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By Jay Spivey 

For the Clemmons Courier

Senior Lucas Alderman is one those high school baseball players a coach can plug in in just about any position.  

Alderman’s high school career ended last Friday after West Forsyth lost to Waxhaw Cuthbertson in the quarterfinals of the NCHSAA Class 4-A playoffs. But he wanted to make it known during his career that, while his preferred position was pitcher, he was willing to play anywhere the team needed.  

All those memories of playing baseball and going to West Forsyth for four years will likely be apparent with graduation coming up at 2 p.m. on Friday at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem. 

“You definitely appreciate it,” Alderman said. “You appreciate it more when you’re on the way out. You look back and you see all the help you get from all the coaches, teachers, the administrators.” 

It all goes back to when Alderman was 7 years old in Little League where he played shortstop, third base and pitched. 

“My dad played when he was younger, and he started me off playing T-Ball at Southwest and I loved it,” he said.  

Alderman played for about five years before he really started noticing a change in playing. 

“Probably when I was around 12 is when I started getting more competitive,” Alderman said. “I had a coach (Wes Helsabeck) who went through the minors with the Dodgers, and he really helped me to grow to love baseball. He always pushed us to be competitive and give everything we had.” 

Alderman played with three other players all the way from Southwest through senior year at West Forsyth — Parker Trexler, Garrett Secrist and Jonathan Howard —with Trexler being the longest, as they started playing with each other at 9 years old.

“Watching everyone grow and get better, too, at their own paces, figure out what they’re about.” Alderman said. “it’s just like every game you’re playing you’re just remembering when you were 9 years old, 10 years old. A lot of memories together — playing travel ball, spending time in hotels, going out to eat together.” 

Coach Kevin McIntosh has seen the upperclassmen grow. 

“That group of seniors is a truly special bond,” McIntosh said. “They’ve grown up playing at Southwest Little League, which has been great to West Forsyth. They’re friends on and off the field. Their work ethic is unbelievable, you know, whether it’s extra swings, extra ball after practice, whether it’s on the weekend on their own, it’s truly a special bond that these eight seniors have formed.  

And especially five or six of them who’ve played together since they were 8, 9 years old. You know, it’s a group that’s laid a foundation and left their mark on history and tradition of West Forsyth baseball.” 

Alderman also played at Meadowlark Middle School. While there, he played first base and pitched. 

“I pitched my whole life,” Alderman said. “I’ve always stuck with that.” 

Like many players at his level, Alderman played shortstop because he said that was the position he felt he was best. 

“I was a little faster, and I was a bit bigger than most kids when I was younger, Alderman said. “But then one of my summer ball teams didn’t have anyone who could play first base, so they put me over there. And then I got good at first base.  

“When we were at Meadowlark, we had a couple other kids who were older that could play shortstop. So, I went over to first base and that’s where I made the team as a seventh-grader. And that’s what I just kept playing from there on out.” 

That led to Alderman going to West Forsyth, where he said he played every position but catcher, second base and shortstop.

“Every year of high school I played different positions,” he said. 

Even playing JV for most of his first two seasons at West Forsyth, Alderman always noticed where the better players were playing, and therefore he could fill in the holes elsewhere. 

“I just started focusing more on the outfield where we needed someone, and first base,” he said.  

Playing with Michael Murray as his head JV coach for the Titans, Alderman was called up to varsity as a pitcher-only player toward the end of his sophomore season. 

“With JV the way they would typically structure it, we were sophomores. We would get more playing time because they’re preparing us for varsity the next year,” Alderman said. “So, they were just trying to figure out what everyone is good at. So, they moved people around a lot. I got moved around a whole lot because I could play multiple positions against some of the other kids who were stuck in one spot.” 

As a freshman, Alderman played first and third on the JV team. He also pitched both seasons. However, he injured his arm during his freshman season and took about two months before returning to pitch. Alderman said his arm didn’t hurt as much playing in the field as it did to pitch. 

“Overuse and normal inflammation, but it was very inflamed, and I needed to go take a little bit of time off,” Alderman said. 

He was the No. 2 starter as a freshman and the No. 1 starter as a sophomore before being called up to varsity about halfway through the season, he said. At the time, the Titans had two top-notch starting pitchers on varsity in Harrison Lewis and Jack Vest. 

West Forsyth needed some relievers, so Bullard called up Alderman and Greyson Jones to help out in the bullpen. 

“I was confident. I’ve always been confident with my ability on the mound,” Alderman said. “I’ve never been the hardest thrower or had the best stuff, but I’ve always been confident in being able to get outs. 

Alderman played just two innings on varsity his sophomore season, but those two innings were beneficial. 

“What stood out the most was how different the atmosphere is,” he said. “It’s a lot more competitive. It definitely feels like there’s more pressure, but it was good to get some experience with that when I was younger and be ready for it for the next year.” 

McIntosh was an assistant coach on the varsity team when Alderman was a sophomore. Alderman started his junior season playing first base, but he moved to right field. 

“What I remember about helping Lucas his sophomore year was Lucas’s pitching performance at the beach during spring break,” McIntosh said. “And then as a junior last year Lucas kind of fell into our everyday right fielder.”

Alderman quickly became known as a jack of all trades as a baseball player at West Forsyth. 

“It was able to keep our lineup strong and keep (the) defense solid, too,” Alderman said.

However, pitching took a bit of a back seat during Alderman’s junior season. He only pitched four innings.

“I pitched three bullpens every practice and was always ready to pitch, but what I was told was that I was hitting really well, that they wanted to keep me focused on my hitting instead of pitching.” 

That agitated Alderman a little bit. 

“I’ve been a pitcher my whole life,” he said. “I’m always confident with what I have. As we always do, we had two good starters, but I wanted to get a few more innings of relief at least to get some experience. But I was hitting good. I hit over .400 in conference. I was having fun hitting.” 

McIntosh knew that Alderman wanted to pitch more as a junior. 

“Deep down he probably felt like he should’ve had some more innings last year,” McIntosh said. “We basically as coaches told him when your time comes take advantage of it. And he took advantage of it. You know, hindsight’s always better, but I’m glad he stuck with the pitching and followed our advice to continue to work as a pitcher because it sure paid off not only for him, but definitely with the Titans this year.” 

West Forsyth went 23-7 overall and 11-3 in the Central Piedmont in 2024. West Forsyth reached the quarterfinals of last year’s NCHSAA Class 4-A playoffs, losing to Asheville’s Roberson in the quarterfinals. So, Alderman, with the advice of McIntosh and the rest of the coaching staff, went to work to prepare for his senior season.

“It wasn’t one specific thing as we just needed him to be a little more confident, a little more consistent,” McIntosh said. “And it wasn’t necessarily, let’s go out and throw 90 miles an hour because that’s not in his body frame. It was just, ‘Let’s just throw strikes and limit the walks and let your defense work behind you because we know you’re a guy that’s going to pitch to contact.’” 

Once the conference games started this past season, Alderman had established himself as the team’s No. 2 starter behind Jones, meaning Alderman pitched mostly on Friday nights in the second game of a series against a conference team. 

“It definitely does (make me feel good), especially because I told (McIntosh) that I was confident I could help the team and that’s exactly what I showed him,” Alderman said.

According to McIntosh, Alderman finished this season 7-0 with an ERA below 2.00. Alderman’s performance this past season was so good that he caught the eye of the other seven coaches in the conference by being named All-Conference. 

“Never did we expect that,” McIntosh said. “We expected Lucas to be solid and Lucas to perform, he gave us more than we could ever ask. And by his strong pitching performance it probably took a little bit away from playing him on defense and some of his hitting performances.”

West Forsyth finished this season 23-5 overall and 14-0 in the Central Piedmont. It was the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, a tournament it had won three straight years. However, Davie County defeated West Forsyth 3-2 in the semifinals. 

“Going into playing Davie we had beat them twice pretty easily,” Alderman said. “And we had Greyson Jones on the mound, so we were confident going into it. He pitched a great game, but we couldn’t perform hitting that game. We left a lot of runners on base.” 

Despite the loss, West Forsyth was the No. 1 seed from the Central Piedmont in the state tournament and received the No. 5 seed in the Western Region. It defeated Charlotte’s Ardrey Kell 4-3 in the first round, Reagan 4-3 in the second round, South Iredell 2-1 in the third round, with the first three games played in Clemmons.  

In the quarterfinals last Friday, West Forsyth traveled to Waxhaw to take on No. 1 Cuthbertson and Alderman started. West Forsyth lost 7-6, ending the season. 

“Playing against the No. 1 seed was definitely a lot of pressure,” Alderman said. “I mean, their lineup top to bottom could hit.” 

The team gathered in right field after the Cuthbertson game. 

“You know anytime you lose seniors and lose a group it’s a special time,” McIntosh said. “And I just always hope that they continue to be a part of the Titan family that continues to keep in touch. And we always just wish them the best of luck and let them know that they’re always welcomed back at any point in time.” 

The coaching staff reminded Alderman and the rest of the Titans of what they had accomplished despite the loss. 

“Without him being that guy, we don’t win what we win and we’re not in the fourth round of the playoffs,” McIntosh said. 

Baseball is likely over for Alderman, who finished with a 4.4 GPA. He is going to N.C. State in the fall and hopes to major in biomedical engineering.  

“I’ll definitely miss baseball, but I’ll still see all my friends that I gained from baseball,” Alderman said. “But to me I’ll more miss spending the time with them.”