On the rise: Mount Tabor baseball team enjoying resurgent season
The Mount Tabor baseball team is about to find itself in a place it hasn't been in the last five seasons – the state baseball tournament.
Mount Tabor was 13-6 (7-2 Piedmont-Triad 6A/5A) heading into Wednesday's game against Greensboro Page and is ranked No. 14 in RPI for consideration in the state 6-A tournament.
If the Spartans can beat Glenn on Thursday, a team they blanked 12-0 on Tuesday, and if Oak Grove can beat North Davidson, there will be a three-way tie atop the league standings heading into next week's conference tournament.
Mount Tabor has come a long way in the last four seasons under Coach Andrew Jones.
The Spartans have more than doubled their win total from last season (six) and you would need to go back to 2018 to find the last time they had won at least 13 games.
Mount Tabor won eight games in 2019, two games in 2020 before the season ended because of Covid-19, nine games in 2021, seven games in 2022, and five games in both 2023 and 2024.
The success this season is no surprise to Jones, whose young team the last two seasons has matured and gotten healthy.
"I thought we had a legitimate chance to be in the playoffs last year if we didn't have the injuries that we did," Jones said. "We're kind of looked at as that sneaky team this season, but in my gut, I knew we were capable of having a season like this. Our lineup is really good. Defensively, we're really good. There's really nobody in our lineup you can pitch around."
Junior James Price is having a marquee season and leads the Spartans in several offensive categories..
Price is hitting .519 with four home runs and 22 RBIs while scoring 30 runs and stealing 21 bases.
He's just as effective on the mound when called on to pitch, sporting a 1.75 ERA that includes a big 6-1 win against East Forsyth last week when he pitched a complete game with three strikeouts.
Senior Will Koonin leads the team with 26 RBIs and is second in batting average at .417 and doubles with nine. He's third in hits with 20 and runs scored at 26.
Koonin's twin brother, Ty, who missed most of last season while recovering from cancer surgery, is third on the team with a .415 batting average, second in hits (22) and runs scored (27).
They occupy the one, two and three holes on the lineup card for a team that is hitting .322 and has scored 176 runs, which tops last season's total of 109.
"James Price is as good a hitter as there is in the state," Jones said. "Will Koonin is just scary at the plate. And Ty Koonin is having a resurgent year after missing all of last season. Our cleanup hitter, Charlie Isaac, is hitting .318 and has three home runs. He's coming off Tommy John surgery and couldn't even pick up a bat for half the season last year."
Jones called David Thiel, the No. 5 batter in the lineup, an "on-base machine" with his .308 batting average and .493 on-base percentage.
Charlie Gallimore, the No. 6 hitter and center fielder, is hitting .357. Catcher Lawson Adams "does a little bit of everything for us" according to Jones. "His power is starting to show more and more, but he can also bunt guys over and is great in hit-and-run situations."
Jones said that right fielder Chase Turner has been swinging a hot bat and that Reese Haynes and Julius Vaughn have been interchangeable in the lineup based on who is pitching.
"We only carry 13 players on varsity and we have a 14th player that we can move up and down from our JV team when we need it," Jones said. "When I took over as the head coach, we only had 12 players in the program. We are up to 29 players now and this is the first time we have had a full JV program in nine years."
Jones said that the team genuinely enjoys being around each other, even when they aren't on the diamond.
"Before games, they are out there playing hackysack," Jones said with a laugh. "They are hanging out with each other all the time. Some of them go fishing together. I think that makes a huge difference."
Jones said that when he took over as head coach before the 2023 season, he wanted to instill a sense of family in the program.
"We have one set of brothers on the team, and I really feel like our entire team is a big group of brothers," Jones said. "It's just a solid group. They have fun when they are playing together. They have fun together outside of practice and games. And when you are having fun playing baseball, you start to win more games. And I think that's what you're seeing this year with this team. That, plus the fact that we are healthy again."
Jones pointed to conference wins against Oak Grove and North Davidson and the win against East Forsyth, always one of the top teams in the Central Piedmont 8A/7A, as good confidence boosters. All the success follows a preseason in which the team said it wanted to finish first place in the conference as one of its goals.
"We thought that was a real possibility. And now we have a chance of a split with a little luck if we win Thursday and Oak Grove beats North Davidson. Making the state tournament was another goal, and then getting a first-round bye and making a nice run was another.\\," Jones said. "We're right there on the cusp of getting a first-round bye, but there are some pretty good teams ahead of us in the 6-A West. But we are excited to be in the position that we are in."
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