End Of An Era

Tuesday, June 9 is draft day for Major League Baseball. For the first time in a long while Nash County will be interested in what transpires. There is a possibility at least two area players may be taken. Perhaps one even in the first round.

Despite being from different teams, Rocky Mount's Brian Goodwin and Northern's Tyler Joyner have been teammates from way back. If you look at one team that they were teammates on, you will see that the entire team may be the best collection of amateur baseball talent ever assembled representing Nash County.

Back in 2004 and 2005, almost the entire team went to the Babe Ruth World Series two years in a row. But due to time constraints, will focus on the 2005 team that played for the Babe Ruth World Championship in Quincy, Mass.

Xavier Macklin – Nash Central grad. A rising sophomore at North Carolina A&T. He was voted to the MEAC All-Conference baseball team as a freshman. He very well could get drafted after his junior year. Travis Ward, the head coach of those Nash County teams, commented: ‘You had the Rocky Mount guys and then the Northern guys and then "X" kinda galvanized everyone. His smile and personality kept us all happy. He was our No. 3 pitcher and won many big ball games in his two years. He and Brian together in the outfield were something to watch.’

Tyler Clark - Starting catcher for Northern Nash for four years. Will play college ball at N.C. Wesleyan. Ward called him "the most complete player on the Babe Ruth team."

Mike Williams – Northern third baseman for three years. Ward called Mike the emotional leader. He will play at UNC-Pembroke next year

Ben Fish - Three-year starter at catcher for Rocky Mount. All-time RBI leader in Gryphon history (81). Ward called Ben a warrior, “Ben was a quiet guy by nature, but I tried to help him see that he could also be the leader we needed and ultimately at RMHS needed.”

Dillon Cockrell - Four-year starter at shortstop for Rocky Mount. Played more games for the Gryphons than any other player in history (106). When called upon, he was 9-0 in his career as a pitcher. In Quincy, his relief performance in extra innings propelled the Nash County team to the championship game.

Tyler Joyner - Won 30 games in his career at Northern. He has a baseball scholarship to ECU in back pocket. Maybe the best left-handed pitcher from this area since the 60s and Tarboro’s Mike Caldwell.. Travis says, “you always knew you had a chance to win when Tyler took to the hill. His desire to dominate hitters is his best strength."

Brian Goodwin - Will play for Mike Fox at Carolina next year? Nearly a career .400 hitter at Rocky Mount. MVP of State 3-A Championship in 2008. Ward called Brian, "the most talented player he has ever been around."

Gabe Brown - Was starting second basemen much of his career at Rocky Mount. I hear he plans to walk on next year. Was the leading hitter for much of the Babe Ruth run.

Cameron Ramsey - Backup utility player at Rocky Mount. I hear he will also try walking on next season. Ward: ‘he loved the game more than anyone that we had. He ate, drank and lived the game of baseball. He has a problem with asthma and anyone who has ever played for me will tell you that I demand lots of running, but Cambo never stopped. There were many days where he could hardly breathe and would be in tears, but he refused to stop running. Great, great kid and teammate.’

Parker Stallings - Travis Ward on Stallings: “Parker was very valuable to our pitching staff. He was used mainly in middle relief, but normally threw the ball over the plate and gave our defense a chance."

Hunter Browning - Got the winning hit an RBI in the regional final in Tennessee.

Hunter Perry - Ward called him the “Rev”. Defensive specialist.

Travis Ward, Jammy Mitchell and Greg Clark were the luckiest coaches of them all. They had them all on one team. They won the Babe Ruth State Championship in Rocky Mount. Then they took the Southeast Regional in Greenville, Tn. and finished second in the Babe Ruth World Series in Quincy.

Said Ward, "We had been through so much in the regional and then faced Tri-Valley (Cal.) drained us of whatever we had left in the tank. Tri-Valley had knocked us out the year before. There is no doubt our kids put all they had into beating them, but it was a great game going back and forth and was played so well and then the extra innings."

The extra innings depleted Nash County's pitching for the championship game the next day against Jefferson Parish, La.

Northern twice played in the NCHSAA 3-A eastern regional series (2007, 2009) and Rocky Mount won the NCHSAA 3-A state title in 2008. With this talent, they won or shared four conference titles between them.

Seven of the 12 will be playing baseball next season either in college on scholarship or the minors.

If they had of all played at one high school, there very well could have been three state championships in a row for Nash County.

It is the greatest team ever from Nash County.