New Northwood baseball coach Kyle Robinson wants to be someone his players can trust

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PITTSBORO — When Kyle Robinson took his first coaching job after graduating from UNC-Wilmington, he felt like he had something to prove. But shortly into his tenure as an assistant for the North Moore High baseball team, the Carthage native changed his approach to how he dealt with his players.

“When I started, I tried to be more of an authority figure,” Robinson told the News + Record. “We were successful and we were winning games, but I felt like I needed to change how I was as a coach. I needed to be someone they could lean on as opposed to someone they felt like they had to listen to every day.”

The success continued as Robinson began honing his style. He soon took over as the head coach of the junior varsity team, which went 9-1 each season he was there. As an assistant for the varsity program, Robinson helped lead the Mustangs to a 16-2 record this past spring, a first-place finish in the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A Conference and a league tournament title.

Recently, Northwood named Robinson the new head coach of its varsity baseball program. Though he hasn’t had a chance to meet his players face-to-face yet, Robinson said he plans to bring over his more friendly approach.

“I think a good coach, a quality you have to have is you have to be someone that these players trust,” Robinson said. “You have to be someone who they can approach outside baseball, somebody they can lean on for support when they need it. I don’t want any player I ever coach to think the only reason this guy is there is for me to do something productive on the baseball field for him. I want them to know that they can trust me and that I’m more than just a baseball coach.”

Robinson, who will be 25 at the start of the 2023 season, has plenty of talent to work with at Northwood. In 2022, the Chargers finished the year with a record of 19-11 after finishing third in Central Tar Heel conference play during the regular season.

In the 3A state playoffs, Northwood defeated higher-seeded teams Currituck County and C.B. Aycock before eventually falling in the third round to West Carteret. The Chargers only graduated two seniors from their roster over the offseason.

Several key players from the 2022 team are expected to be back this spring, including seniors Zach Barnes (.370 average, 30 hits, 14 RBI in 2021), Seth Davis (.281 average, 25 hits, 11 RBI) and Nate Davis (.300 average, 24 hits, 13 RBI). The Chargers will also return sophomore Kaleb Howell, who hit .253 with 19 hits and 19 RBI in his first high school season last spring.

On the mound, Northwood returns its top two pitchers in Barnes and fellow senior Salvador Delgado. Barnes was 3-2 with a 0.82 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched this past season, while Delgado was 8-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 47 innings.

Robinson is encouraged by the amount of returning players he has back. He knows having such a strong senior class should benefit the team as they try to make another deep playoff run in 2023.

“I’m not coming in to try and reinvent the wheel,” Robinson said. “It’s baseball. These kids have played it their entire lives. I think the biggest thing for us is going to be work ethic. If we come out there and do what we need to do in practice and give our best effort in the games, I think we’ll be satisfied as a team. Every team has some struggles. Even if you win every game, there are still going to be some hard times through the season, but I think if everybody is on board and everyone is giving their best effort, success will follow.”

The 2023 baseball season is set to begin in late February. The Chargers enter the year having finished 14 of the past 15 seasons with a record of .500 or better. The only year Northwood has had a losing season since 2008 was when the team went 6-8 in a year that was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.