Page 6
Baseball Fever
March 9 & 10, 2005
Warriors hope to improve on
best record
By DWIGHT FRADY
Staff Writer
East Gaston's Warriors are
coming off their best record in
school history (19) wins,
including a 11-3 Big South
record in 2004, and should
have another good year led by
seven seniors, including all-
conference second baseman
Justin Moore, who hit .405
last year.
The previous most wins
came in 1984 when the
Warriors won 18. Coach
Darrell Van Dyke, a Gardner-
Webb graduate, has been at
the helm of the Warriors since
1979 and his teams have made
the state playoffs every year
since 1998. The former Kings
Mountain High and G-W
standout is starting his 26th
year with the Warriors.
The biggest loss due to
graduation was catcher Jay
McConnell, now at Gardner-
Webb. He was the school’s
first All-American with a hefty
.542 batting average. He holds
school records in at-bats (258),
hits (96), doubles (29) RBIs
(73) and home runs (13).
Moore and pitcher-outfield-
er Matt Dameron, both battle-
tested seniors, have already
earned college scholarship,
Moore to Gardner-Webb and
Dameron to Mars Hill. As a
pitcher, Dameron was 2-0 as a
junior with a 1.95 ERA in 28
innings. He was a stellar
defender as a starting outfield-
er.
Pitcher-infielder Brody
Heffner, pitcher-infielder
Brandon Washington, catcher
Ryan Raymond, pitcher-out-
fielder Clint Gamage, and
catcher-outfielder Jake
Clements are other key senior
returnees. Washington batted .
.310 (18-for-58) as a junior and
scored 16 runs.
The top junior returnee is
pitcher-outfielder Derek Yow.
He batted .311 as a sophomore
(28-for-90), scored 25 runs and
batted in 20 runs. Other junior
returnees are infielder Mark
Frady, pitcher-infielder Evan
Jonas, catcher Zach Jonas,
pitcher-outfielder Kelly Scott,
infielder Andrew Vernon,
pitcher-outfielder Justin
Walker, and outfielder .
Cameron Wilson.
The Warriors were Big South
tournament champs in 2002.
In 2001 as a MEGA 7
Conference team they were
conference champs with.
records of 8-4 and 14-14.
When East Gaston was the
state 3A runner-up in 1978-79,
Van Dyke was an assistant to
head coach Jerry Adams. That
team was Southwestern 3A
champs and finished with a
17-8 record. Van Dyke took
over the following spring and
since then his Warrior teams
have won 334 games.
Van Dyke says the Big South
Bank of America
Jay Rabon
Banking Center Manager
=
Bank of America, N.A.
NC3-173-01-01
403 East Main Street
Cherryville, NC 28021-3412
Tel. 704.435.5734
Fax. 704.435.0127
jason.rabon@bankofamerica.com
in school history
On the mound for East Gaston this spri
oh A
ng will be
, front row, from left, Justin Walker, Justin
[7]
&
Greene, Kelly Scott and Clint Gamage. In back, from left, are Jake Clements, Derek Yow, Evan
Jonas, Matt Dameron, Brody Heffner and Brandon Washington.
is full of good teams and good
players with Ashbrook, North
Gaston and South Point as the
top three.
He lists Ashbrook’s Drew
Martin and Devin Harris as
top players, along with South
Point's Aaron Horne and
David Bumgardner and North
Gaston's Brett Williams.
“We have some big shoes to
fill, but in early drills, I like
our attitude and effort,” Van
Dyke said. “We had an early
scrimmage at East
Mecklenburg and Heffner,
Yow, Evan Jonas, Washington,
Justin Walker and Gamage
looked good.”
Warrior assistants for 2005
are Dale Starnes, Josh
McSwain, Brandon Mills,
Andy Leigh and Chad Brown.
Randy Sellers returns as the
head junior varsity coach.
Brown is the pitching coach
and a former Stanley Post 266
player for Van Dyke. Brown
played Triple-A baseball in the
Toronto Blue Jays organiza-
tion.
The Warriors open their sea-
son against nearby rival South
Point on March 15 at Choctaw
Field. That will also be the
first night game (7 p.m.)
The Warriors will host the -
annual Observer Easter
Tournament March 28 through
April 2. Ashbrook, which won
the state 3A championship in
2003, won the tournament last
year b downing South Point in
the title game.
Cherryville!