Published: 05:37 AM, Sun Jun 13, 2010
Baseball player, coach of year both from South View
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
The 2010 high school baseball season proved to be one of tough decisions for South View standout Brandon Huffman and Tigers coach Scott Ellis.
For Huffman, it was a choice of turning his back on the rare chance to play baseball for the University of North Carolina. For Ellis, it was figuring out how to piece together a team after suffering critical personnel losses before the season started. In the end, both felt they made the right moves, and both enjoyed outstanding years. For their efforts, they were named this year's Fayetteville Observer Cape Fear region baseball player and coach of the year, respectively.
Huffman made an oral commitment to the Tar Heels two seasons ago, but when he faced some academic hurdles in his senior year, he began to give his choice second thoughts. He finally decided to enroll at nearby UNC-Pembroke. Some questioned his choice, but Huffman remains convinced he made the right call for himself and his family.
"I'm closer to home and I feel more comfortable there,'' Huffman said. Going to UNCP will also give Huffman a chance to be a pitcher in college, something he wasn't even considering had he attended UNC. His feelings about pitching at the college level changed when he finally developed a changeup.
"Now I have a chance in college,'' he said. "You can't get by with just a curveball and a fastball.''
He also expects to get a chance to play earlier than he would have as a Tar Heel. He said the position of first base for the Braves is his to lose. "I have to go in there and earn it,'' he said. That could be tougher than it sounds since first is a position Huffman hasn't played much.
"I've played a few games there,'' he said, "enough to know what I'm doing.''
This summer, Huffman will hone his game by playing American Legion baseball with the Hope Mills Boosters. He decided to play American Legion so he could spend some time close to home after traveling during the summer to play showcase baseball the last few years.
"I've traveled everywhere since I was a freshman,'' he said. "I haven't had the summer to stay home and hang out with friends and family.''
The only regret Huffman will leave high school baseball with is not winning a state championship. "That was the one thing I wanted and didn't get,'' he said. Huffman said the key for South View or any team hoping to win a state title is obvious. Pitching.
"We didn't have enough pitching this year, and that's what Cumberland County is lacking,'' said Huffman, himself a pitcher. "You've got to have deep pitching.''
When he started the 2010 season, South View coach Ellis thought he had a deep team, with many key players back from the 2009 regular season and conference championship squad.
Before he knew what had happened, five players he was counting on never got into a game, and two more missed a good portion of the season.
"It was a huge adjustment we had to make,'' Ellis said. "We had to bring kids up from the junior varsity, move kids around. But I'm proud of the way our kids and the way they handled that adversity. They were able to roll through it.''
Ellis sold his players on not making a big deal over the players that were lost and instead focusing on the team concept to pull things back together.
It worked. South View won the Mid-South 4-A Conference regular season title and finished the year 22-5. Ellis said it was the most wins for a Tiger baseball team since they won the state 4-A title under Randy Ledford in 1991.
"We had kids that stepped up in places and really shined,'' he said, "kids that were able to move into the spotlight and produce.''
Ellis may face another coaching challenge next season. For the first time since he took over the program from Ledford, he won't be able to pencil Huffman's name in the lineup. Some other key seniors are also leaving the program.
"We are going to be competitive again,'' Ellis said. "People will be pleasantly surprised by our season. I don't think the cupboard is bare.
"You can't replace a Brandon Huffman, but tradition never graduates. We'll try to keep up with the tradition we started at South View and see how far we can roll with it.''
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.