By Mike London
Salisbury Post
MOUNT ULLA — When people ask if Carter Durant can hit, West Rowan and Rowan County American Legion baseball coach Seth Graham has a story.
“The last Legion game we played this summer against Garner in the state tournament, Carter was called out on strikes in the first inning with men on base, a backdoor breaking ball on a 3-and-2 pitch,” Graham said. “It probably missed the zone, but it was close, and the umpire called it. Carter came back to the dugout disgusted, and I told him he’s got to try to foul the pitch off in that situation. And he tells me, ‘Well he won’t get me out with that pitch again.'”
Durant came to the plate in a key situation in the third inning and took two hittable fastballs for strikes. Then he got the breaking ball he was looking for. He smoked the ball on a line to the base of the wall at Cherryville’s Fraley Field. The ball got out there so quickly that Durant had to stop at first, but two teammates scored.
“That’s a really good hitter that can go to the plate with a plan like that and execute it,” Graham said. “Carter was hunting for that breaking ball and didn’t miss it when he got it. He wasn’t afraid to take two strikes.”
West Rowan has a talented group of baseball players. Some have better wheels than Durant (6-foot-1, 190 pounds), some have better arms and a few have more power, but he’s probably the best right-handed hitter you’ll find right now in Rowan County. He hits line drives. He hits doubles.
Catawba College offered Durant last week. It didn’t take him long to commit to the Indians.
“Coach Graham asked me one day after Legion practice if I’d have interest in playing for Catawba,” Durant said. “Absolutely, I was interested. I really like Coach (Jim) Gantt and the program he’s built and the baseball culture that is in place Catawba. I don’t think there are very many places I could have a better experience playing college baseball.”
Durant has played second base for West Rowan and the Legion team. He’s sure-handed and has impressed everyone with his ability to turn the double play, but he lacks ideal range for the position. Still, Durant’s bat should get him in the lineup early and often for the Indians.
Catawba had made that clear to him. They are recruiting him to play first base.
“Catawba is a good fit for Carter,” Graham said. “Carter hits a lot of doubles, and Catawba knows how to build strength. That Catawba weight room turns doubles hitters into home-run hitters.”
Durant, the son of Jamie Durant, a former principal at Southeast Middle and West Rowan High who now works in the central office for the Rowan-Salisbury School System, quietly has been putting in the work to be good at baseball for a long time. He said being a principal’s child didn’t provide any unusual obstacles nor any tangible advantages. No one booed him. Nor does he recall the cheers being any louder for him than for his teammates.
He has always tried to set a good example for his younger brother, Parker, a West freshman.
“People knew who my dad was, but I was just this regular guy who enjoyed practicing and loved baseball,” Durant said. “Then things came together for me my junior year at West with great coaches and teammates. I was in a good spot in the lineup. Coach Graham told me my job as the cleanup hitter wasn’t to hit homers, it was to drive in runs. I was able to do my job most of the time.”
Durant’s junior season for the Falcons was one of the all-time breakouts for a first-time varsity starter. He batted .474 with a .557 on-base percentage and 42 RBIs in 29 games. He was honored as an All-State player.
Durant has been a travel ball player in the past, but with Graham coaching the Rowan Legion and with many of his high school teammates deciding to play, Durant made his Legion debut this summer. Rowan County’s lineup probably wasn’t quite as strong as the one Durant was hitting in at West Rowan, but the results were about the same. Durant batted .397 and drove in 47 runs in 40 Legion games and he continued to hit well in the playoffs, after the pitching velocity and command picked up.
“Legion baseball was a really positive summer,” Durant said. “You get the feeling playing Legion ball that you’re not just playing for yourself. You’re playing for your team, your town, your community. You’re playing for those older people in the crowd who come out to Newman Park and support the team every summer. You’re playing for the veterans. There’s a whole lot to play for.”
Graham described Durant as a respectful, perfectly normal kid who just happens to be able to swing a baseball bat better than 99 percent of the population.
Duran’t senior high school season will be his last fling with football, but it should be a memorable one. He kicked four field goals and 36 extra points for the Falcons last season. He punted for a 46-yard average, making him one of the best all-time punters in the county. He was the South Piedmont Conference Special Teams player of the Year. Durant says the Falcons have talent and chemistry.
When he was a freshman and sophomore, Durant thought football would probably be his ticket to college athletics, but a junior season filled with line drives changed his thinking.
“Carter trusts his ability to hit and he has always responded very well when he’s challenged,” Graham said. “He’s also an ultimate team guy who has always cared more about getting a run home for his team than getting a hit. With two strikes on him, he’ll get that sac fly or ground ball to score a run. Catawba got a good one.”
As far as academics, Durant has no plans for a future in school administration. He expects to major in exercise science.
