In just over two months, the 20th season of Hickory Crawdads baseball begins.
On Monday night, the team began a celebration that will carry on throughout the 2012 season with the annual Hot Stove Banquet held at Rock Barn Golf & Spa.
The ballroom was at capacity with fans of the game celebrating the past 19 seasons of baseball in Hickory and looking ahead to the 2012 season in both the college and pro ranks.
Crawdads General Manager Mark Seaman began the evening with a recap of the 2011 season — a season that saw the team finish tied for the best overall record in the South Atlantic League and featured league MVP Jurickson Profar.
Seaman announced that manager Bill Richardson and pitching coach Storm Davis would return this season. Richardson enters the season 12 wins away from having the most wins as a manager.
The team also unveiled its 20th anniversary season logo. Among the expected events announced is a reunion of former players to take place in June and the recognition of the 10th anniversary of the team’s first South Atlantic League championship in 2002.
The Crawdads begin their season on April 5 at Kannapolis. The first home game is one week later on April 12 against Asheville.
Appalachian State baseball coach Chris Pollard and Lenoir-Rhyne coach Paul Knight each shared a preview about their team’s upcoming season.
Pollard was particularly excited about his team’s prospects for 2012. The Mountaineers return eight of nine position players and four starting pitchers from a team that finished 33-27 last season.
“We have probably the most veteran club we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Pollard. This team since day one has had a sense of purpose more than any club I’ve had.” Appalachian State opens play on Feb. 17 against George Mason.
Coach Knight’s Bears squad is looking to improve off a disappointing 13-34 campaign in 2011.
“We’re not talking a lot about expectations,” said coach Knight, whose team begins play on Wednesday at Pfeiffer. “We have a lot to prove.”
The highlight of the evening was a panel of former Crawdads players to talk about their time in Hickory. Included in the panel were Chris Mader and Jason Evans, members of the original 1993 team, former player and coach Josh Bonifay and Marty Steele, the team’s first general manager.
Steele talked about the opening of the stadium in 1993.
“It was an incredible ride just to get from September to April 16, which was opening day.” Steele went on to describe the details of opening the stadium one month after a 10-inch snowstorm blanketed the area.
“The seats weren’t in, the lights weren’t up, the roof wasn’t on and we had to open on April 16… Between March 16 and April 16 (the construction crew) got a bare minimum to open the stadium.”
Mader and Evans were particularly impressed as to how well the community responded to the team in 1993.
“I played for four or five organizations,” said Mader. “But there was no other atmosphere like being in Hickory. We were treated like rock stars.”
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