Rams off to promising start to baseball season

Havelock High baseball coach Charlie Smith believes he has a good team.

And, he believes everyone else in the Coastal Conference is in the same situation.

“There are some good teams that compete in this conference,” he said. “South Central won the 3A league last year, and D.H. Conley, last year was the first year they didn’t win a state title in two years. Washington is always solid. West Carteret has a good team with what they’ve done in Legion ball, and West Craven has one of the top prospects in the country.”

So, Smith is expecting a grind this year, but he already knows how the Rams can improve on last year’s 9-14 record.

“We weren’t out of a lot of games last year,” he said. “I can think of only two games that were one-sided losses. We were in a lot of games where one or two runs were the difference. When it mattered, we just couldn’t get enough runs.”

The Rams, who lost to West Brunswick in the first round of the 3A playoffs last year, have already played one close game. Johnny Godette’s pinch-hit single in the sixth plated two runs to help Havelock beat East Carteret 4-1 in its season-opener Thursday. The Rams also beat White Oak Monday.

Havelock is scheduled to open its conference season against New Bern at 5 p.m. Tuesday at New Bern High.

Smith said his team’s offense must improve for the Rams to be competitive in the league.

“We’ve had some problems scoring runs, and you have to be able to score runs to win in this league,” Smith said. “We need to have some guys pick it up.”

Shortstop Chris Dorman returns after hitting .400 last year, while third baseman Stanley Murphy topped .300 a season ago. They are among six returning starters, including Godette, who will play first and be a designated hitter, second baseman Morgan Harris, outfielder Chip Smith, and pitcher Glenn Noble.

Aaron Broadstreet, Andy Garrett and Charlie Millea, all juniors, will also likely see some playing time, Charlie Smith said.

He said Havelock will rely on Noble, who was 6-3 last year, and sophomore Justin Godette on the mound.

Noble pitched a stretch where he walked just three batters in 30 innings last year.

“He gets it in good spots,” Smith said of Noble. “He has improved on his changeup from last year. It’s a devastating pitch, and he does a good job of not leaving his fastball over the middle of the plate.”

Smith said Godette has a lot of potential but needs to work on consistency.

“We’re working on some mechanical things right now, his release point,” Smith said. “But, he’s got some good velocity. He’s a very promising prospect. A lot of our success as a team will be based on how well he throws as a pitcher.”

Havelock’s difficult schedule will include the annual Crystal Coast Easter Classic March 24 to 26 at Havelock High. The tournament will have an east-west feel as Havelock, East Carteret and New Bern play three teams from the western part of the state in Eden Morehead, Rockingham County and Northwest Guilford.

Games are scheduled for 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. daily.