Blake: Few towns can compare to Whiteville, the baseball capital of NC

By J. Mike Blake, HighSchoolOT Contributor

Whiteville, N.C. — While a win over a rival going into spring break is reason enough to bask in the moment, Whiteville's coaches checked their phones and didn't linger long after an April victory over West Columbus. They had flights to San Diego to catch.

The town's favorite son, Mackenzie Gore, was making his debut in less than 48 hours.

That coaches would be invested in the career of the former Gatorade National Athlete of the Year five years after he graduated high school shouldn't be a shock. But the connection between the present and the past is always strong at Whiteville.

What Kinston is to boys basketball and Tarboro is to football, so too is Whiteville to baseball. All three are small towns in the eastern half of the state with a strong sense of community, a lot of state championships, and a something-must-be-in-the-water mystique. Whiteville has about 5,300 residents — but 14 players who have played professional baseball, 12 who have been drafted.

And much in the same way a few former football stars at Tarboro and basketball phenoms at Kinston have made contributions to the next generations in their hometown, Whiteville's no different. Gore buys the team new shoes each year.

Any program — baseball or otherwise — would be delighted if a former star wanted to help out the program for a season. Whiteville has no shortage. You'll find Chuck Baldwin — the 1986 ACC Player of the Year whose son played for the Wolfpack and UNC-Wilmington (he was also drafted but returned to the Seahawks this season) — raking the infield after games.

And former ECU star Turner Brown has also came back home to the hallowed ground of Legion Memorial Stadium — he's in his first year as the interim head coach.

This weekend he'll lead Whiteville's effort to find its 10th title in its 14th appearance in the final.

No matter how often they make the trip, the town will be out in full force.

And there'll likely be someone, perhaps someone who lives in San Diego but is in Milwaukee on official business that afternoon, checking his phone to see how the baseball capital of N.C. is doing in its most treasured pastime.