Prep Baseball: Davie's Herndon excited about War Eagles

Davie County Coach Mike Herndon signals 2-outs to his team. photo by Wayne Hinshaw, Salisbury Post

By Brian Pitts

sports@salisburypost.com

Davie varsity baseball coach Mike Herndon hadn't felt this good going into a season since 2006, when Davie went 24-4, conquered the conference and marched to the 4-A quarterfinals. There's a bounce in the team's step and an energy and confidence that far surpasses anything the 2008 and 2009 teams took into the season.

"The thing I really like about this team is we have great kids," Herndon said earlier this season. "They're doing things outside of practice together. They've rolled up their sleeves and gone to work from the last day of football, and that building (a new batting cage under a roof at the school) has been a blessing for us. Every one of them has improved. Every one of them has gotten stronger. Most of them have gotten faster. It's amazing how much the kids have improved."

The War Eagles stood 4-1 entering tonight.

The seniors are Zach Long, Ryan Barneycastle, Josh Berryhill, Dillon Byerly, Brandon Meade, Tyler Seaford, Steven Lewis and Tyler Jordan. The juniors are Alex Newman, Carson Herndon, Jacob Barber, Joe Watson, Conner Bodenhamer, Blake Wise and Shane Carter. Ryan Foster and Corey Randall are sophomores.

Last year Davie went 11-10 for its fourth straight winning season, but the Central Piedmont Conference was a rocky road again. The War Eagles finished fourth or fifth for the third year in a row. Adding salt to the wound, the season ended badly. In a first-round playoff game at East Forsyth, they carried a 3-0 lead into the seventh inning, with Shelton Howard carrying a no-hitter into the seventh. But Davie squandered it all in a 4-3 loss, the fifth loss in six games down the stretch.

But the '10 team appears to be cut from a different cloth. Bodenhamer (.375) and Newman (.357, 13 stolen bases) had strong '09 seasons. Seaford hit .285. Four more guys gained valuable experience - Foster, Herndon, Watson and Barber. The top pitcher is back in Berryhill (3-2, 3.25). Watson is also back on the hill after appearing in eight games last year.

Simply put, the War Eagles have all the ingredients to do something really momentous. They have power, speed, depth, defense and pitching.

"We have bracelets that say 'Whatever It Takes,' " Herndon said. "Every one of our kids has one. Whatever it takes to be a good teammate, a good person, do well in the class room and do well on the field. Whatever it takes to be successful, and the kids are buying into that."

The War Eagles are extremely deep. No matter which nine start, there will be starter-worthy players on the bench. They are two deep at every single position. So the burning question is whether this team can stay together and accept its roles.

"I really think we can do some awesome things," Herndon said. "But our No. 17 man has to be as important to us as our No. 1 guy. Making our No. 17 feel special is what we've really been working on. Do we have talent? Yes. Has our talent improved? Yes. But we haven't proven anything yet. You can talk about potential all you want. If you've got potential in baseball, you can get drafted in the 257th round. If you have potential and you work your tail off, you can get drafted in the fifth round. That's millions and millions of dollars difference."

The catchers are Barber, Byerly and Wise. Barber and Herndon have received scholarship offers from Liberty University.

"Barber's pop time has been real good," he said. "It's been 1.9 and 2.0, and he's always been accurate. He looked good in the (Watauga) scrimmage. ... Byerly has made great strides."

Barneycastle and Randall are at first base. They both can play, which is a theme at every spot on the field.

"A lot of that will depend on who's pitching and who's hot," he said of first base. "They've both worked hard and they both do things well."

Second base is crowded with Newman, Carter, Seaford, Meade and Jordan. Jordan was a three-year varsity starter at short at North Iredell. North has struggled for years, and Jordan has family ties to Davie County. So he decided to transfer. His mother, Donna Whitlock Jordan, was a Davie athlete who graduated in 1984. His uncle, Barry Whitlock, was a three-sport star in 1981-82 who played baseball for Guilford. Jordan emerged at Davie on Feb. 25, day nine of practice.

"We've taken an all-conference center fielder (in Newman) and put him at second," he said. "We're going to play Newman in the outfield, too. He could play second, short, center or third. I've seen Jordan play a little and he swings it well. We'll let them compete and see where we're at."

When Carson Herndon goes to the mound, coach Herndon will have plenty of options. He could use Newman, Jordan or Carter at short.

Randall can play third when Foster pitches. Or Newman, Jordan or Carter could play third. See what we mean by this depth thing.

There are talented logjams all over the outfield. There's Bodenhamer and Seaford in left, and sometimes Byerly. There's Long and Newman in center. There's Watson and Long in right. Randall can play right.

"We have a lot of combinations, and whatever we do we're not holding our breath and hoping they don't hit it there," he said. "We're solid defensively at every position."

While the defense and offense expect to be significantly improved over recent years, the pitching staff should be vastly improved as well. Davie has eight - yes, eight - quality arms: Long, Berryhill, Herndon, Watson, Foster, Randall, Carter and Lewis.

"We've got some guys that throw it up there pretty good," he said. "Every one of them has three pitches they can throw for a strike. We scrimmaged a very good team in Watauga and gave up three or four hits the whole time while throwing five guys. And Watson and Carter weren't even there, and those two aren't too shabby."

If the weather plays havoc on the schedule, three-game weeks could play right into Davie's hand.

"We've got a chance to win with any of them," he said. "We're going to have to play defense behind some of them, but we could play seven days a week."

The War Eagles are eager to make a statement against a schedule that has zero soft spots. Herndon would not have loaded up on tough opponents if he didn't think Davie was a bona fide contender in the CPC.

"All our kids play in the summer," he said. "They all don't play at the same place, but all of them play. That's a luxury a lot of people don't have."