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Jon Placko, a 1996 Furman graduate, just completed his fourth season as an assistant coach with Paladin baseball working primarily with the squad’s hitters and in recruiting. A year ago he played a key role in Furman posting a 30-29 record, Southern Conference championship, and appearance in the NCAA Tournament–the program’s first since 1991. Placko is presently pursuing a career in scouting and serves as an associate scout for the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau. A California native, Placko graduated from Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, SC. Following two years at Brevard (NC) College, he transferred to Furman, where he earned a B.A. degree in health and exercise science in 1998. While at Brevard, he hit over .400 and earned All-Region X and Carolinas Junior College All-Conference honors while helping the Tornados to a conference tournament championship and appearance in the 1994 Junior College World Series. Later, in two seasons at Furman, he batted .317, swatted 28 doubles, racked up 50 stolen bases and earned All-Southern Conference and league all-tournament honors in 1996 after keying the Paladins to a 29-23 record, which at the time represented the most wins in Furman baseball history. Following graduation, Placko served as a volunteer assistant coach at Furman in 1998 and later as an assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach at Greenville’s Eastside High School in 2000. In 2002 he served as an assistant coach at Spartanburg Methodist College, helping the Pioneers to a 50-win season. Placko, 32, resides in Greenville with his wife, Ellie.    .

Jon Placko, a 1996 Furman graduate, just completed his fourth season as an assistant coach with Paladin baseball working primarily with the squad’s hitters and in recruiting. A year ago he played a key role in Furman posting a 30-29 record, Southern Conference championship, and appearance in the NCAA Tournament–the program’s first since 1991. Placko is presently pursuing a career in scouting and serves as an associate scout for the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau. A California native, Placko graduated from Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, SC. Following two years at Brevard (NC) College, he transferred to Furman, where he earned a B.A. degree in health and exercise science in 1998. While at Brevard, he hit over .400 and earned All-Region X and Carolinas Junior College All-Conference honors while helping the Tornados to a conference tournament championship and appearance in the 1994 Junior College World Series. Later, in two seasons at Furman, he batted .317, swatted 28 doubles, racked up 50 stolen bases and earned All-Southern Conference and league all-tournament honors in 1996 after keying the Paladins to a 29-23 record, which at the time represented the most wins in Furman baseball history. Following graduation, Placko served as a volunteer assistant coach at Furman in 1998 and later as an assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach at Greenville’s Eastside High School in 2000. In 2002 he served as an assistant coach at Spartanburg Methodist College, helping the Pioneers to a 50-win season. Placko, 32, resides in Greenville with his wife, Ellie.    .

May Round-Up By: Austin Alexander June 1, 2006   The month of May brought about plenty of good weather as quality playoff baseball gave way to summer tournaments across South Carolina. Four champions were crowned last month and Diamond Prospects brought you the top coverage! Now, Diamond Prospects crunches the numbers and breaks down some of the highlights from the past 30 days.   Diamond Prospects Statistics: Teams covered-36 High School games seen-17 College games seen-8 Fields-13 Rainouts-0 Miles traveled-1,921 Pitchers serving as cut-off man-2 Coaches without rosters-5 Coaches with cell phones clipped to their belt-1 Hitters “rung up” by umpire on strike two-1 Total hits on www.TheDiamondProspects.com-698,715 Top 5 hits on website-1) Palmetto Prospects-5370, 2) Diamond Rankings-4035, 3) Player Profiles-3650, 4) Commitments-2524 and 5) Playoff Probables-1878   Quickest game: Indian Land at Landrum, 1:29 Best game: (tie) College of Charleston 5 The Citadel 4 in the Southern Conference championship game, AC Flora 10 Pickens 9 in the AAA Upper State Playoffs. Best comeback: Down 3-2 run in the last inning to the Upstate Mavericks, the South Carolina Diamond Devils loaded the bases with two outs. They took the lead on a swinging bunt where the only play became a force out at the plate. The pitchers feed ended up at the backstop to plate two, two more runs followed for a 6-3 win. Best home to first time: Alex Dozier (Dorman HS) 3.83 on a bunt Best home to first time (turn): Alex Lee (Blythewood HS) 4.28 Best pop time: Logan Bland (Bishop England HS) 1.88 in between innings Longest homerun: Evan Jumper (Gilbert HS) Top Web Gems: 1) Logan Daniels (Dutch Fork HS) playing centerfield, Daniels made an incredible reaching grab while crashing at full speed into the right-centerfield fence; he came up throwing and doubled off the runner at first base to end the inning, 2) Scott Wingo (Mauldin HS) playing second base, turning on a soft-liner to right made a fully extended diving snag to steal a single Tallest player: Matt Branham (Spring Valley HS) 6’5” Shortest player: Ryan Saxon (Wade Hampton HS) 5’6” Best pitcher’s duel: Lake View 2 Landrum 1 in Game 3 of the 1A State Championship (Bart Flowers vs Alex Burrell) Most dominant pitching performance: Nick Chigges (Richland-Northeast HS, 2003) in the Southern Conference tournament. He threw a 3-hit, complete game shutout in the College of Charleston’s 1-0 win over Western Carolina. Hardest fastball: Graham Godfrey (College of Charleston), 95 MPH Best baseball name: Wingo apparently…In three consecutive games at James Island on Memorial Day, a Wingo made his presence felt. In Game 1, Scott and Gaston solidified the right side of the Upstate Maverick infield. In Game 2, Drew (no relation) caught for the South Carolina Diamond Devils. Game 3 saw Brad, the older brother of Scott and Gaston, coach against Drew. Drew ended the day 2-0 while the brother’s’ Wingo finished winless on the day. Note-All three Wingo’s hail from Mauldin. Cleanest round of pre-game: Gilbert HS Top Fungo Guy: Right-handed-Ashley Burnett (Gilbert HS), Left-handed-Chris Bates (Riverside HS) Best Dressed Evaluator: Greg Schilz (Pittsburgh Pirates) Attendance Award-Scout: Greg Schilz (Pittsburgh Pirates) Attendance Award-College: Scott Brickman (Wofford) Best Catcher’s Pop-up: Robbie Huffstetler (Elon) Best Argument with an Umpire: Ron Smith (Furman) and Mike Kennedy (Elon), at the same time Best line from a mom in the bleachers: “You are stupid Blue!” Longest National Anthem: White Knoll Best Playing Surface: Riley Park, White Knoll Best pre-game tunes: Aynor February Round-Up March Round-Up April Round-Up .

May Round-Up By: Austin Alexander June 1, 2006   The month of May brought about plenty of good weather as quality playoff baseball gave way to summer tournaments across South Carolina. Four champions were crowned last month and Diamond Prospects brought you the top coverage! Now, Diamond Prospects crunches the numbers and breaks down some of the highlights from the past 30 days.   Diamond Prospects Statistics: Teams covered-36 High School games seen-17 College games seen-8 Fields-13 Rainouts-0 Miles traveled-1,921 Pitchers serving as cut-off man-2 Coaches without rosters-5 Coaches with cell phones clipped to their belt-1 Hitters “rung up” by umpire on strike two-1 Total hits on www.TheDiamondProspects.com-698,715 Top 5 hits on website-1) Palmetto Prospects-5370, 2) Diamond Rankings-4035, 3) Player Profiles-3650, 4) Commitments-2524 and 5) Playoff Probables-1878   Quickest game: Indian Land at Landrum, 1:29 Best game: (tie) College of Charleston 5 The Citadel 4 in the Southern Conference championship game, AC Flora 10 Pickens 9 in the AAA Upper State Playoffs. Best comeback: Down 3-2 run in the last inning to the Upstate Mavericks, the South Carolina Diamond Devils loaded the bases with two outs. They took the lead on a swinging bunt where the only play became a force out at the plate. The pitchers feed ended up at the backstop to plate two, two more runs followed for a 6-3 win. Best home to first time: Alex Dozier (Dorman HS) 3.83 on a bunt Best home to first time (turn): Alex Lee (Blythewood HS) 4.28 Best pop time: Logan Bland (Bishop England HS) 1.88 in between innings Longest homerun: Evan Jumper (Gilbert HS) Top Web Gems: 1) Logan Daniels (Dutch Fork HS) playing centerfield, Daniels made an incredible reaching grab while crashing at full speed into the right-centerfield fence; he came up throwing and doubled off the runner at first base to end the inning, 2) Scott Wingo (Mauldin HS) playing second base, turning on a soft-liner to right made a fully extended diving snag to steal a single Tallest player: Matt Branham (Spring Valley HS) 6’5” Shortest player: Ryan Saxon (Wade Hampton HS) 5’6” Best pitcher’s duel: Lake View 2 Landrum 1 in Game 3 of the 1A State Championship (Bart Flowers vs Alex Burrell) Most dominant pitching performance: Nick Chigges (Richland-Northeast HS, 2003) in the Southern Conference tournament. He threw a 3-hit, complete game shutout in the College of Charleston’s 1-0 win over Western Carolina. Hardest fastball: Graham Godfrey (College of Charleston), 95 MPH Best baseball name: Wingo apparently…In three consecutive games at James Island on Memorial Day, a Wingo made his presence felt. In Game 1, Scott and Gaston solidified the right side of the Upstate Maverick infield. In Game 2, Drew (no relation) caught for the South Carolina Diamond Devils. Game 3 saw Brad, the older brother of Scott and Gaston, coach against Drew. Drew ended the day 2-0 while the brother’s’ Wingo finished winless on the day. Note-All three Wingo’s hail from Mauldin. Cleanest round of pre-game: Gilbert HS Top Fungo Guy: Right-handed-Ashley Burnett (Gilbert HS), Left-handed-Chris Bates (Riverside HS) Best Dressed Evaluator: Greg Schilz (Pittsburgh Pirates) Attendance Award-Scout: Greg Schilz (Pittsburgh Pirates) Attendance Award-College: Scott Brickman (Wofford) Best Catcher’s Pop-up: Robbie Huffstetler (Elon) Best Argument with an Umpire: Ron Smith (Furman) and Mike Kennedy (Elon), at the same time Best line from a mom in the bleachers: “You are stupid Blue!” Longest National Anthem: White Knoll Best Playing Surface: Riley Park, White Knoll Best pre-game tunes: Aynor February Round-Up March Round-Up April Round-Up .