BASEBALL TAB -- Late-season league loss not a forgotten memory for Gators

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 13, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Spring Creek knocked on the door for its first Carolina 1-A Conference baseball championship since 2004 last spring.

North Duplin denied the Gators entry on the final day of regular-season play.

The Rebels won 2-1.

Although the Gators haven't spoken too much about that gut-wrenching loss on a warm May evening, it left an unforgettable stinging sensation and provided motivation for eight returning starters -- including four seniors.

Anything less than a conference title is unacceptable this season.

"We've got guys who have played a lot and started since they were freshmen. We expect good things from those guys," said eighth-year SC head coach Heath Whitfield, whose team set a single-season record for victories (18) in 2014.

"They've been around the block a time or two. They think they always have the chance to win no matter the circumstances are. They realize as long as we keep plugging, then good things will happen and that's a credit to those kids.

"They believe they can win and believe they are going to win. They're pretty mentally tough and I think that feeds off to the rest of the crowd."

Spring Creek lost just one starter, Matt Rogers, to graduation. Rogers committed only one error in 141 chances at first base and batted .328 with 19 RBI. Whitfield said that either Tre Hammonds or Chad Spurgeon, two of four seniors on the team, could either field Rogers' void or gobble up ground balls at second base.

Senior Allen Coor is projected to start at either shortstop or behind the plate. Whitfield hopes to keep Coor in the infield due to his instinctive play. The senior emerged as the Carolina Conference leader in runs scored (35), RBI (31) and stolen bases (32). He hit a crisp .451 at the plate.

Sawyer Smith returns to the hot corner. The junior batted .378 and knocked in 24 runs last season.

Senior Logan Miller, sophomore Levi Miller and junior Will Rouse return to the outfield. Logan Miller (7-3, 2.78 ERA) and Rouse became the Gators' Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers during conference play last season.

Coor, Spurgeon and Miller helped lead Wayne County Post 11 reach the final four at the 2014 N.C. Senior American Legion state baseball tournament. Whitfield hopes that experience translates onto the diamond and that the trio's success becomes contagious among the rest of the team.

"All three ended up in the lineup at the same time toward the end of the season," Whitfield said. "It did nothing but help them gain confidence and experience playing against better competition. How it actually helped them won't be truly known until we get out on the field."

The Gators' likelihood of challenging for a conference title will depend upon four factors -- defense, pitching, plate approaches and luck. Spurgeon and Smith, who has shined in bullpen sessions, will see some time on the bump. Spurgeon finished 3-0 with seven saves last season. He batted .348 with 26 RBI and swiped 19 bases.

Sophomore Matt Dupuy and junior Hunter Walker could get a call to the mound as well.

Whitfield's team didn't beat itself defensively last season. Offensively, it showed patience at the plate and led the league in hit batsmen. The Gators did not hit a home run last season, but took advantage of their speed with a "station-to-station" mentality that pressured opposing defenses.

"I am expecting a dogfight with the top half of the league," said Whitfield, who anticipates challenges from Rosewood, North Duplin, Lakewood and Princeton.

"We have to take it one game at a time. We don't ever look ahead on our schedule. If we can do the little things (each game), hopefully at the end of the season we'll be in contention."