KVA begins title defense with dominant victory over Lee Christian
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com;
HENDERSON – The Kerr-Vance Academy men’s baseball team is set to chase an unprecedented fifth straight NCISAA 1A State Championship this year.
That title defense got off to a stellar start on Thursday afternoon, as KVA easily took advantage of a disjointed Lee Christian to accumulate one run after the other and open the year with a commanding 17-0 victory.
While head coach Mike Rigsbee said there are still plenty of details he needs to decipher with KVA, he admitted that Thursday’s triumph was a very promising start and believes his team will only get better as the year progresses.
“This was a good win,” Rigsbee said. “The guys came out and battled. I thought the at-bats were decent and we were also really aggressive. We have a young team this year but I see potential in all of them. They’ll just have to keep competing.”
Although Rigsbee ended up losing five seniors from the most recent championship team at KVA in R.J. Johnson, Chance Murphy, Michael Holtzman, Joel Lewis and Cole Merritt, he does not consider the 2022 season to be a rebuilding year.
Rigsbee utilized the offseason to regroup his players and figure out each of them could best be deployed on the field. Only two seniors make up the current iteration of the KVA roster but Rigsbee believes the underclassmen are going to be crucial in determining the success of the team.
Offseason workouts and pre-season practices showed Rigsbee the amount of talent still prevalent at KVA and is confident that his players can make another strong run at the state title despite lacking the depth and experience of other programs.
“The practices have gone very well,” Rigsbee said. “What’s been great about the offseason is that we have some new kids that have aged into being able to play. This is a small group but everyone has been practicing really hard.”
Rigsbee said that sophomore Tim Hudson is going to operate as KVA’s primary pitcher for the 2022 campaign.
Hudson was nearly flawless in his first start atop the mound. He prevented Lee Christian from generating any momentum at the plate and was one of many to contribute to KVA’s aggressive scoring attack.
Another player that Rigsbee said got off to a solid start on Thursday was freshman Evan Johnson; the younger brother of R.J. who played a vital role in leading KVA to state championships in every full year he was on the varsity roster before committing to play for Appalachian State in college.
Rigsbee said that Evan was excellent in swinging the bat and leading his teammates against Lee Christian, adding that he will hit a ball beyond the fences as soon as he gets stronger and has a few more practices to refine his game.
Transforming KVA back into a championship contender through the season is a process that Rigsbee expects will take a little bit of time but he knows that his players are going to put in the commitment to become a legitimate threat for the state title when May comes around.
Accomplishing that goal for Rigsbee will require to KVA to fix minor issues, particularly when it comes to maturity and maintaining composure in games that will be much closer than the final outcome to Lee Christian.
“They need to listen a little better,” Rigsbee said. “I want the guys to look at me all the time but this is the first game and you’re going to have a bunch of little mistakes. Overall, I’m happy with the performance and now we have to get ready for Monday.”
KVA’s next matchup will be on the road Monday, in which they will face Warren County for a meeting at 4:30 p.m..
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com;
HENDERSON – The Kerr-Vance Academy men’s baseball team is set to chase an unprecedented fifth straight NCISAA 1A State Championship this year.
That title defense got off to a stellar start on Thursday afternoon, as KVA easily took advantage of a disjointed Lee Christian to accumulate one run after the other and open the year with a commanding 17-0 victory.
While head coach Mike Rigsbee said there are still plenty of details he needs to decipher with KVA, he admitted that Thursday’s triumph was a very promising start and believes his team will only get better as the year progresses.
“This was a good win,” Rigsbee said. “The guys came out and battled. I thought the at-bats were decent and we were also really aggressive. We have a young team this year but I see potential in all of them. They’ll just have to keep competing.”
Although Rigsbee ended up losing five seniors from the most recent championship team at KVA in R.J. Johnson, Chance Murphy, Michael Holtzman, Joel Lewis and Cole Merritt, he does not consider the 2022 season to be a rebuilding year.
Rigsbee utilized the offseason to regroup his players and figure out each of them could best be deployed on the field. Only two seniors make up the current iteration of the KVA roster but Rigsbee believes the underclassmen are going to be crucial in determining the success of the team.
Offseason workouts and pre-season practices showed Rigsbee the amount of talent still prevalent at KVA and is confident that his players can make another strong run at the state title despite lacking the depth and experience of other programs.
“The practices have gone very well,” Rigsbee said. “What’s been great about the offseason is that we have some new kids that have aged into being able to play. This is a small group but everyone has been practicing really hard.”
Rigsbee said that sophomore Tim Hudson is going to operate as KVA’s primary pitcher for the 2022 campaign.
Hudson was nearly flawless in his first start atop the mound. He prevented Lee Christian from generating any momentum at the plate and was one of many to contribute to KVA’s aggressive scoring attack.
Another player that Rigsbee said got off to a solid start on Thursday was freshman Evan Johnson; the younger brother of R.J. who played a vital role in leading KVA to state championships in every full year he was on the varsity roster before committing to play for Appalachian State in college.
Rigsbee said that Evan was excellent in swinging the bat and leading his teammates against Lee Christian, adding that he will hit a ball beyond the fences as soon as he gets stronger and has a few more practices to refine his game.
Transforming KVA back into a championship contender through the season is a process that Rigsbee expects will take a little bit of time but he knows that his players are going to put in the commitment to become a legitimate threat for the state title when May comes around.
Accomplishing that goal for Rigsbee will require to KVA to fix minor issues, particularly when it comes to maturity and maintaining composure in games that will be much closer than the final outcome to Lee Christian.
“They need to listen a little better,” Rigsbee said. “I want the guys to look at me all the time but this is the first game and you’re going to have a bunch of little mistakes. Overall, I’m happy with the performance and now we have to get ready for Monday.”
KVA’s next matchup will be on the road Monday, in which they will face Warren County for a meeting at 4:30 p.m..
