BASEBALL: Marlins Magic -- Lancaster concocts recipe for success

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 23, 2018 5:50 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOREHEAD CITY -- Even if a Hollywood screen writer didn't pen the final script, Jesse Lancaster certainly wouldn't have traded the ending.

Early momentum.

Confidence.

Quality pitching.

Superb defense.

All of those ingredients mixed together created the perfect recipe for Morehead City, which seized the program's first-ever Petitt Cup -- the crown jewel of the Coastal Plain League.

"You always work for it, but I certainly can't say I thought about it a whole lot in the offseason going into the summer," second-year MC head coach Jesse Lancaster said. "We just try to do our best to put together a good team, compete each day in the summer and the next thing I knew we were in position to play for a [Cup] championship."

The Marlins, who logged a 38-14 ledger, started their phenomenal playoff run with a opening-round, 16-inning victory over Fayetteville. They knocked out Wilson, which set up a best-of-three Cup final against Thomasville.

Not known for its hitting during the regular season, Morehead City plated a total of 18 runs in two games and swept the Hi-Toms. The Marlins emerged as the ninth different team to claim the Cup since its inception in 2002.

In all, just 13 teams have secured a CPL title since the wooden-bat league became incorporated in 1997.

"They were really refreshing. They enjoyed the game," Lancaster said. "They were coachable ... intelligent players, obviously understood how to play. When you spend as many hours as we did together, it was nice to do it [win the Cup] with people you enjoy being around.

"They showed up every day willing to play hard despite being mentally and physically worn out."

Unlike his first season, Lancaster didn't enter 2018 behind the 8-ball.

He and his coaching staff, along with the Marlins' scouting department, signed closed to 30 players to the program. They actively communicated with them last spring and laid out the organization's expectations before anyone met in person.

The scouts viewed dirt dobbers on the Division I, II and III levels, and took a peek at some junior college players. They identified the types of players that fit the Marlins' needs from a production standpoint.

The players' sacrifice from start to finish proved pivotal.

After a season-opening loss to Wilmington, Morehead City reeled off seven consecutive victories -- its longest streak of the season. The Marlins took advantage of short-handed teams that had not completely filled their rosters due to some collegiate teams still involved in postseason play.

"We came out playing really well," Lancaster said. "[The win streak] played a big part, not just in the standings, but in terms of our guys realizing what we were capable of [doing] and keeping guys there for the whole summer."

As the season progressed, Lancaster quietly realized he had something special brewing at O'Neal Field inside Big Rock Stadium.

An arsenal of arms compiled an impressive and CPL-leading earned run average of 2.47 in 403.7 innings pitched.

Kenny Wells, a right-hander from Seton Hill, led the CPL in saves with nine. Alabama's Mason Duke logged a league-leading six wins on the bump. Senior southpaw Octavio Mirabal filed an efficient 2.30 ERA with five wins and 48 strikeouts in 54.7 innings.

University of Mount Olive's Zach Vennaro, one of four post-eligibility selections on the team, saw time in the Cup championship series. He earned his second save in the decisive Game 2 against the Hi-Toms.

"He and [UMO pitching] Coach [Jason] Sherrer spent a lot of time together, and he developed Zach into a very good arm," Lancaster said. "He was actually out there for the last outs [of the championship game]. I was very confident in him doing that. It was reassuring as a manager to know what he was capable of doing for us."

Morehead City's defense flashed plenty of leather, too.

The Marlins filed a .968 fielding percentage -- second-best in the CPL behind Peninsula.

Lancaster credited his assistants, Sammy Miller and Fico Kondla, for working with the players on a day-in, day-out basis. Their tutelage in all facets of the best game on dirt helped strengthen a team that eventually reached the mountaintop.

"Communicating early on what our expectations were for this team with what we wanted to accomplish, never letting the lows get too low or getting too proud of ourselves when we're doing well, it came together really nice," said Lancaster, who begins his sixth season as an assistant coach at UMO this fall.

"They believed in themselves."

And lived a storybook season.