Season ended much too soon for LCC’s Wine
Bryan Hanks, Sports Editor
May 25,2006
© The Free Press

As Lenoir Community College baseball coach Stony Wine sat in his small on-campus office on Wednesday, he readily admitted he wished he was somewhere else.

To be specific, the Lancers coach wanted to be on the field preparing for the NJCAA Division II World Series, which begins Saturday in Millington, Tenn.

The Lancers lost twice in the NJCAA Northeastern District tournament over the weekend in Cumberland, Md., ending the most successful season in school history.

“I’m disappointed,” Wine said. “I’m not shocked, because the game of baseball doesn’t shock me anymore. But I’m highly disappointed because we didn’t play to the level we had established.”

So what happened in Maryland? The weekend started fine, with LCC winning 12-2 over Monroe (N.Y.) Community College in a mercy rule-shortened game. But a 10-5 loss to host Allegany College on Saturday, then an 18-15 loss in 11 innings to Monroe ended the season.

“The name of the game is pitching and it wasn’t there for us,” Wine said. “(Game 1 winner) Anthony Hernandez did a great job, but I thought we could have gotten a little bit more out of the rest of the pitching staff.”

Still, the Lancers finished the season 44-12, the most wins in school history, and was the No. 2 team in the NJCAA D-II final poll of the season. They overcame a six-run, ninth-inning deficit against D-I powerhouse Louisburg College in a game and also swept fellow Region 10 D-II opponent Southeastern in all nine games they played.

Wine also pointed to the academic success the Lancers had this year: the team’s average grade point average was 2.95.

“I’m also proud of their performance in the classroom,” Wine said. “If anyone says anything negative about the program, it doesn’t bother me a bit because I know we have smart kids, good kids that work hard and good citizens. They represent Lenoir Community College in a good way.”

Although LCC is losing a lot of talent — including UNC Wilmington signee Jes Snyder, the nation’s leading base stealer in Chad Dawkins, outfielder J.J. House (the team’s emotional leader) and ace pitchers Hernandez and Michael Oglesby — the Lancers return a lot of talent next year.

Back will be emerging star Jon Jon Mirra, who is moving from third base to the shortstop position that Snyder occupied the last two years. Other starters returning include catcher/outfielder Mike O’Connor, who swung the hottest bat over the final 20 games of the season, first baseman Airlon Vinson and Matt Crane in the field.

Former North Lenoir star Josh Williams, who led the Hawks to the 2005 2A championship and was LCC’s third-string catcher in 2006, is in line to take over third base for Wine.

Southpaw Paul Novicki figures to be the ace of the LCC staff next year after his stunning debut this season. Novicki, a former South Lenoir standout, was named the Division II national pitcher of the week after throwing a no-hitter against Southeastern Community College on April 29.

Plenty of pitching depth returns for Wine, as Hal Blake (who missed the season due to injury), Trevor Smith and Jordy Davis will be back. Davis, a Greene Central graduate who was the primary set-up man for closer Michael Sigmon, will assume Sigmon’s role next year. Jeff Cox, Matt Holloman and John Cratch (who has a solid bat and also plays well in the field) also return to pitch.

“It’s going to be hard but not impossible to keep the success going,” Wine said.

Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 250, or at bhanks@freedomenc.com.