PEMBROKE — Before the team went its separate ways this summer, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke baseball coach Paul O’Neil issued a challenge to Cole Lovin.
O’Neil wanted to see the two-time Robeson County Player of the Year work on his velocity and come back in better shape. The Fairmont grad has taken that to heart and has spent a lot of time either at the ballfield or the weight room trying to meet the expectations.
“(O’Neil) told me that I needed to get into better shape and work on my velocity and my change up so that’s what I focused on,” he said. “He challenged me and I took him up on that challenge. … I’m hoping to carry this over to the fall and show out in the spring.”
In Mooresville for the summer playing for the Spinners out of the Carolina-Virginia Collegiate League, Lovin is focusing on baseball while being more than 2 1/2 hours from his home in Fairmont, but things aren’t all new for him. Joining him this summer with the CVCL-leading Spinners are teammates Luke Jackson and Seth Hartings. The trio have been consistent contributors in Mooresville and are three of 12 Braves that are spending their summers on the diamond.
Jackson has been Lovin’s driving force in the gym when the pair go. Lovin described Jackson as an “animal” in the gym and has pushed him to meet the goals and expectations that O’Neil levied out.
“Luke’s been pushing me and been helping me in the weight room because I’m trying to get my speed up another four or 5 miles per hour,” Lovin said. “That way I can be counted on for whatever (O’Neil) needs me to be this year whether it’s a starter, reliever or closer.”
On the hill, Lovin has been one of the top arms in the Spinners’ rotation with four starts this summer, totaling 24 2/3 innings, which is second most on the team. Over that time on the mound, he’s fanned 24 batters, allowed 18 hits and has a 1.82 ERA. In his most recent start on Thursday, Lovin helped the Spinner keep their lead in the league in a 3-1 win over the Catawba Valley Stars. He tossed 5 2/3 innings and struck out a summer-best eight batters.
Starting with the fact that the batters are swinging wood instead of metal bats, Lovin hasn’t felt like summer baseball has been completely different from his first year of college baseball.
“One boy told me that this league makes baseball fun again and it really has,” Lovin said. “There’s some good teams we face and you see a few good hitters from college. I think I’ve done a lot better than I expected.”
While there are a few changes that Lovin has encountered on the field, one of the bigger changes has been living with a host family away from home. He has been paired with a host family, Bailey and Amber Poris and their two sons, and is staying in their basement they have fixed into a bedroom and living area.
“The people I stay with are very nice. They have two sons and I’ll go throw out with the older one a lot of times,” he said. “It’s (his room) almost like a man cave. At first I was kind of a little shaky about staying with people and this was my first time really living away from home, but things have went well.”
Hartings has had 24 RBIs in 22 games this summer and is batting .347, while Jackson is hitting .333 with 26 RBIs in that same time span.
Other returning Braves in the CVCL are Trevor Clemons, Alex Simpson, Justin Brown and incoming freshman Bobby Dixon, all with the North Wake Fungo. Dixon is hitting a team-high .370, with four homers and 12 RBIs and Clemmons has 10 RBIs. On the mound, Brown has yet to allow a run in nine innings and has struck out 12.
In the Southern Collegiate Baseball League, Jarratt Mobley and River Ryan are playing with the league-leading SBA Bones. Mobley is third in league with a .354 batting average. Ryan also is top 10 in the league with a .305 batting average and has thrown two saves.
Roberto Rivera leads the Wilson Tobs in the Coastal Plain League with eight stolen bases to go along with his .270 average and nine RBIs. Hank Simpson has appeared in 12 games on the mound to throw 22 innings and has struck out 21 batters.
Incoming transfer junior Thomas Durant is pitching for the New Market Rebels in the Valley Baseball League in Virginia.
