Published: 12:21 AM, Thu Apr 15, 2010
Senior pitching duo has Gray's Creek at the top
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
It was 1991 when South View rode the arms of pitchers Brian Ford and Andy High to a state baseball title.
Gray's Creek baseball coach Jeff Nance doesn't know if the same fate awaits his Bear team this season, but he's definitely got two pitchers who are putting up similar numbers to what Ford and High achieved in that championship year almost 20 seasons ago.
Seniors Brandon Browne and Tyler Herbert have Gray's Creek riding alone atop the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference baseball standings.
Following Tuesday's win over second-place Overhills, the Bears are 11-0 overall and 6-0 in league play, with Browne and Herbert having a lot to do with the perfect record.
In Tuesday's win against Overhills, they split time on the mound and combined for 14 strikeouts.
Before Tuesday's game, Browne's record was 4-0 with a 0.00 earned-run average. He's struck out 47 batters in 22 innings and walked just four.
Herbert, a righthander, is 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA. He has 39 strikeouts in 18 innings and only six walks.
Nance said he was confident both pitchers were going to do well this year after a strong commitment to Gray's Creek's offseason workout program.
"It came down to consistency,'' Nance said. "Both had the stuff to get people out and both have been throwing strikes consistently.''
For Herbert, the big change this season has been a curveball he can rely on more.
"I can throw it for a strike whenever I want to,'' he said. "That's the best thing so far for me.''
His best performance this year was a 16-strikeout night against Purnell Swett. "I didn't know I had that many strikeouts until the end of the game,'' he said. "It felt good.''
Browne said adding a changeup to his list of pitches has been the key to his season so far. "I can pretty much throw it on command now,'' he said. "Instead of having to always depend on the fastball I can work with the change and mix it up on the batter.''
Although he expected both pitchers to do well this season, Nance still had some questions coming into the year, not the least of which was the makeup of the new 3-A conference.
"We lost three teams - South Johnston, Harnett Central and Triton - which were all good baseball schools,'' Nance said. "I was still confident that our conference was going to be a tough conference.''
The league added the Bears along with Cumberland County schools Douglas Byrd and Westover.
"We had a 16-win season last year and lost five games by one run,'' Nance said. "Having an upper teens or 20-win year this year wasn't out of possibility. We've taken our lumps with young kids and they are coming around.''
Nance said he's checked a few high school baseball polls around the state and as far as he can tell, the Bears are the only unbeaten team in any classification. "I think we're ranked No. 6 in 3-A,'' he said.
The Bears don't discuss being undefeated or remaining that way, Nance said. In fact, they don't talk about anything except the next game on the schedule.
"Baseball is a funny game,'' Nance said. "You can play good games and still lose, and bad games and win. There are a lot of things the baseball gods have over you that you can't control.''
That's why Herbert and Browne are focusing on the things they can control, such as their pitching.
"We just want to keep playing good and not beat ourselves,'' Herbert said.
"It feels good to be a senior and we're having a great year so far,'' Browne said. "We need for everybody to keep working as a team, keep their head up and don't let it get to them.''
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached at vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.