Marty Gordon
The seedings and pairings for next week’s Hercules Tires Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Championship at Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tenn., have been determined following the conclusion of the conference’s regular-season schedule.
Regular-season champion High Point (13-3) is the No. 1 seed –- its third No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament in five years, and the first league member with back-to-back top seeds since 2012 and 2013. HPU has secured the Big South’s automatic bid to the WBIT should the Panthers not win the tournament. Longwood (11-5) is the No. 2 seed, its best seeding since being the No. 2 seed in 2022 when the Lancers won the championship.
Radford and Charleston Southern tied for third in the standings at 10-6. The teams split the season series, and the Highlanders earned the No. 3 seed based on their 1-1 record vs. High Point (CSU was 0-2 vs. HPU). The Bucs are the No. 4 seed for the second-straight year. Winthrop (9-7) is the No. 5 seed, followed by Gardner-Webb (8-8) in the No. 6 slot. USC Upstate (6-10) locked in the No. 7 seed for the final auto-berth into the quarterfinals.
Presbyterian finished the league slate at 4-12 for the No. 8 seed, with UNC Asheville (1-15) at No. 9. Those two teams will go head-to-head in the first round on Wednesday, Mar. 5 at 5 p.m.
The Presbyterian/UNC Asheville winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday, Mar. 6, and play No. 1 High Point at 11:30 a.m. No. 4 Charleston Southern vs. No. 5 Winthrop will follow at 2 p.m., with No. 2 Longwood vs. No. 7 USC Upstate at 6pm. No. 3 Radford vs. No. 6 Gardner-Webb will conclude quarterfinal day at 8:30 p.m. The semi-finals will be Saturday, Mar. 8 at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., with the Championship game on Sunday, Mar. 9 scheduled for 6 p.m.
The 2025 Hercules Tires Big South Women’s Basketball Championship will be televised on ESPN+ Wednesday-through-Saturday, while Sunday’s Championship game will air live on ESPN2 for the second consecutive year. The Big South’s Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Crew chief change for Hagan
Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) has announced that Mike Knudsen has been promoted to crew chief on Matt Hagan’s Funny Car, with Phil Shuler joining the championship-winning team heading into 2025.
Veteran co-crew chief Mike Knudsen, who is getting promoted to crew chief, has been with Hagan since 2013, having made the move to TSR from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) in 2022 with the formation of the new team. The pair has earned three championships together in 2014, 2020 and 2023. Knudsen started his career in Funny Car with Jim Head Racing and later moved to Funny Car with Jerry Toliver. In 2005, Knudsen joined DSR, where he worked with Whit Bazemore, Gary Scelzi, Cory McClenathan and Spencer Massey, before joining Hagan’s crew.
Joining Knudsen in co-crew chief duties will be Phil Shuler. Shuler has a notable background in the NHRA, most recently serving as assistant crew chief at Maynard Family Racing on Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel operation. From 2003 to 2006, Shuler worked for Don Prudhomme, before joining Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) in 2006, where he collaborated on Jack Beckman, Gary Scelzi, Jerry Toliver, Cory McClenathan, and Spencer Massey’s cars through 2016.
Sox coaching staff
The Salem Red Sox, in conjunction with the Boston Red Sox, have announced their coaching staff for the 2025 Carolina League season, including four returning staff members.
Ozzie Chavez has been promoted to Manager after spending the last two seasons as bench coach. He previously managed the Red Sox’ Dominican Republic Academy from 2019-22 and has been with the Boston Red Sox since 2015.
Nelson “Pepe” Paulino returns for his 28th season with the Red Sox organization as the hitting coach. Paulino brings extensive experience spending seven seasons in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Additional Red Sox MiLB stints include the Greenville Drive and Lowell Spinners.
Kyle Schmidt returns to the Red Sox organization as the Defensive Coach after serving as the Seasonal Affiliate Coach in 2025. Before joining the Red Sox organization, Schmidt had a minor league playing career with the Minnesota Twins organization from 2019-23.
Kinneberg returns to Pulaski
Manager Bill Kinneberg is returning to helm the Pulaski River Turtles as the organization embarks on its fifth season of competition in the Appalachian League.
2025 will mark Kinneberg’s third season in the Appalachian League. Kinneberg led the River Turtles to a third-place finish in the East Division in his first season managing the team last year after he captained the Bristol State Liners in 2023.
Kinneberg’s current stint in the Appalachian League is the latest chapter in his decorated college baseball career.
Regarded as one of the most accomplished head coaches in the history of the University of Utah’s baseball program, Kinneberg amassed 381 wins, two NCAA Tournament appearances, one Mountain West tournament championship and one Pac-12 conference title during his 18-year career (1996, 2005-21). Kinneberg received the Pac-12 Baseball Coach of the Year award in 2016. He retired from full-time coaching following Utah’s 2021 season.
Head coaching stints at UTEP (1985) and Wyoming (1986-92) preceded his tenure at Utah. His teams established school records for victories in a season at UTEP in 1985 and Wyoming in 1990, an achievement that earned him WAC Coach of the Year honors.
Kinneberg’s extensive coaching career also includes three seasons on the staff of the USA National Team, with one season as manager of the program in 2010. He coached two seasons in the Chicago White Sox Minor League system. He has held assistant coaching positions at UTEP, Arizona State and Arizona, where he played his final two seasons of college baseball as a pitcher in 1978 and 1979.