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GREENSBORO — There was no shortage of applicants when Southeast Guilford went looking for a head baseball coach last year.

The Falcons were three seasons removed from playing for a state title and had enough talent to make any would-be coach salivate. But athletics director Scott Smith found his man at a girls basketball game that winter, and he hadn't even applied for the job.

Dave Beasley, the longtime football and baseball coach at Southeast Middle School, had assisted Southeast girls basketball coach Shawyn Newton the last few seasons while his daughter Amy was the Falcons' star point guard. When Amy suffered a broken wrist just before her senior season, Dave only seemed to get more in tune with the team. Smith, impressed by Beasley's commitment to the job and aware of his 30 years coaching in the community, convinced him to submit an application for the baseball job.

Beasley, who sat out coaching last year for the first time in three decades, has guided Southeast (17-2) to the brink of the Metro 4-A title and a No. 12 ranking in the state by maxpreps.com.

All but two of the Falcons played for Beasley at Southeast Middle, where this senior class never lost and the juniors only lost once, snapping a six-year winning streak of more than 80 games.

The program got an infusion of energy this offseason with a renovation of its field, including a brick backstop that took until a few days before tryouts to complete, and Beasley has leaned heavily on assistant coaches James Mantanzo, former Southern Guilford coach Charlie Gamble III and his son, Storm and N.C. A&T legend Charlie Gamble IV, whom Beasley calls "a head coach in waiting." Mantanzo tracks every pitch in the dugout, a luxury Beasley cherishes for his pitch-calling duties, but jokes that, "I'm not even sure the kids remember what they've just seen."

People told Beasley to expect some offensive struggles, but the Falcons are averaging more than 10 runs a game the last three weeks behind junior shortstop Josh Tobias, who has already committed to Florida, and sophomore second baseman Blake Butler, who transferred from the defunct Veritas Academy and leads the team with a .436 batting average. That duo has turned 13 double plays.

Against Providence Grove, Southeast gave up six runs in the top of the first inning only to score 10 in the bottom half.

"That just shows me they don't get flustered," Beasley said. "They amaze me sometimes in games. I'm saying to myself, 'Dang, that's supposed to be a pretty good pitcher.' "

With each victory, Beasley has become more comfortable and more nervous at the same time. His message clearly has gotten through, but now the stakes are getting higher than he ever experienced at the middle school level. The Falcons are home against Dudley tonight, then play at fellow Metro 4-A leader Western Guilford on Friday.

Southeast has already beaten Western twice, but one of those wins came in a nonconference tournament, so they're still tied atop the conference standings with one loss each. With a fortuitous rotation of the state's conference seeding, the team that finishes first in the Metro will be the top overall seed in the West Region of the NCHSAA 4-A playoff bracket, ensuring home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Southeast, which has been without ace pitcher Dylan Shutt almost the entire season with a back injury, will start righthander Adam Kirkpatrick tonight and lefthander Ty Powell, who has both victories over Western this season, on Friday. Beasley said his Falcons, even-keeled all season, appear to appreciate the magnitude of the moment.

"They know what they can do. They just need to go out and do it," said Beasley, whose team was treated to a rainbow over the field at the conclusion of Monday's practice. "It's a good thing. You just hope they're not too nonchalant."

Beasley thought this would be the year he got out of coaching. He thinks he'll stay around awhile now.

"If you had told me last year I would be here right now, I'd have said you were crazy," Beasley said. "But the way it's fallen in place, I couldn't have had more fun. We still have a long way to go, but no matter what happens, it couldn't have gone better."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com