Kirk Guides Gate City To Clinch Mountain District Win Over John Battle

BRISTOL, Va. – Luke Kirk grew up hearing baseball stories.
The drama-filled tales centered around his great-grandfather Lefty Flick, and his grandfather, Don Flick. Lefty reached the Major League level with the Philadelphia Athletics. Don, a collegiate star at Tusculum, still plays with adult league teams around the region.

“I’ve heard a few stories over the years. They inspire me,” Kirk said.

Kirk has authored his own success story the past two years with the Gate City Blue Devils. After earning first-team All-Clinch Mountain District honors last season as a shortstop, Kirk has blossomed into as one of the most dominant pitchers in Southwest Virginia this spring.

With Friday’s 9-2 decision over CMD rival John Battle, Kirk improved his record to 7-0.

“I’ve been playing baseball since I was three,” Kirk said. “I’m always playing in the summer and fall, and I’ve been a few camps.”

The junior right-hander displayed composure and a range of pitches Friday, striking out 14 and walking just two.
According to GC assistant coach Robbie Perry Kirk has an earned run average of 0.26 with around 10 strikeouts per game.

“Luke worked hard in the fall,” Perry said. “He’s got a good off-speed pitch, and his fastball has a lot of pop. Luke is just hard to hit.”

John Battle coach Larry Cannon was impressed with the maturity and tenacity of Kirk.

“[Kirk] is probably one of the top two or three pitchers we’ve seen all year,” Cannon said.

Gate City mounted a late-season charge to the 2008 CMD tournament title, and returned several leaders from that squad. The Blue Devils (13-3) lead the CMD standings with a 5-0 record but are currently without their head coach.

Former Blue Devil standout Shannon Carter was arrested Thursday night in Kingsport following on an alleged domestic dispute with his ex-wife.
Perry and longtime assistant Stan Rogers are currently coaching the team.  Perry said no decision has been made on whether Carter, 32, will return.

“We’ve just got to wait and see,” said Perry, who played at GC when Rogers was the head coach.

The Blue Devils, hitting .312 as a team, collected eight hits Friday. Dusty Clark, Jordan Estepp, Jordan Tipton and Tyler Clark each collected two hits, as GC had repeated success with bunts.

“We’re just going to do the same things we’ve been doing all year,” Perry said. “We’ve played some competition, including some teams in East Tennessee, and that helps.
“We didn’t expect to be 13-3, but we expected to be in the race.”

John Battle (4-10, 1-4) trailed only 4-1 after five innings, then watched Gate City pull away with a 3-run spurt in the sixth inning.
“We’ve had a few of those games,” Cannon said. “We hang in there, but we can’t put it together enough to hold teams back. I’m still working on that.”

Freshman starting pitcher Josh Blackburn struggled with his control for Battle, which relied on three pitchers.
As the Trojans fell behind, Kirk gained confidence and zip on his fastball.

“My velocity seems to pick up about that fourth inning,” Kirk said. “It’s been that way about all season.”

Kirk is eager for another chapter in his personal saga.

“We’re young, but we’ve been playing the game for a long time and we’re still improving,” Kirk said.

Gate City 103 003 2–9 8 3
John Battle 000 100 1–2 4 3

Kirk and Miller. Blackburn, Hayden (3), Couch (5) and J. Hughes. W–Kirk (7-0). L–Blackburn (0-2). HR–none.

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