Cape Hatteras and Durham’s Voyager Academy squared off in the second round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) state playoffs on Friday, May 9, but Cape Hatteras’ varsity baseball team fell short of the win.
The Hurricanes had a memorable run that propelled them all the way to the legendary Durham Athletic Park where Friday night’s game was played, but lost 10-0 to the Vikings, ending the season with a 11-9 overall record.
As for Voyager Academy, the win – which was their ninth in a row – raised their record to 22-2, and Voyager remains the #1 ranked team in eastern North Carolina.
“Despite the loss, the Hurricanes enjoyed the experience of making a playoff run to the second round, and getting to finish the season playing in one of the most historic and iconic ballparks of Minor League Baseball,” said the team’s Coach Keith Durham.
“The Hurricane infielders – Landen Sonnier, Joey Letierri, Paizley Schultz, McCoy James, Wyatt Cannon, and Trae Wyatt – got to roam the same dirt that Atlanta Braves Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones did in the early 1990s.
“The Hatteras pitchers for the evening – Joey Gavetti, and his little brother Anthony Gavetti – got to toe the pitching rubber on the same mound that Braves great Steve Avery and the fictional Ebby Calvin ‘Nuke’ Laloosh from ‘Bull Durham’ stood upon. Hatteras backstop, Preston Stowe, got to man the same position as the fictional Durham Bulls catcher Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner…
“Hurricane outfielders, Mikie Gavetti, Liam Van Druten, Graham Stutts, and Riley Richardson, patrolled the lush green outfield grass nestled between bustling city streets and the old tobacco warehouses of downtown Durham… With its nearly 100-year history of baseball, [the Durham Athletic Park] reaches across time and ties generations of players, fans, coaches, and families together. ”
The setting was a perfect finish for Durham’s career, as this was the coach’s last game with the Hurricanes. After a decade of leading the Cape Hatteras baseball team, Durham announced his retirement earlier in 2025.
“It has been one of the great pleasures of my life to serve as the head coach of the Hurricanes for the past 10 years,” he said. “As much as the wins mean, the relationships with current and former players and coaches mean even more. At the end of the day, it is a game and it should be fun. If it is played the right way, it is amazing. If nothing else, baseball is a microcosm of life… There are homeruns and basehits and great defensive plays, but there are also errors and bad hops, and curveballs and slumps that you have to learn how to deal with and work through.
“It is my hope that the 2025 Hurricanes will remember me as fondly as their coach, as I remember them as my players,” he added. “Personally, I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this team and this program. I can promise you it will be a lot of fun.”
