DP’s Pre-Season Invite/Scout Day: Easley Site

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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

robison.cole.jpgA 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.

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-Chesnee Eagles-

henderson1.jpgThis 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 JrLHP 80-83 68-73 mixed in a few plus CB’s71-74 
 Jordan Garrett SoRHP 76-78 67 71 
 Steven Cantrell JrRHP 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 JrHe 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 JrSwing has improved. Puts dent in opposition’s run game from catching position. 1200 SAT score.  

-BHP Bears-

greer.brody.jpgThis team has a chance to win every time they take the field. The Bears are athletic, they play defense, they have great team speed, and they have some guys that can hit. BHP does lack an upper-80’s power arm. The question is when they famoore.matthew.jpgce a top tier arm, how much pressure will it put on the offense? This question will be put to the test at the IP Classic, less than two weeks away. Matthew Moore (right), Brody Greer (left) and Austin Gambrell act as the top pitchers on the club, but all three project best as position players. Gambrell is a sophomore. He flashes the best velo, but he is a year away from overpowering hitters with the fastball. BHP is very talented and quite possibly the best compilation of players in 3A, but high school baseball is usually dominated by pitching. Nonetheless, the Bears are fun to watch and I want to label them as a premium contender, but those 3A teams with one stout arm make me cautious to slap the label… but don’t big arms scare everybody?

60 Times

 Name Class 60 Time
 Jarad Jennings So  7.40
 Parker Frost Jr 7.39
 Jacob Chapman Jr 7.63
 Lance Moore Jr 7.20
 Tyler Lollis Sr 7.15
 Matt Williams 8th 7.56
 Jacob Tavernier Jr 6.97
 Matthew Moore Sr 6.98
 Jon Terbeek Sr 7.43
 Cody Spence So 7.73
 Austin Gambrell So 7.63
 Dylan Ashley Jr 7.15
 Brody Greer Sr 7.19
 Luke Jackson Jr 7.26
 Mark Hill So 8.33
 Jeremy Powell Jr 8.34
 Andrew Cox Fr 7.06

Pitchers

 Name YR R/L FB BB CH
 Matthew Moore Sr RHP 79-81 67-68 –
 Austin Gambrell So RHP 82-84 67-68 –
 Brody Greer Sr RHP 80-82 70-71 –
 Parker Frost Sr RHP 77 64-66 –
 Andrew Cox Fr LHP 75-77 64-65 60
 Luke Jackson JR RHP 79-80 – –

Top Prospects

 Rank Name Class Scout Notes
 T1 Matthew Moore  Sr Quick set of feet and hands allows him to be a solid defender at short. Has improved hitting. Solid in all phases of the game
 T1 Brody Greer Sr One of the most improved players in the state. Great approach with pop, plus defender at multiple positions.
 T1Andrew Cox  Fr Ran 7.0 on a terrible track, 5-11/178 lb freshman. Very athletic. Bats/Throws L/L Big ceiling!
 T4 Jacob Tavernier Jr A top OF in the 2010 class. Runs well and tracks balls in CF.
 T4 Austin Gambrell So Has a great INF arm and it translates to mid-80’s on the bump. Hasn’t shown the thunder early that he displayed last year as a freshman at the plate

 

-Spartanburg Vikings-

myersnic-head08.jpgThe Vikings are a competitive group when Ryan Traylor and Brandon Landrie are on the mound. When those two guys are not pitching, they are very vulnerable. Traylor and Landrie allowed no earned runs today and the rest of the staff accounted for 10+ runs. gullickson.justin.jpgThey swing it okay. Spartanburg will have some games where they score a few runs with Luke Weber, Justin Gullickson (right), Brian Poteat and Landrie providing some RBI potential in the lineup. Nicholas Myers (left) will give them a solid lead-off hitter. Spartanburg and Byrnes will battle it out to stay in the hunt for the last playoff spot, but it will be a stiff challenge to push out a presumable Mauldin or Hillcrest at the end of the day for the final playoff spot. It’s going to be another war in Region 2-4A.

60 Times

 Name Class 60 Time
 Dee Curry Jr 7.29
 Justin Gullickson Sr 7.03
 Caleb Jennings Sr –
 Jordan Kollock Sr 7.12
 Ben Kyle So 7.24
 Brandon Landrie So 7.75
 Andrew Memmott Jr 7.96
 Nicholas Myers Jr 7.52
 Brian Poteat Sr 7.31
 John Mark Renfrow Jr –
 Ryan Traylor Sr –
 Luke Weber Jr 7.93
 Clark Wise Sr –
 Grayson Austin So 8.60
 Heatly Hamilton Fr 8.37

Pitchers

 Name YR R/L FB BB CH
 Ryan Traylor Sr RHP 76-77 "subby" – 67-72 
 Jordan Kollock Sr RHP 71-74 64 –
 Hamilton Heatly Fr LHP 76-78 69 68
 Brandon Landrie So RHP  85-88 69-71 –
 Ben Kyle So RHP 80-81 68 –
 Andrew Memmott Jr LHP 70-73 63 –

Top Prospects

 Rank Name Class Scout Notes
 1 Brandon Landrie So Strong bodied kid with an upper 80’s FB. Legit D-1 caliber arm if he was a senior now! Punched out 5 in two innings
 2 Luke Weber Jr 6-2/190 catcher with some skills. He has some pop in the bat, and is a definite sleeper/follow for colleges at this point
 3 Justin Gullickson Sr Improved in every facet of the game since he was a sophomore. Now runs a sub 7.00 60-time.
 4 Ryan Traylor Sr He throws submarine! He throws strikes… He gets outs
 5 Nicholas Myers Jr Myers made some plays today and posted solid AB’s. He’s not too bad out there in the INF!

 

-Easley Greenwave-

pankake.joey.jpgThe Greenwave will run two crafty lefties to the hill in Sammy Nix and Brandon Smith. They handled the bulk of the work and posted 10 scoreless frames on Saturday. Easley is solid on defense and will not rate above average in any category offensively, but they do a great job at limiting weaknesses. Roger Finley’s Greenwave made one of the best runs in recent memory last year playing for the upper-state championship, and this group of kids does know how to win. They don’t project to be at the top of the conference, but they should provide headaches on their way to making the playoffs. Sophomore Joey Pankake (right) will be expected to step up this season as he was very average this weekend.

60 Times-Coming Soon!

 

Pitchers

 Name YR R/L FB BB CH
 Brandon Smith Jr LHP 73-74 67-68 63
 Sammy Nix Jr LHP 74-75 62 66-71
 Kilby Lesley Sr RHP 81 67-68 

Top Prospects

 Rank Name Class Scout Notes
 1 Joey Pankake So He has the most talent but it has to translate to being the best ballplayer day in and day out. If he figures this out, he could be great.
 2 Sammy Nix Jr This kid competes and he wins. Eliminated Boiling Springs as a freshman and Dorman last year. Shutout B-HP for 4 on Saturday. Kenny Rogers of high school baseball 
 3 Harrison Wilkins Jr Plays 100% all the time. The kind of kid that you find yourself pulling for to succeed and beat the odds. Helps ballclubs win games. 
 4 Brandon Smith Jr Typical baseball rat. He’s always trying to get better and he’s always clawing to get on base. Also, the teams best OF and will be the #2 pitcher on the staff
 5 Kilby Lesley Sr He will pitch some important innings this year and has the stuff to get hitters out. He was effective tonight in relief in both games.

DP Note: All MPH’s were recorded with a Stalker radar gun.