APA's Kravitz has coached 15 straight baseball conference champions
Arendell Parrott Academy baseball coach Robert Kravitz has won a division title each of his four years with the Patriots after picking up 11 straight at Lawrence Academy in Merry Hill. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News
By Junious Smith III
Arendell Parrott Academy’s 2019 baseball season may have ended in heartbreaking fashion, but the Patriots continued an impressive trend for their fourth-year head coach.
APA won its fifth consecutive conference title and fourth under head coach Robert Kravitz. Winning league titles is nothing new for Kravitz, who hasn’t coached a team to finish second or worse in a division throughout his 15-year career. Starting his coaching career in 2005 at Merry Hill Lawrence Academy, Kravitz reached the NCISAA 1A state championship game nine consecutive years. Although the Warriors lost in their first three trips to the title game, the team won six straight championships from 2008-13. Overall, his record is 335-98.
Kravitz hasn’t been able to pick up a state title since joining the Patriots in 2016 — one year after Hall of Fame coach George Whitfield guided the team to an NCISAA 2A championship — but APA has remained dangerous throughout.
"I've been very blessed to have coached at two great schools," Kravitz said. "I started at Lawrence Academy and coming to Parrott, I knew there was a rich tradition athletically and the administrators have definitely backed the program.
“I've also been blessed to have some well-rounded student-athletes here — they're not just good athletes here."
Matthew Huntley has played for APA since his freshman year — Kravitz’ first with the team — and said it has been a great experience.
"He allows us to have confidence in ourselves first and the skills will come," Huntley said. "The playoffs are nothing new to him and he knows what it takes to win, so we just took what he's taught us and applied it to the field."
Trey McLawhorn has also been coached by Kravitz for four years, starting in the eighth grade. The junior shared Huntley’s sentiments.
"He has a winning attitude and knows a lot about the game, which has really helped us get better as a team," McLawhorn said.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, the team’s season ended against Gaston Christian in the first round Tuesday, as a walkoff 3-run homer was the difference in a 7-6 loss. Kravitz said the team was very close-knit and didn’t slack throughout the season.
"This was a very gritty team," Kravitz said. "We may not have had as much talent as previous teams, but this was one of the hardest working I’ve coached and the chemistry was there the entire time. We knew we had the talent to beat any team and could be a tough out. We’ll look to bounce back next season."
