ROCKINGHAM – Drew Loving, a senior shortstop and pitcher on the Richmond Senior High School baseball team, has been named the Official Richmond County Male Athlete of the Week presented by McNair Auto Sales.
Riding a seven-game winning streak that includes a Seahawk Invitational tournament championship over spring break in Hilton Head, S.C., and a perfect game and a no-hitter by the Raiders, Richmond has seemingly started to put things together after starting the season 5-5. Loving, who makes his primary home as a middle infielder, pitched lights out in game three of the spring break tournament, and his clutch hitting earned him this week’s recognition.
Athletic Profile
Name: Drew Loving
Age: 18
Year: Senior
Spring Sport: Baseball
Positions: Shortstop/Pitcher
Years on Varsity: 3 years
Height & Weight: 5’-10”, 160 pounds
Experience: 14 years
RSHS Academics: Loving is in his final semester at Richmond, and is set to graduate in June. During his time as a Raider, he’s been enrolled in the hospitality cluster, with a focus in career and technical education (CTE) classes. This spring, he’s taking Math 172 at Richmond Community College, as well as Honors American History II with Mrs. Mary McDonald. His afternoons consist of Weight Training and an internship with assistant baseball coach Brad Denson.
“Weight training is my favorite class,” Loving explained. “It’s great to be out there with the guys in the weight room. It’s a good environment to be in to get better and stronger.”
Loving is also a straight-A student, who boasts a 4.82 GPA, which is good enough for No. 13 overall in his graduating class.
RSHS Sports: During his three years at Richmond, Loving has only played baseball – but it’s a sport he loves and has devoted his time to. He joined the Raiders’ junior varsity team as a freshman, and quickly climbed the ranks to the varsity squad his sophomore year.
“The coaching staff here is great, and I think it’s one of the best coaching staffs in the state,” Loving explained. “There’s so much tradition with baseball at Richmond. There have been a lot of great players who have come through here and Richmond has won for a long time. It’s cool to follow in those footsteps.”
RSHS Extracurriculars: Like many of the RO’s featured student athletes, Loving can often be found volunteering his time and services around the local community through organizations at school. He’s been a general member of the National Beta Club and National Honor Society since his freshman and junior years, respectively, and uses both organizations as a way to immerse himself to do good for others.
“I’ve helped out at Our Daily Bread (food ministry),” Loving explained. “And I’ve also done some volunteer work for Beta Club for the school system, mostly at Rockingham and Rohanen middle schools, helping teachers and doing general stuff around the schools.”
Loving also helped out with a recent cancer awareness fundraiser run at Hitchcock Creek in Rockingham.
Hobbies: When he’s not on the diamond, Loving said he really enjoys playing video games. As the video game world has been overtaken by Fortnite the last couple of months, he said that he’s joined the “big game,” as have many of his teammates. He also enjoys playing sports video games like MLB The Show.
Other hobbies Loving enjoys are spending time with friends and family, working out in the weight room to get stronger, as well as trying to stay healthy by dieting and eating correctly.
Interesting Fact: In a geographical area that is dominated by Tar Heel blue and the darker shade of Duke University, Loving has opted for the contrasting shade of North Carolina State red since he was a little kid. For his interesting fact, Loving explained that he’s always been “a diehard NC State fan” since he was born, noting that he’s caught a lot of flak from others because he roots for a team that isn’t as dominating (athletically) as UNC and Duke.
But that good-natured teasing hasn’t deterred him, as he explained his love for the red and white stems from the fact that both of his parents attended NC State, and his dad, Bud Loving, pitched for the Wolfpack.
College Aspirations: Keeping with NC State, Loving will depart for Raleigh in the fall and enroll there as a freshman. His eyes are set on majoring in and earning an undergraduate degree in computer science, ultimately hoping to enter the software development field.
“I looked up what the biggest growing jobs are, and Forbes rated computer science as one of the best,” Loving said. “My parents went there, and my sister graduated from NC State. It feels like home to me because I’ve been there so many times and it kind of runs in the family. I want to spend the next four years there and grow.”
Mentors: For his mentors, Loving chose two men who have been influential in many aspects of his life, including school, baseball and the growing up process. He chose his grandfathers, John Loving and Freddie Hassler.
“He’s always supported me in everything I’ve done,” Loving explained of Loving. “He’s been an athlete ever since his childhood, and he strives to help me get better all the time and teaches me to do what’s right.
“I also look up to my other grandpa,” Loving continued, mentioning Hassler. “I look at everything he’s been through and am inspired. He had a stroke and he’s showed resiliency. He’s supported me with school, baseball and everything else, too.”
Athlete of the Week Stats: Heading into spring break, the Raiders started to turn things around after starting Loving’s senior campaign 5-5. With big wins over Hartsville High School (S.C.) and a Jonathan Lee perfect game against Hoke County, the Raiders travelled to Hilton Head, S.C. to participate in the Seahawk Invitational after taking a year off to play in another tournament.
Richmond’s winning ways continued, as it swept four different teams in four straight days to win the tournament championship game against Lexington Catholic High School (Ky.). Loving not only showcased his talents at the plate, but pitched lights out in the third-round contest against George Washington High School (W. Va.). In the 4-1 win over the Patriots, Loving pitched a complete game, going seven strong innings and remained efficient, throwing just 88 pitches and giving up four hits and one unearned run. In five appearances this season, Loving is 3-0, having pitched 19.1 innings and has tallied a respectable 2.14 ERA.
In conjunction to his pitching performance, Loving’s consistency at the plate earned him a spot on the Seahawk Invitational All-Tournament team alongside teammates Lee and Trey Watkins. During the four-game span, Loving went 4-for-12 at the plate, knocking four singles, plating three RBIs and scoring a run. On the season, he’s batting .282 with 11 hits.
Loving was also credited with a combined no-hitter in Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Lumberton High School. Entering the game with one out to go on the heels of a dominant performance from Watkins, Loving threw just two pitches, combining for the no-no.
Describe the seven-game winning streak and winning the Seahawk Invitational. How has this stretch of games helped turn things around in the clubhouse?
“It’s really good for us to win these games,” Loving noted. “It shows us that hard work does pay off. We’re starting to gel together more as a team, and we’re playing our best baseball of the season. And we’re just going to keep getting better.
“We’re set up to keep on winning if we do what we’re supposed to do,” he continued. “Winning (the Seahawk Invitational) feels good because it the first spring break tournament we’ve won since I’ve been on the team. We lost in the championship my 10th grade year, so it was good to come back and get it this year.”
What’s your and the team’s No. 1 goal down the home stretch of the season?
“I think we just want to keep getting better,” Loving expressed. “We’re settling into our roles, and we need to keep the (winning) streak going. Playing Scotland (High School) is by far the biggest series of the season. They’re our rival and we have to come out of that series with two wins.”
Coach’s Corner: Richmond head coach Ricky Young credits Loving as being a major factor on this year’s team.
“Drew is a big part of our success,” Young said. “He is a hard worker and he is a leader on and off the field. He pitched really well last week in his start (against George Washington) and he had some big hits throughout the week.”
