A GOOD YEAR FOR WILKES BASEBALL

The 2017 baseball season was arguably the best for the four Wilkes County schools since 2010. West Wilkes won its second Mountain Valley Conference championship in three seasons. Wilkes Central finished second, and the Eagles and Blackhawks entered the final game of the season in a first-place tie. The reason the Eagles finished second is because they lost their final regular-season game to North Wilkes, which put a cap on the Vikings’ fourth-place finish, their best in well over a decade. It was the best finish in the standings for Wilkes schools since Wilkes Central, West Wilkes and East Wilkes were first, second and third in 2010, the first season of the realigned conference. East Wilkes finished in eighth place, but the Cardinals won the conference tournament, their first tournament title since 1998. Wilkes schools swept the conference’s postseason honors. Wilkes Central’s Skylar Brooks was the player of the year and teammate Tanner Waddell was the pitcher of the year. West Wilkes’ Drew Ward was the coach of the year. East Wilkes’ Parker Edwards was the tournament’s most valuable player. Brooks, Wilkes Central’s Houston Koon and West Wilkes’ Alex Ortiz were all-state selections. It was the first time more than one Wilkes player has made all-state since the Eagles’ Stefan Susi and the Blackhawks’ Will Shepherd did it in 2012. All four schools earned a state playoff berth for the first time since 2013. “Coach (Bradley) Hayes (of East Wilkes) and I talked a little before our game (in the conference tournament) about the fact that we would really like to see Wilkes County be the top four in the conference every year,” Ward said. “That’s going to make each of us better. “These kids know each other and a lot of them play multiple sports,” he added, “so there’s a good mix of rivalry and also a healthy amount of respect for each other’s program.” Terry Johnson, Wilkes Central’s coach, said, “We’re starting to make a little dent in people’s minds about the reputation of baseball in Wilkes County. There’s a lot of recognition starting to come our way. I know that we’re getting interest from college coaches about our kids.” While it may be a stretch to claim parity among the four schools, consider this. Wilkes Central and West Wilkes have won or shared each of the eight conference championships since the 2010 realignment, but the teams split their regular-season series for just the second time in that span. North Wilkes won its conference opener for the first time since 2006, snapped a nine-game losing streak to East Wilkes and swept a season series from the Cardinals for the first time since winning the only meeting in 2009. The Vikings beat Wilkes Central for the first time in three years and snapped a nine-game losing streak to West Wilkes, beating the Blackhawks in Hays for the first time since 2007. “Year in and year out, Wilkes County has some excellent baseball players on each team,” said Dwayne Berrier, North Wilkes’ coach. “All the teams together are pretty competitive year in and year out…. There’s a lot of talent, and it’s really good for baseball in Wilkes County.” The Blackhawks fell into a first-place tie with their loss at North Wilkes, but beat Ashe County, Elkin and Starmount in their final three games—all on the road—to win the regular-season title. The Eagles made up two games in the standings starting with a home win against the Blackhawks and won five straight games to enter the final day with a chance to win or share the conference championship. East Wilkes lost its final eight regular-season games, but in a span of just over 24 hours, the Cardinals played their best baseball of the season. With the conference tournament format condensed from a week to just two days because of the threat of rain, East Wilkes upset the top-seeded Blackhawks in the first round. The following afternoon on the same West Wilkes field, the Cardinals beat top 1A seed Alleghany, and after a bus ride to Ashe County, the Cardinals beat No. 2 seed Wilkes Central for the second time in 32 days to win the tournament and earn a playoff berth. It was the first time this millennium that East Wilkes has beaten West Wilkes in back-to-back seasons. Like Ward, Hayes also played at the school where he now coaches. He said, “Not only is (baseball) on the rise, I think it’s going to continue to be on the rise. All four schools have tremendous athletes. They have a good relationship among themselves where we can compete on the field, but we also help each other and come together and do what’s best for baseball off the field.

A GOOD YEAR FOR WILKES BASEBALL

Photo Credit: Wilkes Journal-Patriot

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