4A Championship: Sanderson vs. Ardrey Kell

Those were the friendly ones

 

Someone posted a very nice comment our Bagwell and the boys. I hope that equates to good karma!!! Go Knights!!!

 

Finally, a little coverage from the Raleigh area on Sanderson. From the sounds of it, this is going to be a well played series against two teams that will battle it to the end. I am looking forward to it!

Sanderson plays it one hit at a time

'We play more small ball. ... Everybody contributes,' coach says of winning approach

BY DAVID JUSTICE - Correspondent

RALEIGH -- Wednesday afternoon, two days before the opening pitch of the state 4-A baseball finals, Sanderson coach Todd Laughlin had a bat in his hands for a back-to-basics reminder.

A lot of teams do bunting drills early in the season, but this was the Spartans' 55th practice this spring. The Spartans (19-11) are sold on Laughlin's tactics, covering every base as they prepare to face Charlotte's Ardrey Kell High School in the first round of the best-of-three championship series at 8 tonight at N.C. State's Doak Field.

"Every time we think we've thought of everything, got everything figured out, he's got something else figured out," senior second baseman Robert Brunson said about Laughlin. "He is just so organized. He knows baseball, and the cool thing is, he wants this just as much, or more, than we do. He gets us fired up."

The Sanderson players know their counterparts at Kell are as focused. Kell lost in the state finals last year to Greenville Rose, the team Sanderson defeated in the Eastern Regionals finals last weekend.

"Kell has lots of good athletes, and I know they really want to win after last year," Sanderson senior shortstop Kyle Wigmore said. "But I really feel this year is our year."

The Spartans got a boost in confidence last week by eliminating Rose, a team packed with talent.

"We play more small ball. We don't have the guys going to State, Carolina or East Carolina to play," Laughlin said. "But we play as a team. Everybody contributes. The guys we needed to step up this year have done it, and in a big way."

Senior pitcher and first baseman Charles Wolfe has signed with Wingate University. Senior catcher Max Gagnon, who serves as the Spartans second pitcher, will play at UNC-Pembroke, and Wigmore, who was the winning pitcher Saturday against Rose, will be an infielder at High Point University.

Wolfe leads the team with a .441 batting average. He hit three homers and is 7-6 on the mound with an ERA of 2.05. Gagnon (.355, six home runs) is 6-1 as a pitcher, with a 2.33 ERA. Wigmore is hitting .297, and freshman infielder Daniel Adams is hitting .288.

"We don't have the power of a Rose. We have to do the little things well," Laughlin said. "We got 10 hits in the final game, and it was 10 singles. The bottom of our lineup really came through.

"This team has done a great job of learning what it takes for us to be successful. Then they go out and execute it."

Wolfe, the team's ace for two seasons, hopes to help his team get off to a good start.

"The first game of a series is so important," Wolfe said. "But we lost the first game to Rose and came back. I'm going to try to approach it like any other game. Just go from pitch to pitch and inning to inning."

Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 will be played Saturday at Doak Field.

"After playing four games in four days, this was a good week to relax and then get back to practice," Wigmore said. "We'll be ready to go back out to win. We didn't get this far for nothing."

 

Raleigh weather

Looking better than what I thought or was told. All the rain appears to be west of us. I am sure Doak Field will handle the rains from last night/early this morning and we should be ready to PLAY BALL.

With that much said, I like my Spartans chances but that Kell team will not go down without a fight. I am so looking forward to some great games and parents - lets enjoy watching our kids play the game they love so much. They have played baseball all these years to get to play for a state championship-- the best you can do in high school.

Lets cheer on our boys and see what happens.

May the best TEAM win.

Go Spartans!

 

Three times since 1970!

Since 1970, 3 teams have come back the next year and won the 4A State Championship after losing the previous year in the title series:

1981:Greensboro Grimsley won the title over Cape Fear! (after losing to Rocky Mount in 1980)

1992: Glenn won the title over Sanderson! (after losing to Southview in 1991)

2007: South Caldwell won the title over Ashley! (after losing to Scotland in 2006)

Will lightning strike a 4th time?

2009: Ardrey Kell ? (after losing to Greenville Rose in 2008)

 

Right On!

Congratulations to Sanderson & Ardrey Kell for making it to the title series!
(come on guys, you're out of sync)

 

Webcast

SW4A Baseball will have a webcast of the games at: http://www.southwestern4abaseball.com/live.html

If it works out we will try and get the game before as well.

 

I felt compelled to remind everyone of the post from ECU78 as we end the season. It was a tremendous reminder at the beginning of the season and continues to be always. Parents and players of all the state finalists--enjoy the moment.


ECU78 post---

After visiting this site for awhile, I saw this thread and just had to add my special memory. My son liked to play baseball but was never great at it. He wasn't talented enough to play high school ball but he played summer ball whether it was Little League or Babe Ruth, He never made any all star teams or such. He was just good enough to start. Most of all, he liked to play Babe Ruth ball with his friends. The boys just had a good time even though success was hard to find. During a Senior Babe Ruth game one night, my son was playing first and a fly ball was hit behind first into short right field. He turned and hustled to make an over the head catch that Willie Mays would have been proud of. I just stood there not believing what I just saw. I was in awe. Before I could make my way out of the dugout (I was on scorebook duty) to congratulate him, he had already returned the ball to the pitcher and was in stance for the next defensive play. With the next pitch, a ball was hit to second and he dropped a perfect throw at first. I told him when he came in how pretty the fly ball catch was and then asked him what happened on the throw from second. I can remember how fast his smile changed into a lowered head. To this day, I regret not making a bigger deal out of the great catch. And now I can't. My son was killed almost two years ago, months after making that catch. I responded to this thread so I could tell the dads out there to make sure you appreciate the memories you have and ones to come. Make sure your son has a smile on his face after the game. More importantly, make sure you do to. Always be positive and somehow forget the "bad". Believe me, winning or losing a baseball game just isn't that important anymore. I would give anything to see that smile again.

 

Just had some hard rain in Cary (I'm about 10miles from Doak Field) but the sun is now out.

 

Let's Give Mother Nature A Round Of Applause!

Mother Nature has really battled hard this high school season!

Let's give her a round of applause!