Nigel Mayfield
Ex-Bear earns historic win
Nigel Mayfield remembers both games vividly. He treasures them both and will likely never forget either one.
He recorded a three-inning, no-hit save to close out Baldwin High
School’s 5-1 win over Pearl
City in the
2016 state championship game.
Fast forward five years to Feb. 23 at Wesley Barrow Stadium in New Orleans, when Mayfield took the mound for Xavier University of Louisiana, an NAIA team that was playing baseball for the first time in 61 years.
After the Gold Rush lost the opener, Mayfield went the distance in the second game of a doubleheader, beating Bryant & Stratton of Albany, N.Y., 4-1. He faced just nine batters in the final three innings to nail down the historic win.
“Just coming off the mound, I was pumped, I was punching my glove, yelling,” Mayfield said via phone on Monday. “And then my team just surrounded me. I don’t want to say it reminded me of states in 2016, but it was just an awesome feeling. To know that I had been a part of something so special, I can’t wait for more.”
Mayfield couldn’t deny, the feeling of picking up the first win for his university in six decades was comparable to his unlikely save for the Bears in the state final.
He recorded that save in the state title game after making just two appearances during the 2016 season. He took the ball after four innings from freshman Kaipo Haole, who would go on to win another state crown in 2018 for the Bears and be named the 2019 Maui Interscholastic League Player of the Year.
“It’s crazy, they’re so close,” Mayfield said of the two games. “Definitely 1 and 2 to me — it’s hard to pick one. They’re up there. Now, that we’re talking about it, it kind of puts it in perspective.
“It feels great to be a part of two great events in two illustrious schools’ histories.”
After winning the 2016 state crown as a junior, Mayfield lived with Baldwin coach Craig Okita after his family moved to Louisiana. He then joined his family on the Mainland after graduation and played a stint at Nunez Junior College that included Tommy John surgery in 2018.
“It was a family, we had just won states and I really wanted to repeat, so it was kind of a no-brainer for me,” Mayfield said of moving in with Okita for his senior year at Baldwin. “Afterwards, I had a few offers to a few NAIA schools, but they weren’t great scholarships so I took my chances and moved in with my family in south Louisiana.”
The decision is paying off for both Mayfield and the Gold Rush.
“Aw man, having a player like Nigel is awesome, especially at a first-year program,” Xavier pitching coach Jeff De La Concha said. “He came in with a lot of experience being a junior college player, so we rely on him a lot. He’s our No. 2 guy right now in the pitching rotation and we just feel comfortable having him there and going out there and getting the job done.
“He has three very good pitches, he spots his pitches well, and he’s a competitor. That’s something that we look for in all our players. He goes out there and gets the job done.”
After getting hurt early in his time at Nunez, Mayfield had to rehab from the Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the 2018 season.
He earned a two-inning save with six strikeouts in the 2019 opener for NJC, “and then I stayed at Nunez for another year after that and I heard that Xavier was creating a team and I knew they hadn’t had a team in 60 years.”
Mayfield, who is a sophomore in eligibility, has never shied away from a unique baseball challenge. XULA is a Historically Black College and University.
“It had so much rich history and it being an HBCU down here, I get to stay in the city that I had been living outside of for two, three years,” Mayfield said. “I got to stay in my same apartment and just commuted every day.”
He admits, “the COVID year has been kind of tough, things have been a little disorganized at times, but we’ve got a great squad. We’ve got kids from all over, we’ve got kids from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rican kids, kids from New York. We’re winning games and I love it to be honest.”
Mayfield is a business management major, but he is thinking of coaching baseball when he finishes playing the game.
“I’ve actually talked to my coaches, they’ve brought it up about being a grad assistant, coming on to help,” he said.
First though, he is enjoying his ride with XULA.
“I love this team, everyone is so close,” he said. “I don’t want to say COVID has brought us closer, but in a way it has. We have to bubble up, stay within our team, can’t go out socially, so we just hang out together.”
His fastball is topping out at about 87 mph, but he wants to play the game as long as he can. He is set to play with the Batavia (N.Y.) Muddogs in a summer collegiate league after the season.
“It’s kind of hard to get looked at when you’re not in the 90s, but (independent) ball is always a possibility,” he said. “You always just have to keep your head down and work hard because you may not be getting the playing time now, things will happen to where you’ll get your chance.”