• E-mail

When Ryan Poynter takes the mound, he attracts a big audience. "I'll have a million people behind the backstop watching," he said.

They don't have radar guns. They have questions.

"I get tons of questions," the Plano East senior said. "It's no big deal."

That's because Poynter was born with a left arm that ends just below the elbow. Poynter pitches and then quickly moves the glove onto his throwing hand to prepare for defense, ala former major leaguer Jim Abbott, who was born without a right hand.

Abbott's career was winding down about the time Poynter started his first windup. He's played baseball since the third grade and said he drew most of his baseball inspiration from his older brother, Gary, a junior pitcher at Lubbock Christian who played at Flower Mound Marcus.

When Ryan Poynter started playing baseball, he used a prosthetic that had a net on the end of it. But as he got older, he learned how to field with a glove and then use his left arm to quickly take off the glove and get the ball in his right hand.

Poynter can also hit, although he's now strictly a relief pitcher. He was a .300 hitter his freshman and sophomore years.

He also played football until two years ago. Now, he's focused on his favorite sport.

"I really love the competition," he said. "And just being around the guys."

That's part of Poynter's value to the team.

"He's our dugout leader when he's not pitching," Plano East coach Travis Collins said. "He has a great sense of humor and keeps everybody loose."

"I just try to keep everybody up," said Poynter, who's in his second year on varsity.

Poynter, who plans to study pharmacy at Texas Tech, can certainly be an inspiration. He downplays that a little, but when he's asked to share his story with others, he'll do it.

If it can make an impact, it's worth it.

"If I can help somebody," he said, "I will."

E-mail mwixon@dallasnews.com

YEARBOOK MOMENT: During this month in 1997, Grapevine sophomore Ben King had a memorable game in a 3-1 victory over Southlake Carroll. In addition to throwing a no-hitter in the district opener, King hit his first high school home run. The lefthander later played for Alabama and Texas.

KICKING THE COMPETITION: The soccer playoffs are difficult to predict because the low-scoring games can turn on one big play. It's easy to predict, however, that at least one of the four state champions this season will come from the area. A team from North Texas has won a championship every year since the UIL adopted the sport in 1983. The UIL began awarding 4A and 5A titles in 1999, and since then, area teams have won 19 of the 36 championships. The most successful years were 2000, '04 and '07, when area teams won three of the four titles.

HURDLING TO THE FRONT: At last week's Max Goldsmith Relays, Lewisville senior Brandon Tucker posted the year's fastest area times in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. His hand-held times were 13.4 and 37.9 seconds, 13.64 and 38.14 when converted to automatic. That's faster than Tucker's finishes at last year's 5A state meet, when he was fifth in the 110 (14.20) and seventh in the 300 (38.82).