ALL-AREA -- Hampton named baseball pitcher-of-the-year

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 15, 2014 12:14 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Bottom of the sixth inning.

The bases were juiced.

Charles B. Aycock starter Adam Pate faced trouble in a pivotal contest against conference rival South Johnston.

Bobby Hampton paced in center field.

"It was a really important game," Hampton recalled.

Head coach Charles Davis walked to the mound, talked briefly with Pate and signaled for Hampton to take the ball. A few warm-up pitches later, Hampton struck out two batters and induced an inning-ending pop-up.

CBA won.

"Whenever we were in a tight spot in a game, I felt like I could come in and close it out," Hampton said. "I've always had a competitive mentality ... played all kinds of sports and always tried to win."

Hampton stepped into Pate's role this season and helped guide the Golden Falcons to an 18-win season that included an appearance in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A eastern regional semifinals.

The left-hander, who has verbally committed to Appalachian State, fashioned an 8-4 record and 1.43 earned run average on the bump. He logged 112 strikeouts in 682/3 innings and held opposing teams to a .173 batting average.

"I felt like I had a good year ... a lot of fun," said Pate, who has been selected the 2014 News-Argus All-Area baseball pitcher-of-the-year.

"I liked being out there. I felt like me and Tim (Naughton), when we were out there, we each threw the ball really well. Noah (West) came in when we needed him."

Hampton didn't work out much in the offseason.

He opted to play soccer to give his arm some rest and took a weight-lifting class to get stronger. Hampton wished he had thrown a little more and used this past year's experience as a learning lesson.

"This year was still a good year," Hampton said.

Davis agreed.

Hampton's presence on the mound relaxed his teammates, who played solid defense behind him. He got the starting nod in the team's two-game series against conference foes New Bern, J.H. Rose and South Central.

"We felt like when the ball was in his hands, we had a good shot at beating people," Davis said. "The main thing with Bobby is that he's gotten stronger and his walks were down, which was a focus going into this year.

"I think the guys are confident playing behind him and a lot of that is his personality. He is well-liked by everybody."

And nearly unbeatable when the game is on the line.