Aycock's seniors have been guiding force

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on June 5, 2015 1:48 PM

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PIKEVILL -- If it seems like this group of Charles B. Aycock seniors have been around the team for a while, you'd be right.

The group of eight players -- most of which will take the field this afternoon in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A baseball championship series -- have grown up together on the baseball diamond.

They've also grown up together off it.

Not only is this year's senior class for the Golden Falcons deep, but their talent is spread across the field. Shortstop Hank Smitherman and Trent Herndon hold down the middle infield. Brandon Palmer, Lloyd Lowe and Charlie Robertson comprise the outfield on most occasions.

Braxton Leeper sits behind the dish.

And, of course, there's the pitching duo of Bobby Hampton and Jacob Naughton.

The talent of this senior class as a group jumps off of the page. What makes this class different, according to them, is the chemistry.

"What I think makes us special is how close we all are," Hampton said. "We've been close since we were six or seven years old. We've all played together some way or some how and grown up in the same community.

"Out of school, we're always together. We go swimming, eat out together -- we even tried to go paint balling once. Wherever you find one of us, there are always others within arm's reach."

It's that team chemistry that has the Golden Falcons riding a 14-game win streak heading into Game 1 against Marvin Ridge today. The best-of-three series will be played at Doak Field on the N.C. State campus.

Things are clicking on all cylinders for Aycock right now, but that wasn't case 1 1/2 months ago. During spring break, the Golden Falcons played in the Golden Leaf Invitational and lost one game.

But the Invitational was an eye-opener.

After a loss that left head coach Charles Davis speechless to the press -- but not so speechless to his players, supposedly -- the seniors came together to air any unspoken grievances they had.

"We had some internal problems," Hampton said. "People's minds weren't in the right places, including myself."

"We definitely hit a bump in the road," Smitherman added. "There was some adversity. The coaches said that they wanted us as seniors and leaders to sit the team down. We had a pep talk."

The meeting, which lasted about 30-45 minutes, allowed the players to clear the air and move past some of the early-season issues that were holding the team back. The meeting would have lasted longer, but Aycock had to turn around and play Northern Nash the following afternoon.

The result? A 12-2 mercy rule victory.

Aycock hasn't lost since.

"I got pretty on them pretty hard," Davis said. "And the next day we 10-run ruled Nash. It was a good sign that they took it to heart."

Since then, it's been the seniors who have carried the bulk of the load during the Golden Falcon's late-season run. While Hampton, Smitherman and Naughton may get more of the attention, there's one senior in specific that all three raved about: catcher Braxton Leeper.

"(Braxton) was a kid, who coming into the season, was a backup catcher," Davis said. "When that spot opened up, he was splitting time behind the plate... he has done a tremendous job for us defensively.

"He's a hard-nosed kid. He's going to be the one with the dirtiest jersey after the game. You love to see those kids have success."

Hampton and Smitherman echoed their coach's praise.

"Braxton looks great behind the plate," Hampton said. "He makes me look good out there."

Last year, Aycock's season ended with a one-run loss to eventual state champion Topsail. This year, with the loss fresh in their minds, the Golden Falcons went back to Topsail and got revenge, a 3-2 win.

Any other year, that redemption would have been enough to label the season a success.

Not this year, however.

Not with this team.

"Me and Jake were actually talking about that the other day," Hampton said. "We both knew we'd have to go through them again. Earlier in the year, he told me that he didn't care if we won state as long as we beat Topsail. Now, I don't think that's true.

"I want people to still be talking about the 2015 team 20 years down the road. I want people to know about this team."