We received these notes on NWG from the Havelock Easter Baseball Tournament in the comment box and I felt like we should bring them up front and center to make sure everyone gets a chance to see what this Viking team is doing and again, an all-around job, well-done…..
The NW Vikings represented their school and community very well in the 17th annual Havelock Easter tourney. The 2008 team is coming together very well for Coach Sonny Gann and his staff. Pitching is very strong. Hitting and defense are improving. The team has improved to 7-3 after the tourney.
NW won the first game 5-3 over Havelock with Logan Self(2-1) getting the win in 5 1/3 innings and Tommy Plante(1-0 and 1 save) getting the save by striking out 4 the rest of the way.
NW won the second game 9-7 over a strong New Bern team with Omar DeLaRosa (1-1) getting the win in 6 1/3 innings with 8 K’s. Nathan Cook (1 Save) got the save by shutting down New Bern with two runners on base.
NW won the third and final game 9-2 over East Carteret with Robbie McIntosh (3-1) recording 6K’s in 4 innings. Stephen Mekita (1 Save) got the save by pitching the last three innings.
Alex Swim got the Tourney MVP on his birthday with clutch hitting that included a 3 run shot over the right center wall in 40 F weather. Alex was very deserving of the MVP. He has hit well all year. Robbie McIntosh went 5 for 10 in the tourney and Tommy Houston went 3 for 6 in the tourney.
One other item that I would like to note about the five seniors on the NW team: Geoff Fahnestock, Trent McKenzie, Eric Presnell, Seth Hanner, and Tommy Plante. Three of the young men have been accepted into the school of engineering at NCSU where they plan to major in Biomolecular, Biomedical, and Chemical Engineering. The other two seniors have been accepted in other top level schools but have not confirmed which schools they will attend.
I asked three of the boys what they think the cumulative GPA of the 5 might be and they responded around 4.4 tp 4.5. We are very proud of the NW seniors and the hard work they have put toward their studies. They are a tribute to their school and their community.
One last comment on NW Vikings winning the tourney. Congratulations need to be given to the NW catchers. The Havelock field had a deep backstop that punished catchers for passed balls and pitchers for wild pitches. The catchers for NW: Eric Presnell, Alex Swim, and Jake Sipe did an excellent job of blocking the ball.
The NW low ERA year to date is the result of the NW battery. Pitchers get their names in the paper, but it is the catcher that is the general on the field of play. At NW, Coach Sonny Gann allows the catcher to call most of the pitches. The catchers at NW have done an excellent job of calling the pitch and location.
During the tourney, they would take that trip to the mound during tight spots to talk through the situation with the pitcher. They also took a few lumps on foul tips and blocked balls.
Tip of the hat to the other half of the battery. Keep up the great work.
*****NWG is sending us the info and we are working to get another school the Pub that they deserve. If you have some info on your school send it to us and we will print it along with our other articles and our Spring Sports Reports.*****
Thanks for the article about Northwest baseball and a special tip of the hat to the focus on the strong catching corps. None of the three catchers on the team are physically imposing but they all possess a great knowledge of the game and a strong desire to win (and they play pretty good defensively too!). I heard one of those young men comment that it was okay if he went “0 for” at the plate as long as the team won…that’s the right attitude! Go NW!