• Height: 6’1
• Weight: 210
• Throws: Right
• Bats: Right
• Add’l Sports: Football

Scholastic sports editor
Gray’s Creek High School baseball coach Jeff Nance didn’t think he was taking a major gamble last season when he elevated freshman pitcher Logan Haines to the varsity.

“We wanted to see if he could get people out,” Nance said. “He just seemed to be mature for his age. He seemed really poised and kept his composure.”

That’s turned out to be only the half of it. Through last week, Haines’ two-year record with the Bears’ varsity is 14-0. His effort this year has Gray’s Creek leading the chase for the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference regular season title.

Haines has been playing baseball since he was five but didn’t start pitching until he was 10.

“Before that, I played first base and catcher,” he said. “My team wasn’t very good, and they decided to try everybody at pitcher. I guess I was good at it, and I’ve gotten better ever since.”

Nance said Haines made an impression last year when he earned wins against Southern Lee and Union Pines, two of the better teams in the conference.

“I just threw strikes and my defense worked behind me,” Haines said.

He didn’t rest on his laurels in the off-season.

“He also plays football, and he’s been in the weight room and gotten bigger and stronger,” Nance said.

But pitching isn’t just about physical skills, and Nance said Haines has shown improvement in other areas.

“We wanted to let him mature,” Nance said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders.

“He’s learning how to pitch, not just throw. He’s learning how to read hitters. He fills up the strike zone, and he doesn’t get shaken very often.”

The mental part of the game is critical for Haines, because he doesn’t have the kind of fastball that’s going to light up a radar gun. “He throws the ball about 80, 81 miles per hour,” Nance said. “It’s an average high school fastball. He also has a really good breaking ball. It’s a pitch he can throw on any count for a strike.

“In my 20 years of coaching, I’ve never seen a kid that can control a breaking ball as well as he does. He can drop a goose in there on you, and you’re scratching your head and don’t know what’s coming.”

Haines said he tries to model himself after Major Leaguers Roy Halladay of the Phillies and Jason Verlander of the Tigers. “They throw strikes and hit their spots and hardly ever walk anybody,” he said. “If you throw strikes, you’ve got a good chance of winning.”

In 39 innings this year, Haines has struck out 35 batters and allowed just 10 walks. He has a 7-0 record and a 2.23 earned-run average.

He said he feels no pressure having gone unbeaten so far in his high school career.

“Win or lose, I know I did my best,” he said. “I’ve just got to throw strikes, hit my spots and let my defense work.”

Nance said Haines and left-hander Seth Reeves have given the Bears a solid right-left combination in starting pitching this year.

“Playing solid defense and throwing strikes are the keys,” Nance said. “On the flip side, we’ve probably got the fastest team we’ve ever had, hitting the ball, putting it in play and running the bases aggressively. I’ve been happy with the total approach.”

The Bears are a long way from wrapping up anything, though, and Nance knows that.

“I just hope we can stay focused and not overlook anybody,” he said.