2005 year in review

When I look back at this past season, the things I will always remember are the successes of the players moreso than a particular team. To watch some of my favorite kids like Tom Porter and Zach Rosenbaum pitch their last HS games. To see Dusty White help carry an overachieving Hopewell to an extraordinary season..to see that one magical night of Ed Bryant's return from Heaven..to watch Team Captain, Wes Borden, run on and off the field as a Sabre for the last time. But it was one game that was played that I will never forget:

For me it was watching the last game between West Forsyth vs South Meck. What I will remember are the faces of the players, parents, coaches, teachers and students reach a level of excitement @ SM, knowing they were going to the State Championship, is something I will never forget. You could have buried me then and I would have felt I was ready to go...

Was there one game or incident that you will never forget after the school, Legion or Summer ball?

 

What a great summer of baseball watching Caldwell County Post 29. The 2004 and 2005 teams where some of the best I have seen in a long time. Back to Back AREA IV Championships are really special. For some reason that State Title was not meant to be. TJ Jenkins, Casey Justice, Brandon York, Russell Reid, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Braswell, Brad Hardee, Elliott Collins, Ryan Hightower, Alex Fairweather, Zack laws, Brandon Williams, Phillip Philyaw, Brian Chandler, Phillip Price, Colt Seter, Kolt Hilton, Zack Benfield. Thanks for the memories guys.

 

You're right Braves, this past season was great. But for me personally, it was fun to watch all the kids (men) that I have known over the years grow up to be not only great ball players but great individuals as well. Now I get to do it all over again, as my youngest son will be entering High School shortly.

My favorite moment was a personal moment with Tate Bryant after he hit his first home run of the season and I gave him the ball. Great kid!

 

As a Lexington fan, I have a ton of thoughts...But let me stay on a theme I've been hammering the past few weeks: The virtue of Andrew Morton. What a kid...pitched 2 games at the Finals, going 19 innings & giving up just3 runs (1 unearned). What a talent. What a competitor.

But as Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story: Mort is a better kid than he is a player. Proof: After we lost the 2nd game & Pitt had been crowned champs, the Lexington fans & players & parents all gathered on the field to console & celebrate. Tears...hugs...hand shakes...Everyone searching for a way to deal with the moment. I look over at the dugout, & Andrew Morton (by himself without being asked) has a large bucket in his hand picking up trash. I kept watching as he filled the bucket 3 times until the dugout was better than we found it. When the job was done to his satisfaction, he joined the rest of us.

Name another superstar who would have done that. What a kid. What a great great kid. I don't know where he will land in life, but I predict that God has big plans for Andrew Morton.

 

Best Memories

Originally Posted by Braves
When I look back at this past season, the things I will always remember are the successes of the players moreso than a particular team. To watch some of my favorite kids like Tom Porter and Zach Rosenbaum pitch their last HS games. To see Dusty White help carry an overachieving Hopewell to an extraordinary season..to see that one magical night of Ed Bryant's return from Heaven..to watch Team Captain, Wes Borden, run on and off the field as a Sabre for the last time. But it was one game that was played that I will never forget:

Geez Braves - for all of us who are getting ready to send our boys off to play college ball this week (and some might have already done that) - you sure put a lump in our throats. There were so many special memories, it is hard to pick one or two! The games themselves this past year were exciting, but then logging on to TBR the next day or two and reading about the thoughts and emotions of the other posters just add to the big picture. Some of the memories are bittersweet, but none-the-less, they are awesome memories. The ones that rank right up there at the top for me are watching my son, at the end of the game, win or lose, give that extra special gesture to those players he has just competed against, win or lose - but has the utmost respect for - both as a person and as a ball player. Watching them go thru the traditional handshake at the end of the game, and then acknowledge each other and show the extra respect/friendship to each other, with all the emotions that come from the ending of game - that holds a special place in my heart! Here's to making new ones as some of us have younger ones coming up and as our seniors move on to the next phase of their baseball playing lifes!

 

Great Year!

As there are many great posts on this site, along with special players, and success stories, I feel this one ranks right up there.

'05 South Caldwell JV and Legion B (same group of players) (a real special group of young men with a lot of "home grown" talent)

'05 JV record 18-1
'05 NCHS Northwestern 4A Conference Champions (JV)

'05 Legion B record 22-2
'05 NC American Legion Area IV Champions (B)
'05 NC American Legion State Champions (B)

'05 Overall: record 40-3, Conference Champs, Area Champs, State Champs!

Special Notes: S.C. wins state title in first year fielding a Legion B team.

S.C. JV team (all players go to SCHS) competed against
county wide legion programs (pulling players from 2+ HS)

Current 4 year record ('07 Class/7th,8th,9th,10th grades)
85-7

Thanks guys for your dedication and hard work. Go get 'em next year on varsity.

 

NC NW4A

Many of you probably don't know much about what goes on up here in the mountains, so here's a bit of a summary of one of our Mountain team's 2005 season.

The A.C. Reynolds Rockets have definitely struggled over the last few years as a relatively new member of the 4A conference. We've been strong in football, but not so strong in baseball.... 2005, however, seemed to be a turning point for this young team of baseball players.

This group of boys, should I say young men, have truly developed into a TEAM over the past year, starting with a very strong fall wood bat team finish (2nd in the tournament - losing to TC Roberson), even playing against some teams who brought in some college players. The most memorable game of that fall season (just to give you an idea of the grit and determination these guys have) was against Enka H.S.'s wood bat team. Game started as usual, Enka had Reynolds 5-1 in, maybe the 2nd or 3rd inning. Then came the rains. Game postponed, to be finished the next day. (You know how it is when a game's rained out - the whole dynamics can change. Your pitcher, who was throwing great, suddenly can't get it over the plate, etc etc etc). Anyway, the Rockets came into the make-up game the next day, not about to give up, but figuring it'd be real tough to pull off a win. But, we learned that God loves baseball as much as parents do! Enka had not scored any more and somewhere in the 5th or 6th inning, the Rockets managed to load the bases. Kyle Paeplow came to the plate and hit a bomb, Grand Slam HR, to tie the game. That was all she wrote...the Rockets were pumped and the excitement built. Holding Enka back, the Rockets scored 1 more to win by 1 - (6-5) in a situation where many teams would've folded. That win kept us alive in the tournament so that we were able to go on and finish in 2nd place overall.

The Rockets took the spirit of fall ball into their Spring HS season and some really great things happened:

They beat Watauga HS for the 1st time since the Rockets became 4A members (also winning both conference games against them). They won back to back games against South Caldwell (a powerful team). For the first time, the Rockets won their first conference tournament game and finished 2nd in the NW 4A Conference. They made it to the state playoffs for the first time in, maybe, a decade. We didn't go far, but we made it to the playoffs - one of the main goals of the season. We finished 8-4 in the conference and 15-9 overall, a vast improvement over 2004!

So, there were a lot of "firsts" for this team who have struggled valiantly to gain support for their program over the last few years. They've learned to play better ball, they carry themselves as gentlemen on the field (win or lose), they've learned how to handle the losses, but, most importantly, they've learned how to work together in a way to best benefit the TEAM. Although some will say that the Rockets have only a few "prospects" on the team, in reality, they are all talented and each one of them has great potential. Our fall wood bat season is getting ready to start and we look for our young men to continue to build on their successes of 2005.

We hope that you'll hear more about us in 2006:

Dakota Slagle; C, 2006
Kyle Paeplow; LHP/1B/DH, 2007
Cameron Duckworth; 1B, 2006
Andrew Gorman; 2B/RHP, Graduated
Casey Duckworth; 2B, 2006
John Hinson; SS, 2007
Seth Hines; 3B, 2006
Jonathan Durner; RHP/OF, 2006
Brandon Briggs; CF, 2006
Blaine Howell; LHP/OF, 2006
Sam Runion; RHP, 2007
Will Towery; 1B/DH, 2007
Nathan Berggrun; OF, 2006
Keith Chickos; OF, 2006

 

Summer Memory

Going to the PG Metal Bat Tournament at E. Cobb with 10 players winning our pool, then losing a heartbreaker to the EC Braves who won 3 games in 1 day to qualify for the trip to the Metrodome.

Watching Tyler Leach blow it by a very good E Cobb Cubs TEam in Atlanta

 

Congratulations

Sounds like a great group, congratulations!

 

braves i don't have the same fond memories of that last game between west forsyth and south meck... ha ha. but i do look back and think whow how did we get there. with 8 sophomores in the team, and thinking a 500 season would be good. probably the biggest overachievement i have been involved in during my 20+ years of coaching.