Northwest baseball enjoys best record in 3 years, advances in 8A playoffs
Northwest Guilford baseball entered the 2026 season facing the unknowns of a new coach and a new conference. It didn't get easier losing its top hitter and pitcher as well as others due to injuries.
The Vikings (17-8), coached by UNC Greensboro great Shane Schumaker, dealt with ups and downs to start but are enjoying their best record since the 2023 team went 27-7 and reached the 4A regional finals. On Tuesday, the No. 6 seed defeated the visiting No. 11 seed East Mecklenburg (11-16), 6-3, to reach the 8A second round, where it will face three-seed West Forsyth (20-5) on Friday in Clemmons.
Schumaker was introduced as Avery Booker's replacement in June.
Northwest was 5-6 to close the month of March but have won 12 of their last 14 since.
"So far, I think we have played amazing," said senior pitcher Jay Eckard. "We started off a little slow as most teams do, but we have continued to get better every game, getting on a game plan. We are all playing together and we are just really finding ways to win baseball games."
In Tuesday's win, the Vikings led off the first inning with a double by sophomore Brayden Fristoe and a single by sophomore Landon Choiniere. Fristoe scored on an errant pickoff attempt, while Choiniere reached third and scored off senior Christian Gentrup's sacrifice fly.
In the second inning, junior Brady Smith tripled after the left fielder missed a diving attempt to catch it and scored on sophomore Carter Sheridan's bunt. In the third inning, an infield single and a passed ball helped Northwest build a 5-0 lead.
Junior Nick Trogdon threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, off six hits. He pitched a shutout through 4 1/3 innings.
"We scrapped," said Schumaker on the win. "It was a good little scrappy team and they just kept coming back at us and we were fortunate enough to make some key plays when we needed it and had some key at-bats to win the game."
Senior Nic Turner, the returning two-way performer, felt good about the high-energy hire having been familiar with Schumaker's past college coaching experience, time as an Atlanta Braves scout and work as an instructor with the North Carolina Baseball Academy.
Eckard was shocked and admits having initially opposed the coach's use of a college-like system at the high school level but has now come to accept it and thinks the style has translated to wins.
"For this season, he really wants us to get some older style of baseball, playing small ball, hunting singles, bunting people around and trying to cause some chaos on the basepaths," Eckard said. "Just stealing, mixing people up, mixing up their timing and making them uncomfortable so that we have the advantage while we are out there in the box.
Turner, who hit .394 and had a 3.38 ERA last year, suffered an ulnar collateral ligament strain while pitching on March 10 against archrival Northern Guilford. The 6-foot-3 Turner would miss the next 13 games before he returned for the Western Alamance game on April 16. He's been a designated hitter since coming back as he is not medically cleared to pitch or play in the field.
The Vikings have gone 7-1 since Turner's comeback; he's batting .409 with eight RBIs, seven runs scored and five stolen bases over that stretch.
Schumaker said Turner, who will play college ball at High Point, is a player his team needs.
" ... He is our dude, so when we lost him early, that kind of deflated the sails a little bit and then his bat has been great too, so we lost our No. 1 on the mound and a guy that could potentially win eight, 10 games by himself to not even having him hitting," the coach said. "He came on the last two weeks almost like he didn't miss anything, but his arm is feeling better and he gets to start throwing next week.
"He won't pitch for us this year, obviously, but it is nice to have him back in that leadership role and just everything he brings," Schumaker added. "He is the guy that you always want on every team. He does everything the right way, is not only a good player but has good leadership qualities and he was a big loss.
Sheridan, usually an infielder, has played gold glove defense in the new spot, according to Schumaker, while batting .652 before the East Meck game. Choiniere is batting .476 and sophomore Holden Bullins is at .479 with Gentrup at .429. Trogdon not only is batting .381 but pitching to a 1.30 ERA entering Tuesday night.
The Vikings went 6-4 and finished third as a new member of the Central Piedmont Conference. It lost 13-1 on March 24 to West Forsyth, then fell, 8-7, in eight innings on March 27. Then came the 4-2 loss to the Titans in the conference tournament semifinals.
Schumaker didn't announce his pitching strategy for the second round but said every pitcher is available but Trogdon. He feels his team is playing good ball at the right time.
"It's hard to beat someone four times, so we are going to use that to our advantage," the coach said. "I know that it is going to be a great ballgame and we are looking forward to playing the best and they are the best around that we've played this year, them and Reagan."
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