Lindsay to Fire Ants
On Monday, Clover HS senior RHP/INF Noah Lindsay made a commitment to play baseball at USC Sumter.
On Monday, Clover HS senior RHP/INF Noah Lindsay made a commitment to play baseball at USC Sumter.
On Sunday, Lexington HS junior LHP Jon Scott made a commitment to play baseball at The College of Charleston.
On Monday, York HS senior RHP Will McSwain made a commitment to play baseball at Erskine.
On Sunday afternoon, Dutch Fork HS junior OF Ward Hacklen made a commitment to play baseball at Clemson.
On Wednesday, Mauldin HS senior SS Grant Bodison made a commitment to play baseball at Spartanburg Methodist.
On Thursday, Hilton Head HS senior RHP/OF Ian Foggo made a commitment to play baseball at The Citadel.
On Wednesday night, Dillon senior RHP Austin Moody made a commitment to play baseball at Florence-Darlington Tech.
-Brendan Dougherty- Dougherty spent the last four seasons at Western Kentucky University helped produce one of the top offenses in the country in 2014 while aiding a defense that sported a .965 fielding percentage. WKU finished the regular season with the seventh most doubles in the nation (116) while ranking 18th in the country with 560 hits, 26th with a slugging percentage of .416 and 31st with a team batting average of .294. As a team, the Hilltoppers collected 10 or more hits in 31 games and out-hit their opponents on 37 occasions and five players finished with a batting average of .300 or better. Dougherty experienced success at the highest level as an assistant at Coastal Carolina, as the Chanticleers made five consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a berth in the Super Regionals in both 2008 and 2010. Also winning five consecutive conference regular season and tournament championships along with a perfect conference record of 29-0 in 2010. Before making the move to Coastal Carolina, Dougherty spent a pair of seasons as an assistant coach at Army. During Dougherty’s stay, the Black Knights won the Patriot League title and advanced to the NCAA Regionals. In Dougherty’s first year at West Point, he helped second baseman Nate Stone to an All-America honor from the American Baseball Coaches’ Association, becoming the first Army player in 40 years to accomplish that feat. Before Army, Dougherty spent the 2003 season at Auburn, working with the Tigers’ infielders, outfielders and catchers, while assisting with bunting and baserunning and helped Auburn to a #4 National Seed. Dougherty began his coaching career at Elon University, spending four years as the Phoenix’ hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator. During his time at Elon, Dougherty coached six all-conference performers and helped the Phoenix to their first NCAA Regional appearance in 2002. Dougherty played two seasons at Coastal Carolina (1996-97), hitting .287 with 40 RBI in 104 games, playing mainly at shortstop, setting Coastal Carolina’s single-season and career records for assists. Dougherty received his degree in interdisciplinary studies from Coastal Carolina in 1998. Before Coastal Carolina, Dougherty played at Potomac State Junior College, where he posted a .370 career batting average and was a third team All-American in 1994. He was named a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American the following year, while helping the school to a national championship. He also was named to the Junior College World Series All-Tournament team that season. Dougherty was inducted into the Potomac State Athletic Hall of Fame in the spring of 2008.
-Ryan Morris- Ryan was born in Mount Pleasant, SC. He grew up in Charlotte, NC and attended South Mecklenburg High School where he played under Hal Bagwell. After leading the Sabres to a high school State Championship and receiving the Charlotte Observer NC Player of the year his junior year, Ryan was ranked as the #1 high school player in NC and #17 overall high school prospect in the nation by Baseball America in 2006. He signed a Letter of Intent to play baseball at Clemson University, but decided to get a jump start on his professional career after being drafted in the 4th Round of the 2006 MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians. Ryan spent 6 seasons with the Cleveland Indians as a pitcher and was ranked #27 in the Indians top prospects in 2010. Unfortunately, he was forced to retire due to a career ending shoulder surgery in 2011. Since leaving the game he loved, Ryan has found an even bigger passion in coaching. He understands the value of time in baseball and wants to help keep players in the game for as long as they can possibly play! He has coached numerous youth travel teams (9u-18u) since 2011 and has been extremely successful since beginning his coaching career. Ryan describes his coaching methods as “old school”. He believes that hard work and dedication can take young athletes so far in this world. Ryan founded Performance Baseball of Charlotte in 2013. He was the Head Coach of the 11u Performance Travel Team. In 2014 he was the pitching Coach at Covenant Day High School before he and his wife moved to Charleston. He recently opened his own indoor training facility Fleet Baseball Academy in North Charleston which houses his Carolina Fleet travel teams. Ryan resides in Mt. Pleasant, SC with his wife Haley and daughter Oakley.
On Tuesday night, West Florence senior RHP/INF Blake Robinson made a commitment to play baseball at USC Sumter.