Gazette baseball player of the year: Henry Rundio, North Gaston

Henry Rundio considers himself an infielder, but North Gaston asked him to do a little bit more.

The junior proved to be as versatile as any player in the area this season, developing into the Wildcats’ ace pitcher. Rundio pitched most of North Gaston’s key matchups and accounted for nine of the team’s 14 wins, helping the Wildcats bust the preseason projections.

“When I came to North Gaston, I never thought I was going to be this good at pitching or even concentrate on pitching,” Rundio said.

A look back at Rundio’s all-conference awards speaks to his versatility. As a freshman, he was named all-conference as a second baseman. As a sophomore, he made the team as a utility player. This year, he was honored as a pitcher.

Today, the Gazette recognizes Rundio as its area player of the year.

North Gaston coach Jesse Martin considers Rundio as good a two-way player as you’ll find in the area. And he said there’s a good reason for that.

“He is a very hard worker and he’s one of the most competitive kids I know as far as wanting to win,” Martin said.

The 6-foot, 155-pound Rundio tied an area-high with nine pitching wins (9-3 record), tied for third in innings pitched (60) and ranked fourth in strikeouts (78). At the plate, he batted .306 with two home runs and 19 RBIs. He committed only three errors, finishing with a .950 fielding percentage.

His high-profile wins came against South Point, Forestview and Cherryville, and his performances allowed North Gaston to finish third in the Big South 3A Conference. The league coaches projected the Wildcats fifth in the preseason poll.

North Gaston peaked at the right time, winning seven of its last nine games.

“As a team I think we practiced a lot and we worked really hard, and I think that paid off in the end of the season,” Rundio said.

Moving forward, Rundio hopes his versatility will appeal to college coaches. He has another year to secure a college scholarship, and he would love to land at Gardner-Webb, where his dad (also named Henry Rundio) played.

You can reach Phillip Gardner at 704-869-1843.