The Mustangs:
Coach: Brett Hatley (7th season, 125-23)
Last season: 25-6
Last 5 seasons: 120-22
Last 10 seasons: 195-62
Conference regular-season championships (25): 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1982, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan’s baseball team has only three seniors. That’s different.
But the Mustangs will be good. That’s not different.
East head coach Brett Hatley’s record has been terrific — 125 wins in six seasons — but that doesn’t tell the whole story. One of those six seasons was the aborted COVID campaign of 2020 when the Mustangs went 5-1. Next came the half-season of 2021 when the Mustangs were 13-3. East had hitters such as Wayne Mize and Charlie Klingler mashing at Staton Field in the COVID days, so there’s not much doubt they would have won 20-plus in both of those years had they been able to play a full schedule.
Hatley benefits from a sturdy and stable staff — guys such as Ethan Free, Michael Pinkston, Kyle Bridges, Kelly Sparger and Alex Yarborough.
“That’s a big part of our success,” Hatley said. “Those guys show up every day and they know what needs to be done and they do it.”
In addition to the coaches, East fans have watched a long train of special baseball players roll through Granite Quarry in recent seasons, including third-round draft pick Cobb Hightower, who set a state record for runs scored.
The latest standout on the assembly line is center fielder/lefty pitcher Harrison Ailshie, a UNC commit and potential draft pick who won the Mark Norris Memorial Award as the 2025 Rowan County Player of the Year. He was Co-Pitcher of the Year in Rowan County as a sophomore and MVP of the 2024 3A state championship series. He embarks on his senior season with a long list of accomplishments already under his belt.
Ailshie is one of East’s three seniors along with outfielder Andrew Lopez and infielder Isaiah Osterhus, who has made it back from an elbow injury that cost him his junior season.
“Opposing pitchers give Harrison a whole lot of respect,” Hatley said. “So a key for us is to get him to the plate in situations where teams have to pitch to him, situations where he has an opportunity to get hits with men on base.”
Ailshie is sure to walk frequently, but he’s a disciplined hitter who’s not going to chase pitches out of the zone. He’ll take the free passes, and he can hammer pitches if he’s challenged. He had a triple in Thursday’s win against Mooresville.
Ailshie also is a prime-time pitching ace. He struck out 13 Blue Devils on Thursday.
“He’s a really strong two-way player for us,” Hatley said.
So is his younger brother — Brady Ailshie. Harrison is a strapping individual who looks like he should be doing commercials for Gold’s Gym, but Brady, a sophomore, is taller. Brady is coming off a sharp basketball season in which he was the Mustangs’ leading scorer. He’s a right-handed pitcher and earned solid wins in the Mustangs’ first two games this season. When he’s not pitching, Brady will probably man third base, but he’s also agile enough to play second base if needed.
“We’ve been fighting the flu bug, four starters have had it, so we haven’t used the same lineup in any of our first three games,” Hatley said. “We’ve had completely different looks in the field so far. Fortunately, we’ve got some flexible guys who can play more than one position. Guys will have to have a next-man-up mentality and play where they can help the team the most on a particular night. We might sub more than usual, maybe start an offensive guy, but replace him with a stronger defender in the late innings if we’ve got a lead.”
The pitching staff also includes Julian Cauble, the football team’s quarterback, Gray Stone transfer Zach Misenheimer, Charlie Lefler, Ryan Friel and Andrew Myrick, and the Mustangs have added freshman Griffin Alderman, who may get some varsity innings.
Cauble is the likely No. 3 hurler behind the Ailshie brothers. Lefler, a junior, has been a nice surprise. He’s earned high-leverage innings.
“The plan is for Harrison and Brady Ailshie to pitch mostly conference games, but with RPI being more important for playoff seeding than conference finish now, we may choose to pitch them in some of the tougher non-conference games,” Hatley said. “We’ll be using quite a few guys on the mound.”
Catching is the biggest question mark for the Mustangs, as they don’t return anyone with varsity catching experience. Sophomore Parker McGinnis is getting the first shot at nailing down the starting role. Junior Braxton Earnhardt is in the mix, and versatile Logan Bradley is getting some practice reps behind the plate. Sophomore Stone Cherry is another catcher on the varsity roster.
The outfield is in excellent shape, as Harrison Ailshie is a smooth center fielder and right fielder Braylen Ketchie and left fielder Bradley are returning starters. Lopez can play center when Ailshie pitches or he can play left if Bradley is needed somewhere else.
The infield also looks stout, with Sam Blackwelder returning at shortstop and with a healthy Osterhus ready to handle second base. Brady Ailshie will be the regular third baseman, but when he pitches, it might mean Bradley or Cauble at the hot corner.
The first basemen are Zeke Stewart and Gavin Loftis. Both hard-hitting juniors will get regular at-bats, as one of them can serve as the DH. Stewart whacked a homer on Thursday at Mooresville.
“Every season brings a new team and new challenges,” Hatley said. “But we’ve still got good players. We can compete.”
The South Piedmont Conference is a 4A/5A league now instead of a 3A, but it should retain its status as one of the state’s toughest leagues. East has won conference titles five years in a row, but four of those five have been co-championships. That’s how competitive the SPC is.
