There aren’t many high school baseball teams that have won every game they’ve played.
Metrolina Christian Academy, the Indian Trail High private school, has a top baseball team that entered this season with high expectations. But the Warriors don’t often discuss records and numbers. Each individual just tries to do everything he can to compete harder than one next to them.
Monday’s 4-0 win over a strong Charlotte Christian team made the Warriors’ 20-0 record even more eye-popping.
Metrolina Christian pounced on the Knights early and didn’t look back. It pulled off yet another shutout, this time over a highly-regarded opponent.
“It’s a veteran group — very mature, very experienced,” Metrolina Christian manager Darren Adams said. “Played a lot of baseball together. And man, the best thing is, this team just loves playing together. They absolutely love showing up to the field every single day for practice, games, whatever.
“They love being together, and that is the difference.”
On top of their now 13 shutouts, the Warriors’ prolific offense has put up double-digit runs 13 times this year.
Charlotte Christian (14-5), which swept Metrolina Christian in 2022 to win its 17th state championship, got knocked out of last year’s NCISAA 4A tournament by eventual champion Wesleyan Christian. With mostly underclassmen on their roster, the Knights finished that strong spring 22-11 and return seven of nine position players from that team.
They’re led by second-year head coach Reid Fronk, a former UNC and Charlotte Christian baseball standout who played in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization. The longtime assistant took the reins last spring when skipper Greg Simmons, a 16-time state champion, died of lung cancer.
Breaking down the action
Metrolina Christian’s offense got to its opponent early, scoring three times over the first two innings.
Perry Hargett dashed home on an early sacrifice fly, and then Connor Bellew hit a rope to right field that drove in another. With a runner on third and two outs in the top of the first inning — and the Warriors already leading 2-0 — Bellew attempted to steal second. Charlotte Christian star shortstop DJ Layton realized what they were thinking and gunned down the runner at the plate.
The Warriors kept rolling against Knights starter Grant Nicholson in the top of the second, scoring their third run on a Hargett RBI double. Nicholson ended up pitching five strong innings, only surrendering those three runs.
Metrolina Christian scored again in the top of the sixth, but any additional rally was halted after a fine inning-ending play from Charlotte Christian first baseman Drew Darling.
They said it
“As a team we’re just working together no matter what,” said Chase Kiker, a sophomore two-way standout who had a strong start on the mound Monday. “There’s no adversity. Everybody’s playing for each other, and it’s helping.”
What’s next?
Charlotte Christian is back in action in under 24 hours, hosting Charlotte Latin at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Metrolina Christian travels to Gaston Day for a matchup at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
