BASEBALL TAB -- Golden Falcons work to improve mental game

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on March 13, 2015 1:48 PM

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By ALLEN ETZLER

aetzler@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- On the door of the baseball locker room at Charles B. Aycock High School hangs a new sheet of paper each day.

It outlines that day's practice schedule.

At the bottom of the practice schedule, handwritten in black ink is a different quote every day.

"You can make mistakes, but you are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes," by late UCLA men's head basketball coach John Wooden is this day's particular message.

Senior pitcher Bobby Hampton gives it a glance and tries to learn it as quickly as possible. Three tries and he appears to have it memorized.

He better.

A new exercise instilled in this year's baseball program, the Golden Falcons have to memorize the quote of the day each day. They can be tested at any given time by any of the coaches and if they get it wrong, they run.

It's an exercise to build accountability and maturity on a team that Hampton said has grown up a lot in the past year. But, perhaps as an unintended consequence, the quote of the day has helped build camaraderie on the team as well.

Coaches agree that throughout the day they will see their players talking and they are trying to make sure they have the quote right. It's no coincidence that this is also one of the closest-knit teams coach Charles Davis has had in years.

"We feel good about the team chemistry," Davis said. "As a team we put in a lot of work in the weight room together. They all get along. It's not like we have a lot of outsiders coming in here. It's a pretty tight group."

The Golden Falcons finished atop the 3-A portion of the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference last season, and made a run to the third round of the playoffs. This season, they return a solid core from that team, and hope to be able to plug in players with some experience at positions where they lost players.

They need a lead-off man and a right fielder to replace Garrett Joyner. They think they have found a second baseman to replace Tim Naughton as well as a number two pitcher to replace what Naughton did on the mound.

They also have to fill in an unexpected hole behind the plate since Noah West decided not to play this season. Aycock has depth behind the dish with competition between Braxton Leeper and Bryce Anders, but it will likely to come down to which one is hitting better.

"Braxton is just hard-nosed, and I have coached him now for going on six years," Davis said. "He blocks the ball well. Bryce is an athlete. He got hurt in JV season five games in and missed all the summer season, but he has caught his whole life. I like his arm and the way he calls pitches."

Trent Herndon filled in at second last season when Naughton pitched and is expected to fill the void. And junior Kyle Davis is expected to come in as the number two pitcher in the rotation.

A platoon is expected in the outfield, as there are plenty of players with experience that bring different skills to the table.

The fact is, though, Coach Davis does not know what will happen. The weather left things in limbo and he's not sure how the players will perform as the season goes on.

One thing is for certain, however.

Hampton will trot out to the mound every time there is a big game.

"Everybody knows who our number one is," Davis said. "Right now I know Hampton is going to get the ball once a week, and to be honest that's about all I know."

The reigning News-Argus All-Area pitcher-of-the-year, Hampton fashioned a 8-4 record and 1.43 earned run average as the team's ace last season. The level of competition Hampton faced makes those numbers even more impressive. Hampton was often the guy Davis gave the ball to when Aycock went up against the 4-A powerhouses in the conference.

The left-handed Appalachian State University signee headlines a solid core of starters returning that include shortstop Hank Smitherman, third baseman Ashton McGee and part-time starters Jacob Naughton and Charlie Robertson.

"We are a tough little team," Hampton said. "We got a lot of guys coming back and we lost a few guys, but we have some juniors and sophomores ready to step up."