GAINESVILLE — So far, the 2018 season for the North Hall baseball team has been like a blissful dream.
And first-year coach Trevor Flow is hoping things stay quiet enough for a little more beautyrest.
“I’m hoping the guys stay asleep a little longer as to what it is they are accomplishing right now,” Flow said.
The Trojans (13-3, 8-0 Region 7-AAA) are coming off their first-ever state championship season in 2017, currently riding an 11-game win streak, and are the only unbeaten team in Region 7-AAA nearing the halfway point of the region schedule.
It wasn’t supposed to be the this way, at least not according to the experts. Most looked at the Trojans’ losing all but one starter on the field (senior catcher and LaGrange-signee Charlie Erickson) and returning just one pitcher (senior Georgia Tech-signee Reese Olson) with any real meaningful innings on the mound and predicted a considerable rebuilding season. Inexperience was expected to rule the day.
“You never know what you’re going to get with a young team,” said Flow, who also was assuming his first head coaching position after five years as an assistant for the departed Trent Mongero.
“We were losing about 90 percent of our offense, about 90 percent of our innings-pitched, and basically every position on the field was going to have a new starter so we really didn’t know who was going to be where and what their strengths were. We expected some growing pains for sure.”
And not just on the field. The program also had to get used to a new face and direction at the top.
“Even though I had been here a while, I think there was some feeling out process -- from the other coaches, the parents, the kids, for myself -- about how things were going to be done,” Flow said.
Unfortunately, the season started pretty much as Flow expected. North Hall lost three of its first five games in a tough non-region opening against the likes of Class 7A powers South Forsyth and Forsyth Central and Class 5A Flowery Branch. However, it was a 4-1 loss to South Forsyth where Flow said the first piece of the rebuild fell into place.
Senior Mark Swett, who had pitched just three varsity innings in his career, started and nearly went the distance to take hold of the No. 2 spot in the rotation.
“We threw him out there to see what he could do and he was outstanding,” Flow said. “That was a big moment for the team and he has been a big key for us ever since.”
Flow then did some tinkering with the lineup and on defense. In the batting order, he dropped junior David Seavy to the No. 2 hole and put junior Caleb Clark in the leadoff spot while Dylan Wiley moved to the No. 6 spot. Sophomore Jackson Dyer, who did not start the first four games, took over at first base. Since the changes, Wiley is batting .415 and Dyer is hitting .433 in the No. 5 hole. Clark has given them speed at the the top to give Olson and Erickson runners on base in the cleanup spots. After scoring just 3.3 runs a game in their first five games, the Trojans are averaging 9.0 runs a game during their win streak.
But Flow was quick to point that defense more than anything else helped drive their championship run in 2017. Graduated center fielder Dylan Lavender was a fixture on ESPN highlight reels during the playoffs and Taber Mongero and Austin Adams provided them one of the best middle infields in the state. The changes have taken some time for everyone to adjust.
“We moved some guys around during the non-region to see what we had and who fit best where,” Flow said. “I’d say defense is still our biggest weakness but I feel like we’re getting better each game. The only way to get experience is to get out on the field so we’re giving them that opportunity.”
As far the region schedule, the Trojans outscored Lumpkin County 31-3 in their opening series sweep and then swept Fannin County, with two games being decided by two rns or less. Flow said the first win over Fannin County, 8-7 in extra innings, may be looked upon as the turning point for his young team and the season.
North Hall trailed the Rebels by four runs early at home with Olson on the mound after a series of fielding miscues. However, the Trojans tied it up late and then won it in the eighth.
“We gave away a lot of runs and didn’t play very well with our best guy on the mound. Fannin is a team that we felt was a contender (for the region title) so we’re sitting there facing the possible fact that we could lose the series,” Flow said. “But our guys never quit and battled back. It was the first major comeback for this group and I saw something that day that I think has really helped us moving forward.”
North Hall followed up those two series with a pair of ins over Union County and will go for a third consecutive sweep on Friday against the Panthers in Blairsville.
Flow said the region start has left him shaking his head, in a good way.
“Very surprised to be undefeated (in the region right now),” he said. “This is a tough region. Honestly I think we were just looking to try and be competitive early while we gain experience and maybe make a late run at the playoffs. That Fannin series was huge for us. (Fannin) has several major college players and for us to not only win that series but sweep them, well, we just weren’t expecting that.
“Outside of Reese and Charlie, we don't have any college players right now. We have to work hard every day to improve. We talk every day about just being 0-0 before every game, every inning. You have to keep a young group focused and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Whether it’s based on past reputation or actual achievements, the Trojans sit 21st in the Maxpreps state rankings, behind only Jackson (4th) and Ringgold (20th) in the Class 3A classification.
Flow said after last year, he has no real desire to see them climb the rankings ladder.
“We got to No. 1 last year and then lost 6 of 7 heading into the playoffs,” he said. “I don’t even want to know where we’re at and I hope people forget about us, so to speak. We use that as a point of emphasis now to show that it doesn’t matter where you’re ranked. Pierce County was No. 1 when we swept them in the finals last year. All that matters is how you play when you get out on the field that day.”
If the season has been a pleasant dream so far, Flow also hopes that ignorance, or inexperience in this case, is also bliss.
“Right now, I think our inexperience is working in our favor,” he said. “These guys just don’t know enough yet to understand what they’re accomplishing and what is happening. I’d like to keep it that way for as long as I can.”
