Lake View baseball seeks ninth state title under Herlong

Lake View – After coming up short in their bid for a Class A state championship a year ago, the baseball program at Lake View High is hoping for another shot in 2024.

The Wild Gators lost to Southside Christian in the Class A finals, a best-of-three format, after winning the Lower State title. Winning state championships is nothing new for the program. Under veteran coach Kip Herlong, the Wild Gators have won eight state championships and the coach recorded his 600^th career victory early in the 2024 campaign.

“It’s a good accomplishment but it basically means I have been able to do this for a very long time and we’ve had some great young men come through our program,” Herlong said recently.

The coach says milestones are something he will likely cherish after his career is complete and winning games in the past does not replace the sting of losing in the championship.

Herlong feels his 2024 team is capable of another run through the Lower State but insists his team is not the favorite.

“Some good Class A baseball teams in the Lower State and it’s a real dogfight every year,” Herlong said. “We have a good group this year. They have worked hard. We have some kids who are in their fourth or fifth year in the program and they understand what it takes in terms of work and effort. This team has good senior leadership and those four or five guys want to go out in style. We return all but three starters, but those three that we lost were really good players.”

Lake View is out of the gate in a good way this spring. After losing their season opener, the Wild Gators entered spring break on an eight-game winning streak, including a 3-0 start in region play. Herlong says his team will not participate in any spring break tournaments but will have games against Lamar and Carver’s Bay to stay sharp.

Herlong feels he has four quality arms to anchor the pitching staff. Logging most of the innings on the mound are juniors Chris McGill and Kason Herlong, senior Luke Price, and sophomore Chase Price. McGill has notched four early wins with a 0.87 earned run average. Luke Price and Herlong each have two wins.

“I think pitching and defense will be our strengths,” the coach said.

Herlong (.517) and McGill (.414) also rate as two of the leaders offensively. Luke Price is hitting .400 early and sophomore second baseman Ian Capps is hitting .385 through the first nine games.

Senior Tucker Bass returns behind the plate with junior Braydon Borders also seeing action. Bass also can play in leftfield.

McGill and Chase Price hold down first base while Herlong is the shortstop. Luke Price and Chase Price share duties at third base.

With Bass working in left, seniors Parker Ammons and DJ Hardee hold down center and right, respectively.

“We don’t have a lot of burners on the basepaths but we try to be sound in what we do,” Herlong said.

Lake View faces stiff competition within the region with solid teams at Green Sea Floyds, Latta and Hannah-Pamplico. The Wild Gators needed nine innings to beat Latta, 8-7, and beat Green Sea Floyds, 3-2, the first time around.

“It’s a very competitive region and any team truly can win on a given night,” Herlong said. “It’s important that we continue to work and improve. We need to come around a little more offensively and I am starting to see some positive signs. Just have to keep working at it.”