Stony Wine can’t wait until next month’s Region X tournament.
He’s that excited about where his Lenoir Community College baseball team is headed.
The Lancers (24-9, 11-6) left campus early this morning for Danville, Va., for a key Division II Region X series with Danville C.C. to hopefully keep themselves in the top-half of a tight league race.
LCC, which has won four in a row, has blossomed into a team that is doing the little things and has done so at just the right time.
Refining the little things — mentally — was something Wine had hoped would progress and it has.
“We’re playing well and are developing some consistency,” Wine said. “We’re playing more consistently now. That mental approach? We’re starting to get that solidified.”
The Lancers’ success has been an equal mix of pitching, hitting and defense.
LCC has a staff ERA of 3.82, and leading the way has been starter Troy Jones, a left-hander from Virginia who’s 3-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings.
Wine said that South Lenoir product and southpaw reliever Jonathan Hardison has come one of late. He’s 1-0 with a 0.81 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.
While there have been a few injuries, this year’s staff has stayed healthy for the most part, unlike last season.
“He’s done really well for us, especially in his last few outings,” Wine said of Hardison. “In all our pitching has been really good and came through when we needed it.”
North Lenoir product Chastin Radford leads the team in plate appearances (111), average (.396), on-base percentage (.496) and RBIs (25). Jones Senior product Kyle Smith is third on the team with a .368 average and leads it with two home runs. Greene Central product Trent Murray is third in on-base percentage (.461) and leads the Lancers with 12 hit by pitches.
“We’re rolling, and we’re starting to get consistent,” Wine said.
This year’s team is a vast improvement from last year’s when it comes to fielding the baseball. It currently has a fielding percentage of .954.
“This is a pretty good defensive team,” said Wine, who will be inducted into the Barton College Sports Hall of Fame in October.
“The bottom line is, we’ve got good kids now. And if we can keep our nose clean, we can make a run at it.”
After this weekend’s series at Danville, the Lancers will be back at Lancer Field for their next two Region X series before wrapping up the regular season at College of the Albemarle May 4-5.
Wine’s team is playing at a high level now, but he knows it’s going to have to continue to do so so it can achieve its ultimate goal of winning the Region X tournament and advancing to the junior college world series.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re first, or second or third — or seventh — when it comes to the tournament because all you have to do is win it,” he said. “We’ve got to play every game from here on out.
“I’m looking to try and play good in the tournament, and that’s what matters.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.