MOCKSVILLE— Some coaches would fret over having just 11 bodies on their high school baseball team.
And then there’s Davie County’s Mike Herndon, who sees it as a blessing.
“That’s not always a bad weakness,” Herndon said of the low numbers. “I’ll have only two parents complaining instead of 10.”
Herndon was a jokemeister last week on the practice field at Rich Park while talking about his team. Loose as a goose, you might say.
And why shouldn’t he be? Davie is coming off an 18-6 year, has strong pitching and arguably the best player in the 4A Central Piedmont Conference in shortstop and four-year starter Andrew Daywalt. Herndon also coaches baseball in a county that adores the sport.
“We have a good, tight-knit group,” Herndon said.
The War Eagles are ready to fight for the league title behind a strong pitching staff, a run-producing offense and a defense that is good enough.
“We can make routine plays,” Herndon said. “And that’s really all we want to do.”
For the fourth straight year, Daywalt will take center stage. After playing on several all-star teams last summer, finishing runner-up for CPCPlayer of the Year and hitting .380, Daywalt, a very familiar face to opposing coaches, will be counted on heavily.
“It seems like Daywalt and South’s (Rowan) Ronnie Shore have been playing forever,” Herndon said, shaking his head.
Daywalt is being recruited by Appalachian State, Lenoir-Rhyne and others.
“He’s a great contact hitter who hits for average and power,” Herndon said, adding Daywalt will bat second. “He is a three-time all-conference player, so the biggest thing for him is to lead by example. But we’ll put good players around him.”
Herndon will start with Dave Poplin, a behemoth, at first base, Scott Hollifield at second and Jacob Garner at third.
Poplin is 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds. He is a three-year starter, hit .325 last season and bopped two homers.
“He’ll hit cleanup and I expect a lot,” said Herndon.
At second, Daniel Hollifield is a first-year junior and although he is a small player, Herndon said the team was shocked recently when he bashed a homer in an intrasquad game.
“He’s a hard-nosed player,” Herndon said. “He has surprised us with pop on the ball.”
Garner is returning at third base. Wrestling has made him stronger, but you can’t get much stronger than he was last season when he hit better than .500 against CPC foes.
“He’s a great defensive player, too,” Herndon said. “He made only one error last year.”
Leading off for Herndon this season is center fielder Josh Golding, who has a gun for an arm and has gained about 20 pounds.
The left fielder is Brandon Gentry. Right field will be manned by juniors McKenzie Willoughby and Ben Allred.
“Golding is a returning starter and he has great range. He is fast and a lot stronger,” said Herndon. “Gentry has great speed and is a great contact hitter. Allred didn’t play last year but was a good jayvee player. We liked Willoughby last year but moved him down to jayvees so he could play.”
Doug Smith should be a reliable catcher, with Willoughby backing him up. Last year, Smith was forced out with an arm injury and never regained the position. This year, says Herndon, the job is his.
And Smith has plenty of capable arms, all righties, beginning with Lonnie “The Hammer” Barnes and flamethrower Cody Wright. Those two should make up for the loss to graduation of Travis Allen, who was 10-0.
“The Hammer has come a long way,” smiled Herndon. “I really like Lonnie. I’ve got him seven hours a day — two classes and practice.
“Lonnie won’t strike out 10-12 batters, but he’ll keep you offstride. His location is good and he changes speeds.”
Wright is best remembered for a no-hitter in last year’s Easter Tournament. He is a two-time all-CPC performer who can throw it 87 mph.
Wright went 7-1 as a sophomore, but after an elbow injury during Legion, dropped to 4-4 last year.
He’s very capable of pitching,” Herndon said. “He has to learn he can’t just sit back and strike out everybody.”
Daywalt, Willoughby and Golding are ready for mound duty when called.
Herndon hopes for a better ending than last year, when 18 wins didn’t get him into the playoffs. Davie lost to West Forsyth in the tournament semifinals for the last spot.
“But I’ll take 18-6 every year,” Herndon chirps.
This year, he sees West and South Rowan as the main competition.
As Herndon was talking, two more players turned up for their first day on the job: wrestler and infielder Adam Sain, and basketball player and outfielder Jason Hogue. But they are unproven.
So Herndon will go with the small numbers and make the best of it.
“I realized I don’t have a bullpen catcher and nobody to chart the pitches,” said Herndon, chuckling again. “But like Lou Holtz says, “You worry about the ones you’ve got, not the ones you don’t.”
Herndon isn’t worrying either way. With 19 jayvee players ready to move up at his beckoned call, and all of that among his top 11 players, perhaps it’s the rest of the CPC that should be worrying.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-787-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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