Davis family shares special year

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on May 31, 2012 1:48 PM

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There are a handful of moments throughout the course of a relationship between a father and daughter that hold a meaning all their own.

From first steps, to graduations and wedding days there are memories that bond a dad and his little girl together forever. For Charles and Connor Davis, you can add playing for not one, but two state championships to the list.

Charles, the head baseball coach at Charles B. Aycock, and Connor, the starting shortstop on the Golden Falcons' softball team, continue their respective pursuits of N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A state crowns this weekend.

The Aycock baseball team faces Weddington on Friday and Saturday at Five County Stadium in Zebulon. The Golden Falcons' softball squad opposes Fred T. Foard at Walnut Creek in Raleigh. Both are best-of-three series.

Life in the Davis' household has been somewhat of a blur during the past three weeks. Charles and Connor have both been busy navigating their respective paths to the state finals while rarely finding time to stop and talk or catch each other in action.

"It's been crazy," Connor Davis said. "We're both very excited and very blessed. It's been emotional, but we're just so happy that we've made it this far."

Connor was a freshman on the C.B. Aycock softball team that finished third in the state in 2009. Charles experienced his own state championship roller coaster as he guided the Golden Falcons to the state championship in 2007. Five years later, Davis has had to juggle an entirely different set of emotions as he attempts to play the roles of coach and parent in the same weekend.

That juggling act may offer a bit of a reprieve at least for one day, as Aycock's baseball team takes the field at 5 p.m. on Friday, while the softball team does not play until 8 p.m. If everything goes according to plan, Charles will coach the Golden Falcons to a Game 1 victory before hustling to Raleigh to cheer on Connor.

"That is my plan right now," Charles Davis said. "I'll be a coach for baseball and when our game is over I'll be a father. I don't get nervous coaching baseball. Watching her on the other side of the fence has been nerve racking. I coached her most of her career, and now I find the coach in me coming out during just about every one of her at-bats."

A volleyball signee with William Peace University, Connor will step onto a softball field for the final time on Saturday. Celebrating a pair of state championships during some long overdue time with her father would be the perfect end to a memorable career.

"It would mean so much to me and dad ... to everybody," Connor Davis said. "This is my last year playing softball and I would be very blessed to spend this weekend celebrating with him and to be thankful."