its gurus, Jhunjhunwala, with his large frame and small glasses, would be easy to parody - there is a fake blog that lampoons the investor's life - but thousands hang on his every market move.

andrew bogut pi day monta ellis election results wiz khalifa taylor allderdice mixtape reggie wayne taylor allderdice

Video: Tomorrow in 30: Europe, Jobs & CPI

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

light year michelle rounds michelle rounds dan quayle brett favre packers stock packers stock

Is This Facial Recognition Tech Designed for Makeup Counters the Most Accurate Ever? [Science]

Sometimes you turn on the news and see a clip of an unknown perp robbing a convenience store. Problem is, police can't tell who the thief is because the video is so bad. But that might not be a problem anymore thanks to a French company called Vesalis and its bang-on facial recognition software. Originally designed for department store kiosks, and it's so good that it's caught the attention of the French government, which wants to use it for security reasons. More »

open marriage department of justice doj dept of justice weather chicago swizz beatz mpaa

Syrian opposition group elects new leader

This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Saturday, June 9, 2012, purports to show an injured man being treated in a mosque in Daraa, Syria. Syrian troops shelled the southern city of Daraa early on Saturday, killing more than a dozen people, activists said.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Saturday, June 9, 2012, purports to show an injured man being treated in a mosque in Daraa, Syria. Syrian troops shelled the southern city of Daraa early on Saturday, killing more than a dozen people, activists said.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

This image made from video released by UNSMIS, the UN observer mission in Syria and accessed Saturday, June 9, 2012, purports to show destroyed buses after overnight fighting in Damascus, Syria. In Damascus, residents spoke about a night of shooting and explosions in the worst violence Syria's capital has seen since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began 15 months ago.(AP Photo/UNSMIS via AP video) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Saturday, June 9, 2012, purports to show a blanket-wrapped body after shelling in Daraa, Syria. Syrian troops shelled the southern city of Daraa early on Saturday, killing more than a dozen people, activists said.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Saturday, June 9, 2012, purports to show dead bodies after shelling in Daraa, Syria. Syrian troops shelled the southern city of Daraa early on Saturday, killing more than a dozen people, activists said.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Saturday, June 9, 2012, purports to show rocket fins and shrapnel damage after overnight fighting in Damascus, Syria. In Damascus, residents spoke about a night of shooting and explosions in the worst violence Syria's capital has seen since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began 15 months ago.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria's main opposition group in exile, the Syrian National Council, has elected a Kurdish dissident as its new leader at a meeting in Turkey, a council statement said.

Abdulbaset Sieda, a 56-year-old activist who has been living in exile in Sweden for many years, was the only candidate to replace liberal opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun for the three-month presidency. He was elected unanimously during an SNC meeting Saturday night in Istanbul that stretched into early hours Sunday.

The Paris-based Ghalioun, who had presided over the council since it was created last August, recently offered to step down over mounting criticism of his leadership and repeated renewals of his three-month term. Several prominent Syrian dissidents have quit the group calling it an "autocratic" organization no better than the authoritarian rule of President Bashar Assad.

They also complained the group was dominated by Islamists, including the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.

The Syrian opposition has been hobbled by disorganization and infighting since the popular revolt against Assad began 15 months ago. Its international backers have repeatedly appealed for the movement to pull together and work as one unit. The SNC itself has been plagued by infighting, hampering efforts by Western and Arab nations to help the opposition.

Sieda is a secular member of Syria's minority Kurd community. He is seen as a neutral, consensus figure and has said his priority would be to expand the council to include more opposition figures, particularly from Syria's religious minorities.

His elevation to the post of SNC chief could be part of an attempt to appeal to Syria's significant Kurdish minority, which has largely stayed on the sidelines of the uprising. The community is deeply suspicious that Sunni Arabs who dominate the opposition will be no more likely to provide them greater rights than what they have had under Assad's regime.

"He is an academician. He's also well-known, a moderate man. We shouldn't claim that he has Islamic tendencies or secular tendencies. He has been approved and accepted by everyone," Abdel Hamid Al Attassi, a member of the SNC, said of Sieda.

Thousands have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March last year. The U.N.'s latest estimate is 9,000 dead, but that is from April and the world body has been unable to update it since. Syrian activists put the toll at more than 13,000. International envoy Kofi Annan brokered a cease-fire that went into effect on April 12 but has since been violated every day by both sides of the conflict.

Associated Press

at the drive in alternative minimum tax modeselektor gran torino gloria steinem war of the worlds rock and roll hall of fame

'Uncertainty' Remains Over Supply of Key Cancer Drugs

MONDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- John Mahan, a 58-year-old Nashville firefighter battling a gastrointestinal cancer, couldn't believe what he was hearing last July.

His doctor had just told him that his clinic had run out of injectable fluorouracil (5-FU), the generic chemotherapy Mahan needed to keep his tumor at bay.

"My initial reaction was, 'you've got to be kidding, right?'" he said.

Unfortunately, the news was all too real. Mahan was switched to another drug, capecitabine. Taken in pill form, it had the same anti-cancer effectiveness as 5-FU but with more onerous side effects.

"It made me feel bad, weak," Mahan said, "just run down, feeling tired all of the time, loss of appetite."

At a Monday news briefing at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, Mahan spoke on behalf of the thousands of cancer patients who have been hit hard by the recent nationwide shortages of generic, injectable cancer drugs.

The crisis peaked earlier this year when children with a leading form of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), were faced with a looming shortage of a lifesaving drug, methotrexate. Quick action on the part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the pharmaceutical industry and others averted that shortage, but deficits in this and other cancer medicines are still possible, experts warn.

"The good news has been that the frequency of the drug shortages has begun to decline for a variety of reasons," Dr. Richard Schilsky, chair of ASCO's government relations committee, told reporters. "But there is still an unpredictable availability of many drugs and we are never sure exactly when a generic drug is suddenly going to go out of supply. That creates a tremendous amount of uncertainty -- anxiety for our patients and great difficulty in planning if you're a physician."

Overall, 22 crucial oncology therapies have recently been in short supply, noted ASCO President Dr. Michael Link. Of most concern right now, he said, are shortages of a handful of medicines:

• Methotrexate -- while there is currently an adequate supply of methotrexate for ALL and other cancers, there is now a shortage of a compound needed for patients who require high-dose infusions of the drug, Link said.
• 5-FU -- gaps in supply remain for this mainstay generic medicine, used to fight cancers of the colon, pancreas, head-and-neck and other sites.
• Nitrogen mustard -- one of the earliest anti-cancer therapies developed, it remains essential to care of lymphomas and Hodgkin's disease. "It has been unavailable for some time," Link said, and there are no really good substitutes.
• Paclitaxel (Taxol) -- periods of short supply continue for this key treatment for breast cancer and other malignancies.

"Hearing from our members, we are learning that the shortages are most acute among community practices where the majority of adult patients are cared for," Link added. Smaller centers may not have the buying clout that larger, academic medical centers might have, leaving them more vulnerable to shortages, he explained.

These drug shortages typically occur among sterile injectable cancer medications that have gone to cheaper, generic status. The experts gathered at the meeting noted that the world's supply of generic medications is now concentrated in only about six companies that may produce dozens or hundreds of drugs.

"So, for example if one company makes 30 products and they have a problem, suddenly 30 products are at risk of a shortage," explained Dr. Sandra Kweder, deputy director of the Office of New Drugs at the FDA. Producing highly sophisticated, sterile injectables is a particularly complicated process, she said, and quality issues can arise that cause plants to be temporarily shut down while the issue is resolved.

In many cases, these safety issues are not minor ones, Kweder noted, and can include "particles of glass or metal shavings" found in vials that, of course, pose safety issues for patients.

But, why the shortages now? According to Kweder, it's not that new, tougher quality-control rules have come into place recently. Instead, a host of popular drugs have recently gone off-patent and "what we've seen is great growth in the generic world," she said. As more generics get produced at more production facilities, "we are just seeing more in terms of problems in that manufacturing," Kweder said. Many companies are now modernizing their production facilities, she said, but that will take time.

According to Kweder, the FDA, in close consultation with drug companies, has already prevented about 150 drug shortages since October of last year, when President Barack Obama signed a special Executive Order demanding action on the issue. As companies gave FDA early warning of looming problems, the agency and the pharmaceutical industry worked together to find alternate sources of supply, including imports from abroad, Kweder said.

Methotrexate, the drug needed by children with leukemia, "continues to be very carefully monitored," Kweder said. "We expect the [shortage of] the injectable that has been difficult for some practices to obtain to be resolved within the next month completely."

Progress is taking place at the Congressional level as well, the experts said, as a bill makes its way through the House and Senate that would mandate that generic drug makers give the FDA six months advance notice of any possible production problems.

The bill, which has the full support of ASCO, also includes a provision that generics makers would pay the FDA a user fee, aimed at speeding oversight and approval for new generics.

All of this gives some comfort to Mahan, whose cancer has progressed but is being held in check by a new course of therapy. Still, he worries about other patients who may be facing the same dilemmas he did.

"Until this impacts you personally," he said, "most people aren't even aware that there's even a shortage going on."

More information

Find out more about the shortage of cancer medications at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

ben breedlove kid cudi ben breedlove matt barnes hcm loretta lynn gene kelly zoe saldana

A mixed close on Wall Street as calm returns

Trader Theodore Nelson, right, is reflected on a panel as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 4, 2012. The Dow Jones industrial average opened at its lowest level since December after a 275-point sell-off on Friday caused by grim economic signals, especially a dismal report on the U.S. labor market. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Theodore Nelson, right, is reflected on a panel as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 4, 2012. The Dow Jones industrial average opened at its lowest level since December after a 275-point sell-off on Friday caused by grim economic signals, especially a dismal report on the U.S. labor market. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders John Panin, left, and Michael Smyth work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 4, 2012. The Dow Jones industrial average opened at its lowest level since December after a 275-point sell-off on Friday caused by grim economic signals, especially a dismal report on the U.S. labor market. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Calm returned to the stock market Monday after a spasm of fearful selling last week. Major indexes closed mixed after trading modestly lower for most of the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average opened at its lowest level since December after a 275-point sell-off on Friday ignited by grim economic signals, especially a dismal report on the U.S. labor market.

Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at the brokerage Charles Schwab, expects trading to remain slow and steady unless traders are moved by positive news, like a surprisingly strong economic report, or fresh fears about Europe's financial stability.

"You've got to find a catalyst for people to enter the market, and frankly, I just don't see one right now," Frederick said.

In Europe, bond investors appeared less concerned about the finances of some of the region's financially troubled countries. Bond yields fell for Italy and Spain, meaning that they appear less likely to default. Lower bond yields translate into decreased borrowing costs for those debt-strapped nations.

The price of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell, lifting its yield to 1.53 percent. The yield hit a record low of 1.44 percent on Friday as fears of a global slowdown increased demand for safe investments.

The Dow closed down 17.11 points, or 0.1 percent, at 12,101.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose a fraction to 1,278.18. The Nasdaq composite index rose 12.53, or 0.5 percent, to 2,760.01.

Among the ten industry groups in the S&P 500, only three fell: Energy companies, whose revenue will be hurt by falling oil prices; industrials, hit by fears of a global economic slowdown; and financial stocks, which would likely bear the brunt if Europe's problems worsened.

Caterpillar, which exports heavy machinery, fell 2.6 percent on fears that slower building in China and Europe will reduce demand for construction equipment. Most of the other big losers in the Dow average offer global financial services: JPMorgan Chase, General Electric and Bank of America.

Chesapeake Energy, the second-biggest U.S. natural gas producer, rose 6 percent, the most in the S&P 500. The company said it will replace four board members, bowing to pressure from activist shareholder Carl Icahn.

Aside from banks, homebuilders had the biggest declines in the S&P 500. PulteGroup lost 6.8 percent, Lennar 5.3 percent and D.R. Horton 4.8 percent. The declines added to steep losses for all three companies on Friday. In two days, they have lost about one-third of the huge gains that they posted in the first three months of the year.

The S&P 500 has fallen nearly 10 percent since its recent peak of 1,419, reached on April 2. Traders call a decline of that size a market correction.

Since April, traders have grown increasingly nervous about Europe's finances. Spain's banks are in shambles, and Cyprus appears close to joining the club of bailed-out countries that already includes Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

Voters in Greek elections this month might choose leaders who intend to reject Europe's bailout money and harsh spending cuts. That could lead to Greece's expulsion from the euro, potentially rattling financial markets.

Falling bond yields for Spain and Italy added to signs of growing confidence that Europe can avoid a messy breakup of its currency union. The euro rose a penny against the dollar, to around $1.25. It fell last week to a nearly two-year low against the dollar but rose after the May jobs report renewed concerns about the U.S. economy.

European stocks closed mixed.

___

Daniel Wagner can be reached at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.

Associated Press

project runway all stars elin nordegren tangled ever after kansas state last house on the left last house on the left rich forever mixtape

Oliver leads Foard into state 3A softball title series | Hickory Daily ...

Credit: ROBERT C. REED

Fred T. Foard's Ashley Oliver hones her batting skills during Thursday afternoon practice. Foard will be facing Pikeville Aycock in the opening game of the state 3A softball championship series on Friday night.

'); } else { $('.sidebar #main_title').after('

' + content + '

'); } $('.poll_mod .poll_form .poller .poller_results .result_pollerTitle:last').nextAll().remove(); $('.sidebar .expendable').remove(); if ($.browser.msie) { $('.sidebar .re_content .audio_section').parent().remove(); } $('.sidebar .re_content .sidebar_segment:last, .sidebar .sidebar_segment:last').addClass('flat').addClass('borderless'); function lightBoxer(sectionClass, imgClass){ $('.' + sectionClass + ' img.primary').click(function(){ var imgSrc = $(this).parent().children('.' + imgClass).attr('src'); var imgAlt = $(this).attr('alt'); var imgAbstract = $(this).parent().children('.prime_ab').text(); var imgCredit = $(this).parent().children('.prime_credit').text(); imgCredit = '' + imgCredit + ''; var overlay = '

' + imgCredit + '

' + imgAbstract + '

x close'; var rootImgHeight = $('.' + sectionClass + ' img.primary').height(); var scrollDownAmount = $(window).scrollTop(); $('body').css('position', 'relative').append(overlay); $('#lightbox_overlay').css('visibility','visible').hide().fadeIn(300, function(){ var imgWidth = $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img img').width(); var imgHeight = $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img img').height(); var boxWidth = imgWidth + 40; if(imgHeight 950) { $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img img').css('width', '955px'); var modWidth = $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img img').width(); $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img').css({ top: scrollDownAmount + 50 + 'px', width: 955, marginLeft: ((955/2) * -1) - 20, visibility: 'visible' }).hide().fadeIn(500); $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img .desc').width(955); } else { $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img').css({ top: scrollDownAmount + 50 + 'px', width: imgWidth, marginLeft: ((imgWidth/2) * -1) - 20, visibility: 'visible' }).hide().fadeIn(500); $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img .desc').width(imgWidth); } }); $('#lightbox_overlay .light_img').click(function(){ $('#lightbox_overlay').fadeOut(300, function(){ $('#lightbox_overlay').remove(); }); }); }); } lightBoxer('photo_section', 'primary'); lightBoxer('alt_photo_section', 'big'); lightBoxer('mugshots', 'big'); }); //-->

By: Allen Haynes | Record Sports Writer
Published: June 01, 2012
Updated: June 01, 2012 - 12:54 PM

NEWTON,?N.C. ?? After three straight years of getting close to playing in the state softball championship tournament in Raleigh, Fred T. Foard High senior Ashley Oliver is happy to finally get there.

Oliver, 18, has played softball for Foard since her freshman year. Her first two seasons, the Tigers? were out of the state playoffs after the second round. A year ago, they needed a win over Crest to advance to Raleigh but lost.

?We?ve been close so many years,? Oliver said. ?We?ve watched for the past three years, all those teams that are sitting at home now that beat us (in the past).

?Now we finally have our opportunity, and the feeling is now with them (of) what we?ve felt for the last three years.

?We get to finally show people what we?re capable of and have something to prove.?

That chance begins on Friday night 8 p.m. at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh , where the Tigers (25-4) battle East 3A champion Pikeville Aycock (29-2) in a best-of-three title series.

Game 2 is Saturday at 11 a.m., and a third game, if needed, is at 2:30 p.m. that day.

Admission is $8 and parking is $5. If a third game is needed, fans must clear the stadium and pay admission for that game.

Oliver, a third baseman, has had a great season for Foard, batting .500 with nine home runs and 37 RBI.

Her numbers are up from last year, when she hit .359 with eight home runs and 35 RBI, and her play in this year?s state playoffs has been stellar.

?Ashley is obviously our best hitter,? said Foard head coach David Shubert. ?Power-wise she went through a little stretch when she wasn?t hitting home runs but was still getting singles.

?She has never had a big slump or anything like that. She is very consistent and that is big for us.

?Even when people choose to walk her, she doesn?t swing at bad pitches. She goes ahead and walks, and hopefully we have somebody else that can pick it up behind her.?

Oliver caught fire in the playoffs with two hits against Waynesville Tuscola in the first round and had two more in a second round win over Crest.

She hit a two-run home run in a 5-0 win over Asheville Erwin in the third round and scored in the first game of the West 3A Regional series against North Iredell.

But none of those things were as big as her sixth inning two-run blast that gave the Tigers a second series win over North Iredell and a state championship series berth.

?We had hit into four double plays in the game against North Iredell,? Shubert said. ?We felt like if we could get somebody on base that she might be able to knock them in and she did.? But that?s something we have in the back of our mind for her all the time.?

Oliver says she just doesn?t let it get to her when she steps to the plate with the game on the line.

?I?ve always kept a mindset that if I try to hit home runs then I won?t hit them,? Oliver said. ?So especially here lately in the playoffs and going into the championship, I try to keep my mindset to just relax and hit the ball.

?And I hit a whole lot better when my mind is clear when I step in.?

Her mental toughness as a hitter could also translate to the position she plays in the field ? third base (often called the hot corner).

??You?re always going to get something really hot or a slow roller,? Oliver said. ?You?re always on pins and needles at third base. You just have to be ready for anything.

?I like it because it?s quick and you don?t have to have this big thought process.

?You never know what?s going to happen. You just have to be ready at all times.?

Oliver?s softball career will continue locally in college. In November, she signed to play for Lenoir-Rhyne University .

?I always knew that I wanted to play at the college level,? Oliver said. ?You stress forever about it, then one day you find that college you want to attend and that?s how Lenoir-Rhyne was.

?It was one of those match ups, and I heard from people that I just wanted to stay close to home.

?But if they picked up Lenoir-Rhyne and moved it to another state, I?d still be going to LRU. It?s the perfect match for me.?

As for this weekend?s run at Foard?s first state softball title since 1998, Oliver has hopes of leading the Tigers to their fourth state softball crown.

??You don?t really realize until you?re a senior what it means when people say they will follow you,? Oliver said. ?When you?re a senior and you get down on yourself then the team gets down.

?Girls are emotional, so it?s easy to keep them up and easy to tear them down, so the main thing that me and Rebecca (Rowe, the team?s other senior) do is try to reassure everybody during pre-game that we can do this to try and eliminate the butterflies.

?We tell them it?s nothing they haven?t done a thousand times before and to just get out there and do what you need to do.

?Nothing outside the fence matters and everybody knows that we?re a team and not just a single person, because a single person doesn?t win and everybody has each others back, so we just have to go out and do it.?

STATE 3A SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

FRED T. FOARD

Nickname: Tigers.

Record: 25-4.

Current win streak: Won six straight.

Conference: Northwestern 3A-4A.

Head coach: David Shubert.

Team leaders: P Lexi Shubert, 3B Ashley Oliver, C Mackenzie Dziendziel, 1B Rebecca Rowe.

Road to Raleigh: d. Waynesville Tuscola 3-0, d. Crest 2-0, d. Asheville Erwin 5-0, d. Franklin 1-0, d. N. Iredell 4-2, 2-0.

State playoff history: Won state 3A slo-pitch title in 1991, defeating Greenville Conley 5-0 and 4-3; won state 2A/3A/4A slo-pitch title in 1997, defeating South Lenoir 2-1 in deciding game; won state 3A fast-pitch title in 1998, defeating South Alamance 7-0 in deciding game.

ROSTER

No.????????? Player???????????????? Pos.????????? Class

2????????? Taylor Bollinger????????? OF????????? Soph.

4????????? Erynne Chalk???????????? SS????????? Fr.

5????????? ?Jessie Miller?????????????? IF????????? Fr.

6????????? Taylor Brown?????????? ?OF????????? Jr.

8??????? Addie Bolick???????????????? OF????????? Jr.

9?????? Kolleen Spears???????????? OF????????? Soph.

10???? Mackenzie Dziendziel???? C????????? Jr.

11????? Kaitlin Harrill???????????????? OF????????? Fr.

12????? Cierra Shull????????????????? OF????????? Fr.

15????? Olivia Purvis?????????????????2B????????? Jr.

20????????? Michaela Wilson????????OF????????? Fr.

21????????? Ashley Oliver??????????? 3B ????????? Sr.

24????????? Rebecca Rowe????????? 1B????????? Sr.

25????????? Lauren Speagle????????? IF????????? Fr.

30????????? Lexi Shubert????????? P????????? Jr.

Assistant coaches: Shane Johnson, Shannon Plemmons, Robbin Bass.

?

PIKEVILLE AYCOCK

Nickname: Falcons.

Record: 29-2.

Current win streak: Won 26 straight.

Conference: Eastern Carolina 3A.

Head coach: Brad Matthews.

Team leaders: P Brooke Bell, 3B Rachel Jordan, 2B Connor Davis, 1B Meredith Burroughs.

Road to Raleigh: d. W. Carteret 4-0; d. Wilson Fike 12-0; d. Greenville Conley 3-0; d. Havelock 2-0; d. Western Alamance 1-0, 5-4.

State playoff history: Finished third in state 3A in 2009, lost in second round in 2010, 2011.

ROSTER

No.????????? Player?????????????????? Pos.????????? Class

1????????? Lindsey Sutton????????? 2B-OF???? Jr.

2????????? Brooke Bell?????????????? ?P-SS????????? Sr.

3????????? Breanna Brown????????? OF????????? Jr.

5??????? Cierra Harris?????????????? ?CF-P????????? ?Soph.

6????????? Taylor Bradshaw????????? OF??????????? Jr.

7??????? Ivy Hartzell????????????????? ?C-1B????????? Sr.

8????????? Connor Davis???????????? 2B-SS-1B??? Sr.

10????? Misty Edwards?????????? ?2B-OF???????? ?Sr.

11????????? Myleah Jones????????? 1B-OF????????? Fr.

12????????? Reagan Herndon?????? OF-C????????? Jr.

13????????? Savannah Briggs?????? P-OF ????????? Jr.

14????????? Rachel Jordan????????? 3B????????????? Sr.

15??????????Katie Gay???????????????? RF-C????????? Soph.

16 ????????? Meredith Burroughs????? 1B-P????????? Soph.

breaking dawn part 2 whitney cummings msnbc i will always love you maine caucus whitney houston has died blue ivy carter