Competitive edge returns for CBA baseball

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 4, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Hank Smitherman looked toward the infield.

Just moments earlier, Smitherman and his Charles B. Aycock teammates celebrated in the customary dogpile after winning the eastern 3-A regional baseball championship on Lee Senior home turf.

Smitherman described the scene as "surreal."

"We knew what was at stake, we were so determined that we were not going to lose this game ... end it (the series) right here," Smitherman said of the come-from-behind, 3-2 win capped by Cameron Kornegay's lead-off home run in the top of the seventh inning.

"We just gutted it out. You can ask everybody and I guarantee you they'll tell that they probably played their worst game tonight, but as a team, we got the win. Individual doesn't matter."

The buildup to the joyous occasion started in early April.

The Golden Falcons (23-4 overall) had just stepped off the field, disappointed by their effort in a loss against Wilson Fike in the 2nd annual Golden Leaf Invitational.

Head coach Charles Davis declined, at first, to comment about the game. But he changed his mind and said one word -- compete -- which aptly summed up the outcome. His ballclub didn't challenge the Golden Demons any aspect on the Fleming Stadium diamond.

"I never want to say a loss is a good loss and believe me I didn't think it was that night," said Davis. "But looking back on it now, yes it was. Our kids came together, we started to compete and we've done it every single game.

"In our conference, God almighty, whoever comes out of our conference has been battle tested. It doesn't matter if it's (a) 3-A or 4-A (team)."

The next test comes Friday evening at Doak Field in Raleigh. The Golden Falcons put their 14-game win streak on the line against highly-touted Marvin Ridge (27-5) in Game 1 of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A state finals.

Game 2 in the best-of-three series is Saturday at 11 a.m. A third game, if necessary, will be played later in the day.

Aycock is playing for its fourth state championship and seeking its third in program history. The Golden Falcons won titles in 1974 and 2007, and finished runners-up in 2012.

"A lot of people didn't believe that we could come this far, do what we've done this year," said Davis, whose team is making its 10th consecutive playoff appearance.

"We've got a great group of seniors who have grown up together, played together and they've been the backbone of the team. Then throw these other guys in there ... our juniors and sophomores have just done a tremendous job this year."

Champions of the Southern Carolina Conference, the Mavericks are led by senior Max Wotell. The left-hander was recently named the Gatorade North Carolina player-of-the-year and earned a spot on the Perfect Game USA Preseason Second-Team All-American squad.

Wotell is 11-0 on the bump with a 0.54 earned run average. He's logged 120 strikeouts in 651/3 innings and yielded just 19 walks. Offensively, he's batting .410 with three home runs and 19 RBI.

The Mavericks have shut out eight opponents and emerged victorious in 10 of 14 games decided by three runs or less this season. Meanwhile, the Golden Falcons are 13-3 in that same scenario.

"We have a lot of determination," Davis said. "I believe you win with pitching and defense. That's what we've done this year with pitching and defense, and timely hitting. When you put those three things together, you put yourself in position to win at any level."

And it all begins with a "compete" mentality.