By Kyler Parker, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Championship contention seems to be a recurring theme in the halls of Moore County Middle School this school year. Just months after the middle school football team played in the championship game in September, the baseball team found themselves doing just the same, making a run at the Duck River Valley Conference championship game this year.

Like many smaller school athletic teams, this year’s MCMS Raider team consists of many multi-sport athletes, who have grown up together with a ball in their hands.

The Raiders were faced with a bit of adversity right out of the gate this season with a coaching change. The Moore County Athletic Department named Bradly Chapin as the new head coach for the Raiders last summer. Many of the players were already familiar with Chapin’s style of coaching. Chapin coached many of the younger players on the team in other youth sports over the years, which has helped the relationship from coach to player remain strong. Chapin’s coaching staff brought familiarity to the team as well as most of his assistants coached many of this year’s middle school Raiders throughout their time in little league and travel ball growing up.

Two hot shot sixth graders

The Raiders opened their season with a 13-game winning streak including a handful of lopsided victories. In their first seven games, they outscored opponents 118-6, and held their opponents scoreless in five of those seven games. Typically, a hot start like this would be driven by experience and team chemistry, but the 2024 Raiders filled many of their spots with guys who have not seen very much time on the field together.

“We had a first baseman, Joseph Graham, who played fantastic at first base all year. He transferred in from Cascade. We also had two sixth graders who came in and started for us all year – Caseon Casteel and Austin Scherff – they came in and did their job well,” said Chapin.

The two sixth graders stepped up in a big way for the Raiders. Scherff was the team’s ace on the mound posting a 1.591 earned run average (ERA) and finishing the season with a 5-0 record. Casteel was the primary shortstop for the Raiders posting a .333 batting average (AVG) with 18 hits on the season.

A team full of “next guy up”

The biggest component of the Raiders’ season has been depth. Their pitching rotation is deep with five different players recording multiple wins on the mound. Jace Deal, Braylon Casteel, and Jose Garcia recorded three wins apiece while Ryland Stovall had two of his own. Braylynn Hill, Lucas Preston, and Hunter Alford each recorded saves for the Raiders as well.

At the plate, the Raiders have seven of their 10 players with double-digit hits batting over .300 on the year. Eighth-grade designated hitter, Kholby Williams leads the team with a .484 AVG with Gabe Delaughter (.426) and Ryland Stovall (.414) following close behind. Delaughter posted the lone home run of the season so far for the Raiders in the post-season tournament in a 14-1 victory over Cascade.

“There was always a next guy up. Even if you got further down the lineup to your seventh or eighth guy might get out to start the inning and your nine-hole batter would hit a double in the gap. We didn’t really have a weakness anywhere and the fact that there was always a next man up,” said assistant coach Caleb Bryant. “The bench was so deep that you could throw somebody in a situation at any time and you at least weren’t gonna get a strike out looking. You were at least gonna get a competitive at bat.”

Depth has been one of the strongest components of the Raiders’ success, but it took some time to get everyone on board and buy into what the Raiders were trying to do to win games.

“I think the kids really bought into where they played. Some of them I know had expectations to play in different roles, but it was just their buy-in,” said Chapin. “Once we played that first game, I guess they just trusted that we were gonna put them in good spots and it worked so well.”

Fighting their way through the loser’s bracket

Once the team bought in, they entered the postseason with only one loss on the year. After falling early in the tournament to Cascade, the Raiders were forced to fight their way back through the loser’s bracket. They racked up wins over Huntland, Forrest, and Cascade before meeting Eagleville in the championship round. The Raiders would be forced to beat the Eagles twice to win the tournament, but they fell just short losing the second game between the two teams. They narrowly beat the Eagles 8-7 on April 23 and lost 9-4 two days later.

“I think it was complacency. Going into the later part of the season, I was looking to find a game that was gonna be tough and kinda put the kids in a spot where their backs might be against the wall, and they’d have to perform. Most of our early games were not as close as I would have liked, and getting into a tournament without playing many close games, I didn’t want the kids to not be able to handle that stress,” said Chapin.

Williams, Scherff, Stovall, and Braylon Casteel were named All-Conference during the tournament.

Future bright for Moore County Raider Baseball

While the Raiders lose five eighth graders who each played important roles for them this season, they have a lot to build on going into next year. They will have a lot of speed to replace in the outfield next year losing Delaughter, Braylon Casteel, and Garcia. While they will miss Williams’ bat and Hill’s glove, they return every other starter in the field. With Scherff and Deal gaining another year on the bump, the Raiders will look to reload and run it back next year. The team chemistry they were able to build this year will be a key part of that.

“I think that for the most part, this team has gotten along as a group better than any team I’ve ever been a part of. There’s a lot of cohesion amongst the boys and that really contributed to our success,” said Chapin.

As the curtain falls on conference play for the Moore County Middle School Raiders, the foundation laid this year promises exciting possibilities for the future. The Raiders are looking to keep their postseason hopes alive as they move on to state tournament play this week.•

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