Anyone who has ever played in an organized sport certainly knows how tough winning a championship can be, so imagine winning not only four state baseball championships but winning four in a row. That’s exactly what the Kerr-Vance Academy Spartans accomplished this past weekend. After dropping Friday’s game against undefeated Grace Christian in Sanford by the score of 9-6, Kerr-Vance roared back on Saturday with a convincing 6-0 win and left Sanford with another state championship.
“It feels great. The seniors pulled this group together,” said head coach Mike Rigsbee. Rigsbee has been a part of KVA baseball for many years, however this is his first season as head coach. “The players can take all the credit,” Rigsbee said of his team.
One of the stars of the Kerr-Vance Spartans is R.J. Johnson. Johnson, in his senior year, will be moving on to Appalachian State. “We played it game by game and never looked ahead,” Johnson said about the team during this season. Seniors were a big part of the KVA squad. “This senior class has really helped establish this new era of excellence,” said George Hoyle, the school’s athletic director. Hoyle said that during his time at KVA the baseball program has been to eight championship games, winning six. Referring to Grace Christian, Hoyle said, “We knew we could compete with them.” Johnson also praised his senior teammates saying, “All of the seniors stepped up.”
After Saturday’s game Grace Christian’s head coach told Rigsbee that his team just couldn’t make the adjustments needed to win. KVA lost the first game of this season to Grace Christian, but the Spartans were able to make their own adjustments as the team moved forward through the season enabling them to win their 4th state championship.
“Playing a tough schedule helped,” said Hoyle. Hoyle and Rigsbee put together a schedule that pitted the Spartans against some of the toughest teams in North Carolina and Virginia. Hoyle, who is leaving to take a similar post at Thales Academy in Wake Forest, said, “Seeing the seniors move on to the next level is unbelievable,” refering to Johnson moving on to Appalachian State. Hoyle also said that this season saw twelve Major League Baseball organizations come to Kerr Vance Academy games.
Kerr Vance finishes the season as state baseball champions for the fourth consecutive season with a 12 and 8 won lost record.
For complete details and audio click play.