Prep Baseball --Davis enshrined by NCBCA

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on December 17, 2017 3:09 AM

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GREENSBORO -- Charles Davis, who finished his term as CEO of the Pikeville Nine last spring with 512 career wins, 13 conference titles and a winning percentage of just north of hard-to-fathom, was inducted on Friday evening alongside Lee County legend Charlie Spivey and Rocky Mount head coach Pat Smith as the newest members of the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Following remarks by new Charles B. Aycock head coach Allen Thomas and his son, Kyle, the veteran skipper was officially ushered into his third Hall of Fame -- capping off a hat-trick that includes membership at the University of Mount Olive and in George Whitfield's Wayne County collective.  

And in typical fashion, Davis wanted the dialogue around his enshrinement to ring much softer than that of his classmates, whom he spoke of Saturday afternoon with great reverence.

His humility, it seems, has no bound.  

"I'm very humbled and honored to go in with Charlie Spivey and Pat Smith," Davis said by phone. "Those two guys are coaching legends, and Charlie has ended up being a great friend of mine... very special to go in with him."

But given Davis' success, it's likely Spivey and Smith share the same sentiment.

After a playing career that traveled from the University of Mount Olive -- then called Mount Olive College -- to North Carolina Wesleyan, the Black Creek native fell in as an assistant to Mike Fox, who leads his own brand of powder blues at the University of North Carolina.  

In 1990, he was hired to roam the dugout at Charles B. Aycock High School -- where the rest, as is often said, is history.

"I have been very blessed," Davis recalled with a laugh,  "in my 27 years at Aycock to have some very good players... but they're also very good people. There is something special about this community, and I've been supported by every administrator that I ever worked under."

And when you consider the thundering success rate, why not?

Over the length of his tenure in Pikeville, Davis and his diamond-types won over 73 percent of their games, and managed to finish either first or second in league play -- where people know your habits like family -- an astonishing 25 out of 27 years.

His teams, a mixture of draftable talent and hard-scrabble types, took his words as seriously as they took infield, as evidenced by 25 postseason appearances and three trips to the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A title series -- where the Blues won it all in 2007.

But in conversation with Davis, that's not really what matters.

It's the people.

When pressed for a moment that defined the gala on Friday, ole' No. 8 recalled the presence of Fox, the words of his son and new CBA lead man Thomas, as well as a visit with his first assistant in Pikeville, Mike Goyne.

There was also loving mention of his wife, Rhonda, who supported his every baseball move, from the endless hours to the summer camps to the rinse-repeat nature of seasons that ran together until they didn't anymore -- and who was with him as he turned out the lights in Pikeville on May 12 after a second-round playoff loss to West Brunswick. 

"The good Lord blessed me with a partner for life," Davis said. "None of this would have been possible without her."

Which is exactly what one might expect Davis to say -- he is, after all, rich in friendships.