Teams

By: David List – February 23, 2009 The Aiken High Hornets are primed with a very experienced team to make a run at the Region 4, 4A title. That will be a tough task as realignment has brought eight teams into the region, which was traditionally a very tough six team region.  Coach Derek Luton’s team will be led by Thomas Timmerman and Greg Milanes (right) both in the field and at the plate. These two should log their share of time on the mound during the 2009 campaign as well. Underclassmen support should come from Bryce Clifton, Spencer McCants, Bobby Hass and Hanlon Maivelett. 60 Times  Name  Class  60 Time  Greg Milanes  12  7.35  Thomas Timmerman  12  6.75  Robbie Wiesner  12  7.45  Jimmy Bass  12  7.70  Hunter Scott  12  6.85  Kessler Scott  12  6.90  Hudson Smith  12  7.22  Bobby Hass  11  7.71  Bryce Clifton  11  7.20  Spencer McCants  11  7.65  Cody Heath  11  7.44  Zack Madden  11  7.47  Bren Wilson  11  7.41  Hanlon Maivelett  10  7.44   Catchers-Pop Times  Name  Grade  Time  Bobby Hass  11  2.09-2.19  Hanlon Maivelett  10  2.19-2.25   Top Outfield Arms  Rank  Name  Grade  1  Greg Milanes  12  2  Kessler Scott  12  3  Hunter Scott  12  4  Hudson Smith  12  5  Robbie Wiesner  12   Top Infield Arms  Rank  Name  Grade  1  Spencer McCants  11  2  Thomas Timmerman  12  3  Cody Heath  11  4  Ben Wilson  11  5  Zach Madden  11   Top Infield Actions  Rank  Name  Grade  1  Spencer McCants  11  2  Zach Madden  11  3  Thomas Timmerman  12  4  Cody Heath  11  5  Bren Wilson  11   Top BP Round/Swing  Rank  Name  Grade  1  Thomas Timmerman  12  2  Greg Milanes  12  3  Hudson Smith  12  4  Robbie Wiesner  12  5  Bryce Clifton  11  6  Hanlon Maivelett  10  7  Hunter Scott  12   Bullpens  Name  Grade  R/L  FB  CB  CH  Notes  Greg Milanes  12  R  81-82  71-72  76-77  CB:True 12-6 movement. CH: shows depth  Thomas Timmerman  12  R  81-83  72/sl-75  73  SL is a plus pitch at times-out pitch  Kessler Scott  12  R  79-81  70  —  CB is 12-6 with some depth  Jimmy Bass  12  R  75  63-64  —    Bryce Clifton  11  L  77-78  65  69-70  Good arm action with plus depth when throwing the curve. Armside movement on CH  Bren Wilson  11  R  76-77  62-65 slurve  67    Zach Madden  11  R  73-75  61  61 knuckle  Throws a bunch of different pitches DP Note: All velocity readings were recorded with a Stalker radar gun.   Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Grade  Position  1  Thomas Timmerman  12  2B/SS  2  Greg Milanes  12  OF  3  Spencer McCants  11  SS  4  Hanlon Maivelett  10  C  5  Bryce Clifton  11  P/1B Note: Prospect Rankings are based on the player’s current ability level combined with how he projects at the next level.

By: Nick Nickles – February 21, 2009 DP was in Easley on Saturday to host a 9-inning scrimmage and a three-way scrimmage. Blue Ridge took on Chesnee in the morning 9 inning exhibition and Spartanburg, BHP and Easley would battle it out in the afternoon. Cooler temperatures did slow velocities, but talent would show itself even through the conditions. We had a great day of baseball and we will bring you all the action of how the day unfolded. -Game Summary- Game 1: Blue Ridge 4 Chesnee 1, 9 innings A close game that was dominated by pitching on both sides early finally gave way late to big hits by Blue Ridge’s Chase Corn and Mac Bragg. Cole Robison (right) started for Blue Ridge and was dominating striking out six in three innings. Chesnee’s Brandon Henderson would allow no earned runs in 4 innings of work, but the Eagles could never get the offense in the right gear. Game 2: BHP 9 Spartanburg 2, 5 innings Brody Greer would lead the offensive charge with a double and a homer in the rout of Spartanburg. Bear’s senior Matthew Moore contributed two RBI on two hits and freshman Andrew Cox chipped in two RBI on two hits in the win. Spartanburg got a great starting effort out of Ryan Traylor before the Bears would snack on the bullpen. Nicholas Myers had the lone offensive highlight for Spartanburg with a 2-rbi single. Game 3: Easley 7 Spartanburg 0, 5 innings Stuart King drove in two runs from the bottom of the order to propel Easley to an easy win over Spartanburg. Brandon Smith and Kilby Lesley combined for the shutout win on the mound for the Greenwave. Game 4: Easley 0 BHP 0, 5 innings Easley’s Sammy Nix was crafty through 4-innings and BHP used a committee of pitchers while each team’s staff blanked the offenses through 5 innings. Each team had chances to score but the pitchers proved to escape each time runners moved into scoring position. This was a well played baseball game by both teams. ————————————————– -Chesnee Eagles- This is a young team that is looking to contend in the 2A upper-state title hunt. The Eagles have only one senior on the ballclub. They will be led by junior LHP Brandon Henderson (left) who will be an extremely tough draw for opponents. Henderson will be complimented with a solid number two arm in junior RHP Dustin Sherbert. Offensively, the Eagles will be young but they have a couple of hitters in Colby Painter, Jordan Garrett, and Steven Cantrell that could provide enough offense at the front of the order to have Chesnee competing deep in the postseason. The Eagles have a head coach with a little bit of experience in Dean Jones. Coach Jones, age 70, is approaching 700 wins threw BP to every hitter on his club before their game with Blue Ridge!!!   60 Times  Name  Class  60 Time  Darnell Spurry  Sr  7.53  Cody Turner  So  7.23  Brandon Henderson  Jr  8.12  Steven Cantrell  Jr  7.22  Ryan Mitchell  Jr  7.41  Clint Cooper  So  8.15  Dustin Sherbert  Jr  7.85  Jordan Garrett  So  7.68  Taylor Waldrop  Jr  7.47  Walt Miller  So  7.28  David Jones  Jr  7.75  Colby Painter  So  7.47  Charlie Towery  So  7.67  Kyle Wilkinson  So  8.01  Chandler Freeman  So  7.97 Pitchers   Name  YR  R/L  FB  BB  CH  Brandon Henderson  Jr LHP  80-83  68-73 mixed in a few plus CB’s 71-74   Jordan Garrett  So RHP  76-78  67  71   Steven Cantrell  Jr RHP  73-74      Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Class  Scout Notes  1  Brandon Henderson  Jr  LHP with some upside. Flashes 3 pitches for strikes. Gives hints of pitchability. Investment could pay off nicely for this pitcher’s suitors   T-2  Colby Painter  So  Swings it from the left side. Showed pop with decent backspin in BP. A hitter to watch  T-2  Steven Cantrell  JR  Displayed smoothness in actions and made several nice plays at SS though 2B may be his future position. He added a solid single as well.  4  Jordan Garrett  So  Led off the game with a hit and spanked the ball around a little during BP.  5  Dustin Sherbert  Jr He didnt pitch today, but has flashed low to mid 80’s stuff with a decent spinner.      -Blue Ridge Tigers- The Tiger’s are a typical Steve Goodwin disciplined type of club. They make the routine plays, they know where they are supposed to be, and they always give themselves a chance to win the ballgame. Junior LHP Cole Robison can pitch and will lead the staff. He adds and subtracts very efficiently, and collects a surprising number of strikeouts. He’s going to win some games. Chase Corn and Brandon Wooten will have plenty of opportunities to contribute innings as well. Blue Ridge plays in a very tough conference in Region 3-3A where nothing will come easy, but this team will play a factor in how things will shape up in that conference. 60 Times  Name  Class  60 Time  Cody Vaughn  Jr  7.50  Chas Goodwin  Jr  7.63  Chas Williams  So  7.75  Dillion Epps  Sr  7.31  Luke Black  Jr  7.69  Mac Bragg  Jr  7.62  Brandon Wooten  So  7.97  Ryan Reeves  Sr  8.31  Chase Corn  Jr  7.47  Rusty Rainey  So  8.16  Tripp Owenby  So  7.63  Dustin Snow  Jr  –  Cole Robinson  Jr  8.00 Pitchers  Name  Yr  R/L  FB  BB  CH  Cole Robison  Jr  LHP  75-78  58-60  63-68  Brandon Wooten  Jr  RHP  82-81  67-68  73  Chase Corn  Jr  LHP  77-80  68-70  68-69 Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Class  Scout Notes  1  Cole Robison  Jr  Adds and subtracts with the best of them. Pitched in, pitched out, elevated, flipped changes, and punched out 6 in three innings. He can pitch!!!  2  Chase Corn  Jr  LHP with a good delivery and smooth arm action.  3  Brandon Wooten  So  81-82 from a solid frame with some depth on the breaking ball   4  Luke Black  Jr  Solid HS infield surprising pop from small frame. Should hit for a decent average.  5  Chas Goodwin  Jr Swing has improved. Puts dent in opposition’s run game from catching position. 1200 SAT score.   -BHP Bears- …

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By: Austin Alexander & Sterling Dye – February 21, 2009 Frigid temperatures greeted Diamond Prospects on Saturday morning but eventually gave way to sunny skies, comfortable weather and a great afternoon of baseball by some evenly matched perennial contenders. As Opening Day of the prep season nears, pitch counts are being to be extended and what occurs between the lines begin to take on more meaning as teams put the finishing touch on their line-ups and rotations. This day proved productive for the five clubs that landed at Brookland-Cayce, so let’s recap! -Game Summary- Game 1: Airport 14 Southside Christian 2, 8 innings  Airport jumped out to a 14-0 lead in this one, assisted by a three-run homerun off the bat of junior catcher Zack Hawley. That was all the Airport pitchers would need, highlighted by the work of W.T. Murden (right), who no-hit Southside in his three innings of work. Southside would finally get on the board with two runs in the sixth on back-to-back RBI singles off the bat of Christian McClure and Austin McClure. Game 2: Sumter 5 Brookland-Cayce 5, 5 innnings The Bearcats sprinted out to an early cushion with four first inning runs, highlighted by Zack Warner’s 2-run double. Sumter’s Tyler Smith (left) paced a late offensive charge with a two-RBI double of his own, eventually leading to a 5-5 tie. Game 3: Sumter 7 Stratford 6, 5 innings Patric Limehouse had a 2-run double to spark a 4-run second inning for Stratford. The Gamecocks erased another early deficit on Tyler Smith’s 2-run homer and a five run fifth to give them a 7-6 advantage. Game 4: Stratford 1 Brookland-Cayce 0, 5 innings Stratford junior Chris Hanna controlled the tempo of this affair with a 1-hit effort over 5 scoreless innings. BC’s Jeremy Brazzell nearly matched him in this nightcap quicky. Stratford’s lone run was scored on a walk, error and RBI groundout. ——————————————————- -Airport Eagles- Airport High School has had their share of talented players through the years, but has not been able to piece it all together for a deep playoff run. They are trying to buck the trend with this year’s squad. Led by junior RHP W.T. Murden and junior 2B Lucas Knight (left). The Eagles are a young team that has some talent, but will have to go through a tough region with Brookland-Cayce and South Aiken this year. Coach John Johnson‘s team is junior laden and looking forward to a good year. Pitchers  Name  Class  R/L  FB  CB/SL  CH  W.T. Murden  Jr  R  83-86  69/71-73, solid downer   75  Derek Cushman  Jr  R  79-82  70  74  Stuart Pound  Jr  R  78-80  64/72-74  –  Zack Hawley  Jr  R  76-77  –  –  Zack Sightler  Fr  R  75-76  –  – Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Class  Pos  Scout Notes  1  W.T. Murden  Jr RHP/OF  Murden pounded the zone with mid-80’s fastballs and a slider that will miss plenty of bats. He is an excellent athlete and will be a D-1 football recruit at the QB position. He runs well and has very good range in the outfield. Could be an interesting baseball option for schools if he does the baseball circuit this summer.  2  Lucas Knight  Jr  2B Knight is a very good high school middle infielder. He has good actions and a good enough arm for shortstop. He hits leadoff for the Eagles and is the catalyst for their entire offense. He barrels his share of balls and is a leader on the field.  3  Zack Hawley  Jr  C/RHP  Hawley is a quality hitter with plenty of juice in his stick. He is an adequate backstop and was throwing in the 2.15-2.2 range between innings. -Southside Christian Sabres- The Sabres hope to make a run in the 1A playoff race led by senior OF/RHP Will Gladden and Christian McClure. They had a tough day today, but they will prove to be a scrappy team that will fight to the finish and be in position to win plenty of games in the 2009 season. Pitchers  Name  Class  R/L  FB  CB/SL  CH  Josh Olson  So  R  78-80  68-70  –  Will Gladden  Sr  R  75-77  65  –  Christian McClure  Jr  R  69-72  –  –  Grant Holt  Sr  R  68-71  –  – Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Class  Pos  Scout Notes  1  Will Gladden  Sr  OF/RHP  North Greenville commit is a solid outfielder who can run a little bit. He hits leadoff for the Sabres and is their spark plug. Solid arm from the outfield.  2  Christian McClure  Jr  3B/RHP McClure can swing it and has potential for some pop down the road. He has a good frame and an average arm at third.  3  Grant Holt  Sr  1B  Big body at first and swings it pretty good in the clean-up role for Southside.   -Brookland-Cayce Bearcats- Brian Hucks group is always well-prepared, even in February. The challenge that he and his staff will have in the early going is winning with an offense that returns 1 player with 20+ AB’s from 2009. They will rely offensively on precise execution and young bats, led by sophomore Chase Shelton, at the top of the line-up. Fortunate for B-C, they have quality arms to lean on in seniors James Hall (left) and Jeremy Brazzell (right), to go with emerging sophomore Michael Gilroy. Though the names may not be as recognizable or established, don’t bet against the 2009 Bearcats. Pitchers  Name  Class  R/L  FB  CB/SL  CH  James Hall  Sr  R  85-86  CB 67-70/SL 77-78  77  Alex Nettles  Sr  R  76-77 sink  64-65  –  Jeremy Bazzell  Sr  R  84-86  71  65-75 ++  Michael Gilroy  So  L  81-83  70 slurve  72 Top Prospects: To view BC’s Scout Day on January 13, click here. Alumni Update: In between innings at Brookland-Cayce on Saturday, the press box speakers piped out the radio broadcast from USC’s grand opening versus Duquesne on the other side of the bridge. When last year’s Diamond King Adam Westmoreland took the mound in relief, it drew a buzz around the ballpark. The Bearcat graduate eventually worked 3 scoreless innings, …

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By: Nick Nickles-February 14, 2009 Talent overflowed at DP’s 8-Team Scrimmage/Scout Day in Boiling Springs on Saturday. A posse of scouts, rival high school coaches, passionate fans of Boiling Springs and respected team fans filled up the venue for an outstanding day of baseball. Ten pitchers would prove to be 88 or better and four guys touched 90 and even an unsigned senior appeared on the radar throwing 86. There was something for all baseball people with this display of talent. The players kept rolling out and DP put tabs on all of the prospects. The top bolt on the day was 93 MPH and the fastest 60 time was 6.53! Now it is time to break down the events of the day! -Game Summary- Game 1: Hillcrest 13 Gaffney 5 Hillcrest thrashed out 18 hits led by Dominique Anderson and Cameron Yost who each tallied three hits apiece. The Hillcrest staff would be stingy on Saturday only allowing 2 hits through the first 6 innings of play. The Rams overcame an early 3-1 deficit by posting 15 hits in the final 4 innings. Game 2: Riverside 9 Laurens 1, 7 innings A new Head Coach present in Mark Kish but the same Riverside type of results. Wil Leathers collected two hits and Kevin Cantrell homered for the Warriors. Matt Pegler’s (right) stuff looked very promising as well as the other six pitchers that threw 84 MPH or better on the day for Riverside. Game 3: T.L. Hanna 19 Dorman 5 Wow! If there has ever been such thing as an upset in a scrimmage, this lopsided event would have to be near the top. Hanna assaulted Dorman pitching, and their pitching controlled the potent Dorman lineup. Brandon Herring paced the Yellow Jackets with 3 hits and 2 stolen bases and Garret Boulware added 3 hits as well in the winning effort. Game 4: Boiling Springs 19 J.L. Mann 3 Jeff Lipscomb’s kids always come ready to fight every inning and win. Taylor Hollifield, Hunter Rice and Cameron Holmes lead the offensive charge and combined to drive in 8 runs against Mann. This one got out of hand early for J.L. Mann following a slew of walks and back-to back 6-run innings in the 4th and 5th innings. -Hillcrest Rams- The Rams are not flashy, but they can be quite dangerous. They run several low 80’s pitchers to the mound with pitchability led by junior Shane Thurston. Dominique Anderson is the sparkplug to the offense and their 2 through 6 hitters presents no easy outs. All nine starters recorded a hit in the scrimmage. Hillcrest will throw a loop into Region-II 4A before its over this season. 60 Times  Name  Class  60 Time  Phillip Worthington Sr  7.25  Andrew Potts Jr  7.44  Shane Thurston Jr  7.36  Trey Tuten Sr  7.57  Zach McAllister Jr  7.45  Marshall Moore Jr  7.59  James Abercrombie Sr  7.53  Trayce Rogers Jr  7.49  Johnathan Jones Jr  7.40  Cameron Jones Jr  7.10  Dominique Anderson Sr  6.97  Zachary Morgan Jr  7.40  Keith Orr Sr  7.27  Ryan Short Jr  8.18  Perry Case Jr  7.89 Pitchers  Name  Grade  R/L  FB  CB  CH  Shane Thurston  Jr  R  80-82 arm-side run  69  73-75 sinks  Ryan Short  Jr  R  80-81    67-68  Perry Case  Jr  R  80-82  64-66 sharp breaker  71-73 Top Prospects  Rank  Name Class  Pos  Scout Notes  1  Kirk Shelley  Jr  C  Shelley can hit at a premium position. He’s good for a rip a game  2  Dominique Anderson  Sr  OF  Athletic OF, aggressive with some pop, solid feel for the game  3  Cameron Yost  Sr  SS  Can pick it in the INF, solid left-handed bat with plenty of experience  4  Zach McAllister  Jr  OF  Battling the injury bug, but has flashed signs of promise at the plate over the last year  5  Trace Rogers  Jr  INF  High school version of Marcus Giles -Gaffney Indians- Gaffney is a solid group that is favored to win Region-III 4A. They will be led by junior Tyler Wilson (right) on the mound, and they will need Bobby Jackson to regain the promise he showed at the Palmetto Games in August to make a serious run in the playoffs. This group has a lot of experience, and they have high expectations for their club in 2009. 60’s  Name  Grade  Time  Matt Lester  Sr  7.6  Michael Wright  Fr  7.69  McCrae Norton  Sr  7.20  Bo Davidson  Sr  7.62  Bubba Wright  Sr  –  Bobby Jackson  Sr  7.70  Michael Hughey  Sr  7.52  Bradley Ruppe  Sr  7.6  Jared Mills  So  7.5  Thomas Goode  Sr  7.53  Tyler Wilson  Jr  7.62  John Michaels  Sr  7.43  Nick Mabry  Sr  7.35  Josh Matta  Fr  7.71  Cameron Culp  Sr  7.17 Pitchers  Name  Class  R/L  FB  BB  CH  Tyler Wilson  Jr  RHP  88-91 heavy w/life  74-77  77-78 +pitch today  Bobby Jackson  Sr  RHP  81-84  67-72  71-78  Cameron Culp  Sr  RHP  81-84  72-73  70-71  Michael Wright  Fr  RHP  82-85  69-70  71-72 Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Class  Scout Notes  1  Tyler Wilson  Jr  Big bodied, strong arm kid blessed with a low-90’s fastball. He should attract serious pro attention this summer and next season  2  Josh Matta  Fr  He’s very comfortable with a bat in his hands, and has a chance to be a top flight hitter  3  Bobby Jackson  Sr   He’s missing some velo and that’s a slight cause for concern for the Indians.  4  Michael Wright  Fr  A 2012 showing some velo early in his career  5  Cameron Culp  Sr  6’3” long and lean frame gives him a chance to become better down the road  6  John Michaels  Sr  Athletic frame with power should benefit from concentrating on just baseball in college -Laurens Raiders- Travis Burnside and Dre Watts (right) are finally seniors, but Laurens has continued to graduate solid players over the past two years that helped take the load off the two stars. Laurens is young in areas and they will need to gain experience quickly. Burnside really struggled on the mound and Laurens will have to have him in old form to contend. At the end of the day, Laurens will …

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By: Austin Alexander – February 14, 2009 After a week of flawless weather and temps in the 70’s, we were forced into an ‘iffy’ radar that created some preliminary concern over playing conditions. But we started on time, suffered no delays and the day went off without a hitch as six teams converged on Conway High School Saturday for part of Diamond Prospects’ Valentine’s Day doubleheader. Just looking at the resume that was set to roll in, we had three teams ranked in the Top 5 of their respective classifications and Diamond Prospects’ top junior in Wando’s Drew Cisco (right) and #1 sophomore Shon Carson (left) of Lake City. We also were privy to a viewing of arguably the top unsigned senior in Dillon’s Travis Murphy. Oh by the way, elite players who are also nationally ranked and were on hand, Conway senior Colby Holmes and Wando’s power-hitting ’09 Daniel Aldrich. While the exploits of the aforementioned standouts did not disappoint, it was the bat of Wando sophomore Connor Bright and the arm of Carolina Forest senior Josh Knab that turned in, perhaps, the best performances of the day. -Game Summary- Game 1: Carolina Forest 7 Dillon 2 Carolina Forest jumped out front early with a 5-run first inning, paced by Justin Turbeville and Travis Parker on two RBI singles by both. Josh Knab (right) was dominant in his two innings as the Panther starter. Game 2: Wando 19 Socastee 0, 8 innings The Warriors unloaded for 10 runs in the first inning on a pair of homers by Connor Bright (left) and a 2-run shot by Robbie Dodds. They never looked back as five Wando pitchers kept Socastee at bay. Game 3: Conway 17 Lake City 9, 8 innings A see-saw affair for the balance of the nightcap turned a bit sloppy when the sun began to set. Conway’s Michael Frazier and Cannon Jordan turned in big night’s with the bat as the Tigers late surge turning this affair into a convincing victory. ———————————————– -Lake City Panthers-  The Panthers have athletes galore, are well-coached and can grind out at bats. Plenty of speed graces the Lake City line-up, led by sophomore sensation Shon Carson, who turned in a 6.37/60 on a side field Saturday and he spent eight innings showing off his array of skills. Two seniors have already signed to play at the next level, Shane Miles (Charleston Southern) and Reggie Weatherford (Spartanburg Methodist), pictured right. Question marks on the mound will be something that skipper Jason Cook will deal with for balance of the season and could eventually determine what kind of playoff run they make.  60’s  Name  Class  60  Shon Carson  So  6.37  Shane Miles  Sr  6.84  Devan Barr  Jr  7.22  Andrew Hall  So  7.78  Sheldon Robinson  Jr  6.69  Brice James  Sr  7.40  Reggie Weatherford  Sr  6.87  Michael Hyman  Jr  6.84  Patrick Floyd  Jr  7.70  Elliott Braxton  Sr  7.09  Tyler McClam  Jr  7.94  Justin Owens  Fr  7.69  Antwon Wallace  Jr  7.00  Shareef Green  Fr  7.28  Zach Holt  Jr  7.54 Pitchers  Name  Class  R/L  FB  CB/SL  CH  Shane Miles  Sr  R  78-81  67  –  Shon Carson  So  R  77-80  –  –  Zach Holt  Jr  R  75  68  –  Justin Owens  Fr  R  78-79  59  – Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Class  Pos  Scout Notes  1  Shon Carson  So  INF/OF  Can really run and his speed translates on the basepaths and in the field; Serious bat-speed and power with a very high ceiling  2  Shane Miles  Sr  OF  Improved bat with some pop and speed to go with good baseball savvy  3  Reggie Weatherford  Sr  INF  LHH that profiles at 2B or LF; added strength to his frame will lend itself to extra base pop down the road  4  Zach Holt  Jr  1B/3B  Juice in bat, centered some balls in the middle of the field that had plenty of "carry"; recent transfer to Lake City will prove to be a quality pick-up  5  Sheldon Robinson  Jr  OF  Tremendous athlete with speed and the hint that he’ll hit; like many multi-sport athletes, amount of time on baseball field will determine his ceiling  6  Elliott Braxton  Sr  C  Very small frame but plays big; good receiver with solid and accurate arm; would be a good pick-up for smaller school needing athleticism behind the plate -Dillon Wildcats- The Wildcats overcame an early deficit on Saturday and never stopped battling as they used four arms, led by Travis Murphy (right), that should be able to pull valuable outs in 2009. Dillon is very strong up the middle defensively and has good athletes up and down the line-up. Ranked as DP’s Pre-season #1 in 2A baseball, they will need to get Jay Harrison back to form and answer some questions at shortstop when Murphy moves to the mound. Expect to see this club right in the post-season hunt again this spring. 60’s  Name  Class  60  Jarvis Breeden  Sr  7.37  Kevin Dixon  Sr  6.78  Travis Murphy  Sr  6.90  Anthony Smith  Sr  7.08 Pitchers  Name  Class  R/L  FB  CB/SL  CH  Robbie Brown  Jr  L  80-83  –  –  Jay Harrison  Sr  R  78-80  60-61  –  Travis Murphy  Sr  R  85-87  65-71  66-69, solid  Phillip Herring  Sr  R  81-83  67-68  – Top Prospects  Rank  Name  Class  Pos  Scout Notes  1  Travis Murphy  Sr  RHP  Good athlete with live arm, solid CH and improving CB; Wirey frame with fastball that has been up to 90; un-signed senior with pro ability  2  Anthony Smith  Sr  OF  Pro body and tools but very raw; more AB’s and time on the baseball field would prove huge toward his development;  3  Phillip Herring  Sr  C  Has made big strides behind the plate, in the box and his frame has filled out; athletic catcher that can receive well and is a very accurate thrower with solid arm  4  L’Twane Thompson  Sr  OF  LHH with flat, slashing swing that can produce backspin; knee injuries in the past have cost him AB’s but is worth a look from a school in need of some pop from the left-side  5  Robbie Brown  Jr  LHP  Brown recovered …

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