Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Looking back at some memorable moments from the 1987 Mocksville Legion baseball season.

The sixth year of the Mocksville American Legion baseball program saw Post 174 pull off a magical comeback in the Southern Division championship series and finish with 27 victories, shattering the record for wins.

Mocksville’s coach was Barry Whitlock, who was in his third year at the age of 23.

The Southern Division semifinal series between Mocksville and Mooresville went the distance, with Game Seven being held at Rich Park. Mocksville would advance, but not before facing a tough challenge. It trailed 5-1 before storming back to win 7-6.

On the game’s second pitch, star second baseman J.C. Hendrix was hit in the face by a pitch and taken to the hospital.

“We were a little down then,” Whitlock said then.

At the end of the fourth inning, when Mooresville held the 5-1 lead, Hendrix returned to the park with seven stitches over his right eye. The dramatic turnaround began soon thereafter.

“J.C. had a lot to do with us winning, even though he wasn’t playing,” Whitlock said. “When he came back, he got the guys up and they wanted to win for him.”

Mark Wylam’s singled tied the score at 5-5. In the seventh, Bryan Bishop singled off the first baseman’s glove and Todd Wallace scored to give Mocksville a 6-5 lead.

It was 6-6 going into the bottom of the ninth. Allen Bruce (3 for 5) and Wallace (4-5) set the table with back-to-back singles. Bob Richardson laid down a bunt that was thrown into left field, an error that loaded the bases for Bishop. Mooresville star pitcher Alan Nanney walked Bishop on four pitches, forcing in the clinching run, and the home fans went wild.

Part of the reason for the huge turnaround could be attributed to pitcher Jack Kimel, who held Mooresville to three hits in the last six innings and also blasted his fourth homer.

•••

On a rare off night, Whitlock and assistant coach Terry Johnson went frog gigging. Whitlock wore tennis shoes and no shirt. Johnson wore hip boots and heavy clothing.

“I wasn’t as prepared as Terry was,” Whitlock said.

“It was the first time for Barry and he really didn’t know what he was doing,” Johnson said.

Ever the prankster, Whitlock pulled a good one when Johnson was knee-deep in the swamp.

“I was wading into a swamp and Barry threw a rock at my feet,” Johnson said. “It scared me to death. I thought a snake had me for sure.”

They visited three ponds and came away with nine frogs. Unfortunately, they forgot to bring a sack for the captured frogs.

“Barry didn’t like using his Montreal Expos shirt to carry the frogs in, but we didn’t have anything else,” Johnson said. “It was so nasty that (wife Jane) wouldn’t even wash it.”

•••

Before the Mooresville series, Mocksville eliminated Kannapolis. In one of the games, Kannapolis coach Ken Orbison’s season ended prematurely due to an ugly episode. A Kannapolis runner beat out an infield hit, but first baseman Johnny Riddle tagged him out as the umpire ruled the runner had turned toward second. Orbison charged umpire Chris Jarrell. Not only did he argue, he grabbed Jarrell’s shirt and shoved him. Orbison was ejected and then suspended for the remainder of the season by Area III Commissioner Neal Davis.

Interestingly enough, Rowan County had a breathtaking pitcher with a wonderful name, Brian Boltz. Through 45 innings, he had 94 strikeouts and an 0.20 ERA. At this point, he’d recorded 14-plus strikeouts in every game.

•••

Mocksville’s opponent in the Southern Division championship series was Lexington. Mocksville led the series three games to two and hosted Game Six on a Monday night.

The first six and a half innings were horrid for the home side. Lexington had a 13-0 lead with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Fans began heading for the parking lot and planning a Tuesday trip to Lexington for Game Seven.

Then the impossible happened: Mocksville ended up winning 14-13.

“A lot of people couldn’t believe it,” Whitlock said.

Lexington lefthander Brian Huie was cruising along with a shutout before Richardson connected for a two-run homer in the seventh, cutting the margin to 13-2.

What happened next is the stuff of legend.

In the eighth, Mocksville put up 10 runs. RBIs by Scott Walker, Kimel, Richardson, Bishop and Riddle knocked out Huie, who was relieved by Scott Walser, who was greeted by Ron Sidman’s RBI single that made it 13-9. Shortstop Jay Galloway fielded Walker’s grounder but threw the ball away, allowing two more runs. Then Danny Shore’s hit pulled Mocksville within 13-12. In the inning, Mocksville sent up 15 batters and scored 10 runs, including nine with two outs.

“I thought we could win when the score got to 13-7,” Whitlock said. “But when Galloway made the error, I really felt like we could win. Our 2-3-4 batters were coming up in the ninth. What amazed me was that we did it without using power. It was single, single, single. We just kept pecking away.”

Mocksville completed the unforgettable comeback in the ninth. Richardson kept Mocksville alive by reaching base with two outs. Hendrix rolled a grounder to first but was called safe on a bang-bang play. Lexington coach Frankie Goss came out to argue, to no avail. A passed ball moved Richardson and Hendrix to second and third.

The next batter was Riddle, who walked it off with a two-run hit to left-center. It was an unbelievable series for Riddle, who went 12 for 28 with 16 RBIs.

The decisive Game Six saw 37 hits (20 by Mocksville) and 11 errors (six by Mocksville). Richardson went 4 for 6 with his third postseason homer (after hitting zero homers in the regular season). Mocksville got three hits from Hendrix, Shore and Riddle.

In the Area III final, Mocksville faced Northern Division champion Haw River. Mocksville lost the series four games to two and finished 27-20. The previous record for wins was 18 in 1983.