Although injuries left the team a bit shorthanded down the stretch, the 2010 edition of the Asheboro Copperheads achieved their biggest preseason goal by earning a berth in the Coastal Plain League playoffs.
The Copperheads earned the No. 8 seed in the CPL playoffs by winning their final four regular season game to finish 27-28. Then, they had an agonizing wait over the next two days to find out their playoff fate. A suspended-game victory by Outer Banks over Wilmington two days after the Copperheads finished with a 4-1 win over Fayetteville put first-year head coach Donnie Wilson’s team into the post-season. Unfortunately, the playoff season lasted only two games as the Copperheads were swept by eventual league champ Forest City in a best-of-three first-round series.
Despite the early playoff exit, there were a lot of bright spots for Copperheads and plenty to build on as they begin to make plans for 2011.
“First off, I want to thank the organization and the community of Asheboro for all the support they gave the players and coaches this year. It did not go unnoticed,” said Wilson, an assistant at College of the Sequoias in California. “I was happy to see the development and growth of the players throughout the summer. Not finishing the year with five of the six starting pitchers we originally had set us back, but I was happy with the push we had at the end of the year to get into the playoffs.”
Although injuries and player departures are typical during the summer collegiate season, the Copperheads had more than their fair share in the second half. As Wilson pointed out, the starting pitching corps took the biggest hit. When the season ended, only one of the original members of the starting rotation was still in uniform. UNC Greensboro’s Warren Slack and Catawba’s Nathan Furr, to returnees from 2009 who were expected to be the mainstays of the staff, were the first to leave the team in mid June after experiencing arm fatigue coming off a college season that saw both shoulder a heavy workload. Heith Hatfield of Memphis became the ace of the staff with some great outings in June, but elbow soreness in mid July forced him to leave early, about a week after another starter, Ryan Pfaeffle of George Mason, also had to call it quits due to a tired arm. All total, the Copperheads got 22 starts from pitchers who weren’t available for the final two weeks of the season.
A few other injuries also forced Wilson to juggle the starting lineup in the second half. Outfielder Kenny Held of New Mexico injured an ankle the first week he was with the team and never got healthy, finally leaving after playing in just 12 games. Infielder-outfielder Cam Cockman of UNC Wilmington played a key role in a 7-3 start to the second half, but then a nagging hand injury forced him to hang it up for the summer. Catcher Milan Adams of Rhode Island gave the team solid play behind the dish and some offensive punch, but he injured a shoulder in early July and also headed home. There were also a couple of other early departures that depleted the roster in the final weeks.
As always, there were some memorable moments over the course of the season. One of the early-season highlights was a 13-inning 12-10 victory at Wilson in which the Copperheads banged out an amazing 22 hits, the highest single-game total of the season for any CPL team. Two nights later, the offense struck for 13 runs in a blowout win at home against Martinsville. The team enjoyed some early-season success at Forest City, beating the Owls twice in four nights at McNair Field behind strong pitching from Hatfield and East Carolina’s Joseph Hughes. The Owls had won their first eight home games of the season before the two losses to the Copperheads.
The first half ended with the Copperheads a couple of game under .500 at 13-15, but the high-water mark came in early July when they ran off seven wins in their first 10 games of the second half to get atop the West Division standings. A memorable win in that stretch came at home on Fireworks Night, July 3, when the Copperheads used a three-run homer off the bat of West Alabama’s Kevin Deese to edge the Wilson Tobs 4-3 in front of the biggest crowd of the season - 2,647.. The Tobs had come into the game sporting the league’s best record.
Unfortunately, the injuries began to pile up about a week later and the team lost six of seven and 10 of 13 before righting the ship and winning four straight to end the season and make the playoffs. The late-season winning streak included a 14-4 win at Martinsville that represented the team’s highest single-game run production of the season, coming on the heels of back-to-back wins against Gastonia, which was fighting for a No. 1 playoff seed before the Copperheads sent them into a tailspin. The final regular season game was a must-win for the Copperheads and they responded with a dramatic 4-1 win over Fayetteville that included a monster two-run homer by Deese, his eighth of the season. Only one other player in the CPL (Chas Crane of Peninsula with 9) hit more round-trippers than Deese on the season.
First baseman Hunter Ridge of UNC Wilmington and second baseman Marquis Riley of North Carolina A&T both finished with batting averages over the .300 mark. Ridge led the team at .315 and Riley wound up at .301, with a team high 58 hits. Ridge also led the team in runs scored with 34. Riley was one of four Copperheads to earn CPL All-Star honors. He was joined by outfielder/first baseman Deese, third baseman/shortstop Jacob Wilson of Memphis, and pitcher Corey Deighan of Charleston Southern. Deighan led the CPL in saves with 17. Wilson was probably the team’s most consistent player from start to finish both offensively and defensively. He hit .284, but led the team in extra base hits with 18 – 10 doubles, a triple and seven home runs. His total bases (81) were just two less than Deese and he led the team with a .479 slugging percentage.
Hughes led the pitching staff with five wins and earned CPL Pitcher of the Week honors for a complete-game shutout win over eventual league champion Forest City on July 1. Hatfield’s 1.05 ERA over seven starts and 42 2/3 innings of work was impressive, as were Deighan’s 17 saves and fellow reliever Adam Izokovic’s numbers across the board. Izokovic posted a 2.11 ERA with a 2-1 record. Opponents batted only .163 in 38 1/3 innings against the Gardner-Webb righthander. Of Deighan’s 17 saves, a dozen came before July 1 when he closed 12 of the team’s 14 wins through the month of June. He had only one blown save chance the entire season.
Off the field, the season was also a great success, attendance was up at McCrary Park by an average of about 250 fans per game to 1,193, with a dozen dates topping that average figure. The team’s improved performance was certainly a contributing factor, along with the improvements made to the park prior to the start of the season, not the least of which was in the installation of the synthetic infield turf, the only one of its kind in the CPL. Also a factor in the increase was additional promotions and activities aimed at bringing more youngsters into the park. Four times the Copperheads’ drew more than 2,000 fans with a high of 2,647 for the July 3 “Fireworks Night” against Wilson. Chamber of Commerce Night on June 3 vs. Florence attracted 2,467, over 2,200 showed up for the big t-shirt giveaway and Boy Scout Night vs. Gastonia on July 15, and more than 2,000 turned out for Fan Appreciation Night at the final regular season game on Sunday night, Aug. 1, against Fayetteville.
“It was a successful season from practically every standpoint,” said Copperheads General Manager David Camp. “Sure, we would have liked to have won a few more games and gone deeper into the playoffs, but all things considered I’m very happy with our season as a whole. I think we were able to raise the excitement and energy levels at the ballpark and we definitely saw an increase in the number of young people at the park. The addition of our new mascot (Fang) was a success and we plan to do even more things involving him next season. Our Snake Pit open seating area continued to grow in popularity and overall we saw a lot of new faces at the park. I think we began some things this summer that we can build for next season and beyond.”
The Copperheads are a member of the Coastal Plain League, the nation’s hottest summer collegiate baseball league. Celebrating its 14th season, the Coastal Plain League features 15 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats. Players are housed with local host families for the summer and past experiences have been very positive for both players and hosts. Furthermore, the CPL has had over 800 alumni drafted and 38 alums make their Major League debut thus far. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league Web site at http://www.coastalplain.com.
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