Injury has Greene in clubhouse for spring

Former Evans star Todd Greene was busy doing what he always does in mid-February. He was training hard to prepare for another year in the big leagues.

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This spring, Greene was in camp with the San Diego Padres, who signed him to a minor league deal this off-season. The 1989 AAAA State Player of the Year appeared to be in good shape to make the Padres squad as the backup catcher. The team loved his experience and his powerful right-handed bat off the bench.

Greene might have a chance to showcase those abilities, but it will have to wait a couple of months following a freak injury on Feb. 21. Greene was throwing the ball in a routine drill when he dislocated his right shoulder. The injury stunned Padres manager and former big league pitcher Bud Black.

"It really was a freakish thing, it was the most benign of drills," Black was quoted as saying on cbssportsline.com.

The Padres expect Greene to miss all of spring training, and he will likely be out for April.

This injury is a shame because no one in Major League Baseball works harder than Todd Greene.

I know firsthand, because I spent two winters working out with Greene early in his career (although more than 100 pounds ago for me). He puts everything he can into preparing himself and improving every aspect of his game.

Now, he must use that work ethic to get himself back quickly from this injury.

Several years ago, Greene had to battle through a number of injuries, and began to hear the label "injury prone." That infuriated him. I hope the Padres will realize that he has been healthy for seven or eight years now, and that this is an isolated incident. If so, Greene should be back in the big leagues before his 36th birthday in May.

Former Greenbrier player steps up for Aiken Tech

Greenbrier product Matthew Todd was enjoying a solid season as a reserve guard for Aiken Tech, then all of the sudden he heated up in February. The 6-3 reserve guard was averaging a little more than five points per game, then he had games of 14, 9, 18, and 13 in three weeks.

Then in the final game of the month he had a night he will never forget. He was "in the zone" for sure. Todd poured in a career-high 39 points, more than double his previous career high. He made a sizzling 13 of 17 field goals, including eight of 10 from three-point range. He also made five of eight from the charity stripe.

The huge performance propelled the Knights to a 108-88 win and sealed the Region 10 regular season title. Former Evans standout Glen Miller also chipped in with nine points in the win.

Todd, Miller, and their teammates won the Region 10 Tournament Championship, too, beating Cape Fear Community College 84-62 and now stand at 27-6 on the season. The team heads to Cumberland, Md., where it will face Westchester Community College in the District 3 Tournament. If it wins two games in Maryland it will advance to the NJCAA National Championship in Hutchinson, Kan.