Blake: The wall behind Pinecrest baseball's special season

By J. Mike Blake, HighSchoolOT

Southern Pines, N.C. — Of the hundreds of fans who watched Pinecrest lock up its second East regional title and advance to this week's baseball state title series, the most notable onlooker was Roger Woolard.

Woolard, an assistant coach, wasn't in the dugout but his presence was there and has been with the team for the the six months since his passing on Jan. 2 of this year.

"He was watching over us this whole season," said senior Cam Bunker.

Woolard had been an assistant to head coach Jeff Hewitt since they both arrived in 2000.

"He was the quiet strength, I was the screamer," Hewitt said. "He bought into everything."

Hewitt, who won his 400th game on Saturday, found a way to make sure Woolard's name stays with the team for longer than one season.

Since the two had always done whatever it took to keep John Williams Stadium in tip-top shape, Hewitt paid tribute to Woolard's memory in fitting fashion: a stadium upgrade.

The left field wall was raised six feet — in honor of Woolard's No. 6 jersey from his playing days — and is now dubbed "Woolard Wall."

"If anyone knew Coach Woolard, I could just hear him laughing when a kid thought he hit one out of here and then hit the Woolard Wall and it came back in," Hewitt said.

Coach Woolard's son, J.C. Woolard, is fifth on the team in hits as a freshman.

He also plays left field, with the Woolard Wall as a special backdrop. Before the game, Hewitt said J.C. goes to the wall to talk with his dad.

"There's a lot more than the game of baseball in that dugout, in that locker room," Hewitt said. "There's a lot of good memories."

Pinecrest had made the playoffs in 21 of the last 22 postseasons but had faced heartbreak after heartbreak in the third round or earlier during that time. This year, after having gone 37 years without reaching the East regional and 43 years without a state title appearance, they got both.

"No matter what happened this year, we were dedicating it to him," said junior Colby Wallace. "Being able to do that this year is amazing."

After the trophy ceremony that comes with winning a regional, the team didn't run to the scoreboard for the celebratory team photo as so many others would.

They posed in front of Woolard Wall instead.