Here are the Charlotte-area players helping Wingate advance in College World Series
Wingate University has produced college baseball’s all-time winningest coach, about two dozen professional baseball players, and it has won more than a dozen conference championships.
Now the Bulldogs, armed with an ample supply of locally grown talent, can check another box in the baseball bucket list.
Despite the Union County university’s long history of baseball success, the Bulldogs this week are playing in the NCAA Division 2 College World Series for the first time.
The Bulldogs, seeded sixth in the eight-team field, dropped their opener Saturday to three-time national champion and third seed Angelo State 6-2. But they won an elimination game Tuesday, 3-2 over Southern New Hampshire.
The Bulldogs (35-13) were scheduled to face second seed Seton Hill in another elimination game Wednesday.
The Division 2 College World Series is being played at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary.
“We talk a lot about the tradition, the rich history of baseball at Wingate,” says head coach Jeff Gregory, in his 11th season as head coach of the Bulldogs, his alma mater. “What’s really humbling is that with all the success we’ve had, we’re the ones who finally got into this position.”
The Wingate roster looks like an all-star team from the Charlotte area.
Arguably the team’s top player in its late-season surge has been Hunter Dula, a junior from South Iredell High.
Dula carried a 7-1 record and seven-game winning streak as a pitcher into the College World Series. He was the winning pitcher in the opening games of the South Atlantic Conference and NCAA regional tournaments. When he isn’t pitching, Dula plays first base, and he’s slammed five postseason home runs.
“He’s been very very good on the mound, but he’s doing it at the plate too,” Gregory says.
Second baseman McCann Mellett, a fifth-year senior from Charlotte Catholic, leads the team in hitting with a .350 average. He also has 15 doubles, 11 home runs, and 47 RBI.
Mellett chose to return this season, using the COVID-19 exemption. Gregory says one reason for the team’s success this year is the way players handled themselves during the pandemic shutdown.
“They did a good job of staying on one another, of staying in shape,” Gregory says.
Last year’s team got off to a 15-6 start before the COVID shutdown.
“Maybe that made them closer, having it taken away from them,” their coach says.
The team’s No. 2 hitter is sophomore catcher Logan McNeely, from Crest High. He is batting .338 with 16 doubles. And sophomore shortstop Carson Simpson of North Davidson (.333 batting average), sophomore outfielder Andrew Motsinger of South Mecklenburg (.329) and freshman infielder Michael Dansky of Providence (.325) also are among team batting leaders.
Gregory says the team’s strength, however, is pitching.
In addition to Dula, the Bulldogs have sophomore Brody McCullough of Lexington’s Sheets Memorial Christian (6-2, 2.11 ERA) and relievers Sam Broderson of Winter Garden, Fla. (2.45 ERA) and Austin Johnson of Fuquay-Varina (3.94).
Wingate’s roster also includes players from Alexander Central, Ardrey Kell, Cuthbertson, East Rutherford, McDowell, North Gaston, North Stanly, Northwest Cabarrus, Parkwood, Piedmont, Richmond Senior, South Mecklenburg, South Stanly, and St. Stephens high schools.
“It’s always been a goal of ours, to recruit heavily in the area,” says Gregory, a Scotland County High product. “There is a lot of baseball talent in this region, and we’ve had some success getting people to come here.”
Wingate’s baseball alumni list is impressive. It includes Mike Martin, the now-retired longtime Florida State head coach who has the most career victories of anyone in college baseball; and Alvin Moorman, who spent nine seasons playing in the major leagues.
The late Ron Christopher won 536 games in 24 seasons as head coach at the school.
“It’s kind of neat, with all the baseball history here,” Gregory says. “There were teams ranked No. 1 in the nation at one time or another.
“Despite all that, this is the first time in the College World Series. It shows you how hard it really is.”
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 3:06 PM.
