Another title trip on tap for Forestview?

GASTONIA - When the current high school baseball season started, Forestview coach Brian Horne knew he'd have to find replacements for five starters, including two pitchers, from last year's co-Big South Conference champions.

He felt confident until a 0-4 start left him wondering if he may be in the midst of the rebuilding year.

But Horne says his players were committed to building - and not rebuilding. It's a point the Jaguars made emphatically clear during last week's Gaston County Baseball Tournament title run at Sims Legion Park.

"I knew we had only four returning starters but we had a lot of up-and-coming talent," said senior left-handed pitcher Clint Medlin, who earned MVP honors with two of the three pitching victories during the tournament. "We just had to work that much harder after how we started."

This week, Forestview (7-6, 3-2) faces city rivals Ashbrook (on Tuesday) and Hunter Huss (on Friday) as it hopes to jump back into league title contention.

"After the start we had, this (title) will give us a boost into the second half of the season," said Horne, whose team went 18-7 last season and advanced to the second round of the N.C. 3A playoffs. "I really thought we might be having a rebuilding job. But these boys didn't want to be the rebuilding team."

With Medlin (right field), Griffin Wise (shortstop), Seth Hazelton (left field), Chris Waugh (designated hitter) the only returning starters, there was rea-son to believe Horne's fears may have been founded after two losses to Bessemer City, a blowout loss at Kings Mountain and a six-run loss to East Rutherford made them 0-4.

But wins at Hunter Huss and Crest followed.

Medlin thinks the 4-3 win at Crest was critical to the turnaround in the games since.

"It was a really emotional win for us," Medlin said. "But it really pulled us together more than anything."
Horne thinks the team's offensive balance has made his team more and more difficult for its opposition.

Jonathan White has the highest batting average at .360, but Wise, Medlin, Waugh, Zach Daly, Jared Silver and Logan Craig all hit in the .280s.

"And, with how we started as a team, it's like we're all getting hot at the same time," said Horne, whose team was shutout by North Gaston and South Point in its league losses.

Then there's the pitching of Medlin (3-1) and Wise (3-2).

Medlin started only once last year - a win against East Lincoln. But it gave an indication of what was to come.

"Their coach told me after that game that he would be one of the best pitchers in their league," Horne said of Medlin's 2008 East Lincoln win. "This year, he's kind of made me second-guess myself for him getting more starts last year."

Medlin says he's looked at last year's experience as a positive. After all, he says he was learning from eventual collegians John White (Limestone) and Preston Lyon (Pfeiffer).

"I definitely learned a lot from John and Preston last year," Medlin said. "But I worked in the bullpen and definitely tried to take advantage of every opportunity."

So far this season, Medlin has taken advantage of more opportunities.