By Gary Fauber
Register-Herald Assistant Sports Editor
OAK HILL —
Barely a week ago, Dustin Nuckels was celebrating a state basketball championship. Minutes were few and far between for the Oak Hill senior, but he was still part of school history.
Two days after the Red Devils won their first title in 21 years, Nuckels was back on the baseball field, playing shortstop and batting leadoff. This time, Nuckels will have a much more significant say in just how far Oak Hill gets.
He’s tasted the thrill of a championship. He would like to savor it one more time.
“Definitely,” he said. “Knowing that if you work hard enough to win a championship (in one sport), it can carry over from sport to sport.”
“When we got to the state tournament (in 2008), it was a good experience,” Oak Hill baseball coach Chris Walls said. “But him actually winning on that big stage, just to be on that court was amazing. Winning it gives you that extra drive. He knows what success is like and what it takes to get there.”
For the Red Devils to get there — specifically, Charleston’s Appalachian Power Park — this spring, they will need a big season from their senior leader. Nothing from the past suggests that won’t happen.
Nuckels carries into his final year a 19-1 career record. He was 7-1 last season with a 2.47 earned run average and 53 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.
That was as the team’s No. 2 pitcher, behind first-team all-state left-hander Tyler Zimm. Now Zimm is enjoying a successful freshman season at California (Pa.), leaving Nuckels as the ace of a staff with more than a few young arms.
He doesn’t mind.
“My role is, I’m a senior. I’m the typical captain,” he said. “We have a lot of young guys. I have to lead by example.”
“He has stepped up and played a big role since he was a freshman,” Walls said. “He has gotten better every year and he is looking forward to this year. He will give you 120 percent. Whatever you ask of him, he does. You get nothing but heart out of him. The players look up to him. They see how hard he works.”
Nuckels split time between left field and second base when he wasn’t pitching last year. He and shortstop Rob Stephens formed a solid duo up the middle. Now Stephens, a first-team all-stater, is at West Virginia Wesleyan, and Nuckels will fill his position.
“Those are massive shoes to fill. I will do the best I can,” Nuckels said. “I played a little bit of shortstop last year when Rob was pitching or if the defense got moved around some. I’m going to try to take command of the defense like a shortstop is supposed to.”
Assuredly, Nuckels’ focus will be on baseball. But being part of a state basketball champion is something no one can take from him.
“It was life-changing,” he said. “Ever since (last) Saturday, every day somebody has congratulated me, even people I don’t know. It was a good feeling.”
One he would like to experience one more time.
— E-mail: gfauber@
register-herald.com
