Ye olde notebook:
Spring in West Virginia means warmer weather and, of course, baseball.
Summer in Charleston? It will be time for some folks to spring into action - if, that is, they wish to keep the state high school baseball tournament at Appalachian Power Park and in the Capital City.
If you read this space regularly, you might remember Secondary School Activities Commission executive director Bernie Dolan saying during the most recent state basketball tournament that Morgantown has expressed interest in landing the baseball event.
Well, on Thursday I touched base with Dolan on the matter.
"We haven't sent out requests for formal bids yet," he said. "I didn't want to be in the middle of the process during the upcoming tournament in Charleston. But as soon as the tournament ends, I'll send out [requests for proposals].
"I definitely think Morgantown is interested and I know Charleston is interested in keeping it."
Morgantown, you may know, now has the Monongalia County Ballpark at the University Town Centre in Granville, which hosts both WVU's baseball team and the West Virginia Black Bears minor league team. Dolan said he's toured the facility, but also attended a game there recently when Wheeling Park graduate Michael Grove pitched for the Mountaineers.
"Charleston is a very good venue," Dolan said. "There's plenty of housing and plenty of hotels. Morgantown also has a very good venue."
Charleston's mayor's office and the Convention & Visitors Bureau need to take heed. The upcoming state baseball tournament contract will run for four years after June's event at the APP.
nnn
While I had Dolan on the line, I asked about the recent troubles at Wheeling Island Stadium, which has hosted the Super Six football playoffs since that was moved from Charleston.
If you missed the news, a $700,000 five-month repair project is set to begin on the stadium. Two concrete panels of the facility's upper west side seating section are gone. One was taken down by crane after officials found it damaged and the other crashed on its own into the fence that surrounds the facility.
"I'm not an engineer, but it's the backs of the perimeter seating," Dolan said. "Structural engineers think it will be solvable by September."
That, of course, will be three months before the Super Six. Dolan said the SSAC had "no official backup plan, but we've had informal discussions."
And, yes, University of Charleston Stadium in Charleston was prominently discussed.
nnn
A Charleston athlete is making the United States proud this week in New Zealand.
Well-known Charleston lawyer Tim DiPiero is in Auckland representing the U.S. in basketball during the World Masters Games.
According to DiPiero, he's the only West Virginian on Team USA in the 65-69-year-old hoops division. "We have two from California, one from Utah, one from Tennessee, one from Buffalo, one from New York City and me," he said.
DiPiero's team defeated Lithuania on Wednesday and was to play Australia on Thursday. A win would send Team USA to play either Brazil or Canada in the finals.
DiPiero and his brother Bill are also headed to Montecatini in Italy in late June for the World FIMBA tournament, and he's already scouted that. Apparently, there's a 6-foot-10 Russian center and ...
nnn
Boyd Bibey, a former teammate of WVU guard Chase Harler at Wheeling Central, announced via Twitter he'll be a Mountaineer basketball walk-on this coming season.
"Thankful for my time at [Concordia University]," Bibey wrote on Wednesday, "but extremely excited to announce that I will be finishing my career as a walk-on for [WVU]."
Concordia is an NAIA school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Last season, the Cardinals finished 9-21 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. Bibey, a 6-2 guard formerly of Wheeling Central, averaged 3.5 points as a freshman.
WVU hoops rep Bryan Messerly said walk-on players are added in September.
nnn
And finally ...
Another legacy of the powerful Charleston High basketball teams of the late 1960s is coming to the Capital City.
You might know of George Washington High standout Justin Phillips, the grandson of Levi Phillips. Now, Collin Mason, a defender in soccer, is hitting the Kanawha Valley to play for the University of Charleston.
He's the youngest son of Skip Mason, the CHS point guard from 1966-69. The Mountain Lions won a state title in 1968 and were 72-3 during that stretch.
"The old days sure were fun," Skip Mason said on Thursday. "Sadly, there aren't many of us left to remember."
Hopefully, though, the legacies will keep the flames burning.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.