HS baseball notes: Chambers’ Cougars having newfound success on the diamond

Julius Chambers High hasn’t always been known for its baseball team.

The school — which opened in 1997 — has had sustained success in football and basketball, including multiple state championships, but the Cougars’ baseball team hasn’t really been competitive – until the past two seasons.

Chambers has won as many games in the past two seasons (16) as it did in the previous five seasons combined. The Cougars were 8-16 last season were 8-10 before Wednesday’s scheduled game with West Mecklenburg.

Eight wins is the most for any single-season Chambers baseball team since at least 2008.

It hasn’t been an easy road for the Cougars, and it has taken a long time to get here, but head coach Sly Fleming is grounded in his process. He wants to not just win games, but rather change the culture of the Chambers baseball program.

“One thing that I can attest to is that I have a great coaching staff,” Fleming said. “Out of the five of us on staff, four have been head coaches before elsewhere. So, we have brought in experience. We are trying to not only win, but educate and develop talent so that the players believe that they can win games.”

One of those players Fleming is talking about is senior pitcher Ky’Heem Hogan.

Hogan has faced more than 200 different batters this season and still boasts a 3.5 earned run average. Being one of just three seniors on the team, Fleming feels the future of Chambers is looking up.

“It is like a saying I used to hear growing up,” Fleming said. “You have two dogs. Which one will grow the fastest ... the one that you feed the most.”

It is all about building the culture for Fleming and his staff.

“Skill sets can be taught to almost anybody if you have the platform to teach it,” Fleming said. “I would love for us to be able to start up some camps and start working with some of the middle schools that feed Chambers so that these kid’s learning curve doesn’t have to be that one to two years they start playing here. But, it can start as early as even middle school.”

Fleming was emphatic about making sure the kids are being invested in so they can not only have the best athletic experience at Chambers, but also get an education to better their futures and whatever it will hold for them.

“My hopes and dreams are that Chambers can be a place where kids can get a quality education experience as well as a quality athletic experience,” Fleming said. “So, maybe then they can get a scholarship to further their education and go play in college as well.”

Upcoming games of note

▪ New Sweet 16 No. 1 Providence will face its biggest rival, No. 2 Ardrey Kell, for the second time this season Thursday night. The game is set for 6:30 p.m. at Providence, and if you love high-quality baseball, make plans to go view this game.

▪ Coming in on a three-game losing streak, the former No. 1 Hough Huskies look to get back on the right track before postseason play against Hopewell on April 27. The first pitch for this game is also set for 6:30 p.m. at Hough High School.

▪ No. 6 Myers Park and Olympic will face off in each other’s last game of the regular season on April 27. The Mustangs are coming off a win against the Trojans, and another win on Thursday would solidify their No. 2-seed in the SoMeck 4A tournament – with Ardrey Kell having already locked up the top seed.

Key results from last week

▪ No. 1 Providence got two statement wins last week. First, the Panthers beat Hough in walk-off fashion, then they took round one against their biggest rival Ardrey Kell, 5-1 on Saturday. The defending 4A state champions are playing their best ball of the season, even if their coach Danny Hignight still believes he can find something to fix.

▪ Hickory Ridge claimed a regular-season Greater Metro 4A conference crown last week putting itself far enough ahead of the pack that with just one week left to play. The Ragin’ Bulls picked up two wins — one against Cox Mill and the other against West Cabarrus.

▪ After dropping the first of three games against Porter Ridge, the Weddington Warriors rattled off two straight against the Pirates to improve to 16-5 on the year – before winning two more games against rival Marvin Ridge.

The Observer’s Sweet 16 poll

Also receiving consideration: Covenant Day (IND, 14-8), Northwest Cabarrus (3A, 13-7); Mount Pleasant (2A, 13-7). Dropped out: Olympic (4A, 13-10), Cannon School (IND, 8-9).