East Hamilton Seniors Paved Long Road To State Baseball

Together Since Kindergarten, "Fab Five" Reached Big Stage

Monday, May 18, 2015
Larry Fleming

East Hamilton pitcher Hunter Smith (center with plaque) is one of five seniors who have been instrumental in the Hurricanes reaching the TSSAA state baseball tournament. The others are (left to right) Nick Fahler, Kyle Cox, Nick Gratigny and Matt Milita. East Hamilton plays defending state champion Farragut at 5:30 p.m. today in Murfreesboro.
photo by Contributed

When it comes to athletic teams, harnessing conflicting player characteristics and mindsets that often rub some the wrong way should be deemed as pure gold.

When bad chemistry within any particular team raises its ugly head, steps must be taken to rid the squad of a potentially fatal flaw.

Soddy-Daisy’s baseball Trojans went through such a stretch this year, but Trojans righted the ship and are in the TSSAA Spring Fling state baseball tournament this week in Murfreesboro.

The Trojans’ District 5-AAA rivals, the East Hamilton Hurricanes, have gotten past a few “rough patches” and also reached the state tourney – they were the second-to-last school that earned a spot in the bracket, with Houston an hour or so later being the final entrant.

Hurricanes coach Steve Garland lauds the on-and-off-field skills of five seniors – Matt Milita, Nick Fahler, Hunter Smith, Kyle Cox and Nick Gratigny – with coming up with much-needed leadership that turned East Hamilton into a district champion, regional runner-up, sectional winner and one of eight teams still standing with a shot at winning a Class AAA state championship.

“These guys have been together since kindergarten at Apison Elementary,” Garland said Monday night on the eve of the Hurricanes playing defending state champion Farragut, a perennial contender, in the opening round at Siegel High School.

From Apison, they moved on to Ooltewah Middle and then arrived at East Hamilton Middle as seventh-graders when the doors opened in 2010.

“Last year we had 10 juniors,” Garland said. “These five guys stayed with us. One player moved off the four chose not to play baseball, but are still in school here and play other sports. There are no hard feelings. But this core group has a closeness about them. We elected team captains, something I haven’t done since 2002, within the last month. We were going through a rough patch with our chemistry.

“Assistant coach Shane Taylor felt strongly that we needed to force some guys into leadership roles. The team elected Fahler and Milita as captains and we’ve seen a turnaround in guys taking more ownership in the team.

“It was a concerted effort by everyone, coaches and players alike, to make this team better. We had a lot of what I call eyeball-to-eyeball conversations trying to get the team pulling in the same direction.”

The emotional U-turn came at exactly the right time. The Hurricanes beat pre-tournament favorite Soddy-Daisy, 12-3, for the district tourney title and followed that up with a 10-1 rout of Warren County in the Region 3-AAA semifinal.

Soddy-Daisy, which beat nemesis Cookeville in the semifinal, whipped the Hurricanes, 15-9, for the region championship. This past weekend, the Trojans knocked off Smyrna, 3-2, when Gavin Rogers blasted a two-run, game-winning homer in the ninth inning of a sectional victory that nailed down a spot in the state tourney.

A day later, East Hamilton went to Columbia to play the Region 4-AAA winning Lions. The Hurricanes won 7-3, and now they’re making in the school’s first state baseball appearance.

“Our seniors have been a breath of fresh air,” the veteran coach, who was at Soddy-Daisy before he took the East Hamilton job. “They’re unselfish. They wanted to see this thing through. Spring sports are challenging with proms and buddies going to the beach while they’re still here working hard, battling the distractions and wanting to continue to play baseball.

“That’s not always the case with every team. This last month has been a grind. These guys don’t want it to end. We had as much fun as you can have on that 3-hour bus ride home from Columbia. We were getting congratulatory texts. I would tell them we got another one and they’d all clap and cheer. The game was over at about 6 o’clock on Saturday. I made one text, telling them President Obama had sent it. That was funny.”

The next day the incoming texts took a different tone – one of solace – when it was announced East Hamilton would be playing Farragut, the defending champion that has won eight of the last 12 state titles and nine overall with three runner-up finishes.

Farragut had a 343-59 record in those championship years. As runners-up, the Admirals went 138-33 and even when they’re not great, they awfully good. This year Farragut is 37-6 coming into the tournament.

“The mood (on social media) went from very happy to buzz-kill,” Garland said. “But here’s the thing. That (playing Farragut) could make me nervous, but we earned the opportunity to play them. Our records are zero-zero. There are 104 teams in Class AAA and the 96 others would love to have a shot at playing Farragut. Hey, we’ve got a good ballclub at East Hamilton, too.”

A big reason is the seniors.

Milita, a gold-glove type center fielder, is a scoring trigger. When he’s on base, the odds of East Hamilton scoring at least one run soar. A versatile, Milita was involved in one of the biggest sports moments at East Hamilton, catching a wheel-route pass against Ooltewah, eluding several would-be tacklers and scoring a game-winning touchdown in their 26-19 victory in the second-round of the 2013 football playoffs. He’s a three-year baseball starter.

Fahler has blossomed this year as a pitcher and catcher. He started behind the plate last season and also was used as a reliever. He worked in the offseason and practically forced the coaching staff to put him in the starting mound rotation. He’s tough-minded, often pitching on Monday and then catching on Tuesday throughout the district campaign. He’s 5-2 with a 2.11 ERA and has 48 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings.

Smith is gutty. In the rotation for three years, the left-hander pitched the 2013 District 6-AA title game when the Hurricanes beat a very good Central squad, 3-2. He’s the team’s pitching mainstay, posting a 5-1 record, a 2.40 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings.

Cox, a second baseman who plays shortstop when sophomore Nick Woods pitches, started as a sophomore, but missed his entire junior season with a knee injury. He came back strong this year, becoming the team’s most consistent player and has batted in the three-hole the past few weeks.

Gratigny is the glue that holds the group together, Garland said. He’ll do any job that comes his way, platooning in the outfield, serving as a courtesy runner, a defensive replacement, pinch-hitter. A part-time starter, Gratigny had the game-winning RBI in the regular-season win against Central and came up with a big hit in the region title loss to Soddy-Daisy when the Hurricanes were constantly playing catch-up.

Two other local teams – Boyd-Buchanan and McCallie – will also be in Murfreesboro this week challenging for a state championship. The Blue Tornado are the defending Division II-AA champs. The Bucs are seeking their first Class A title.

TSSAA Spring Fling

All Times Central

Baseball

Tuesday

Boyd-Buchanan (27-9) vs. Knoxville Grace (28-11), 6:30 p.m., Middle Tennessee Christian

Class AAA

Soddy-Daisy (23-10) vs. Hendersonville (31-7), 4 p.m., Oakland

East Hamilton (21-12) vs. Farragut (37-6), 6:30 p.m., Siegel

Division II-AA

McCallie (25-8) vs. Briarcrest (21-10), 4 p.m., Wilson Central

Softball

Tuesday