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

Pitchers

Top Prospects

-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

Pitchers

Top Prospects

-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 either be in the thick of the contenders, or they will factor in by blowing up a good team in the playoffs with their two X-factors on the mound. That’s 4A upper-state baseball.     

60 Times

Pitchers

Top Prospects

-Riverside Warriors-

The Warriors have a front-line arm in senior Matt Pegler and will send a lineup at their opposition that doesn’t have any easy outs featuring Jordan Scott (left) and Wil Leathers at the top. Riverside plays as solid as always and they expect to win. The Warriors will factor into things again this year in the 3A race.   

60 Times

Pitchers

 Top Prospects

-Dorman Cavaliers-

Despite the score of this scrimmage, it should be noted Dorman came in with a totally scripted scrimmage. While it was a bad outing and they certainly aren’t happy with their lackluster performance, this is still the team to beat in the upstate to play for the State Title. Dorman’s pitching will be fine. Hunter Cole didn’t get to throw his inning tonight, but he will be able to give them a quality arm out of the pen. They look to have four solid options on the mound in Dylan Cole (right), Stefan del Pino (left), Ian McKinney and Hunter Cole.

Dorman has the biggest X on their back this season and every team they play this season will bring their "A" game. Everyone knows Dorman has superior talent and they can play, but it is not going to be easy. The question is, "Are they mentally tough enough to be attacked by every team they play?" and "Can they take the fight to the dog (similar to Boiling Springs last season)?"

They start out with Wando at the IP Classic.      

60 Times

Pitchers

Top Prospects

-T.L. Hanna Yellow Jackets-

Hanna came to Boiling Springs to make a statement against Dorman and they got everyone’s attention. They have two front line arms in Brooks Hall (left) and Jake Long and a future star behind the plate in Garrett Boulware. Hanna could be a serious problem in the playoffs for an aspiring team, and they surely cannot be counted out to make a run. They hit the ball all over the yard, and they’ve easily got enough talent to win Region-1 4A.  

60 Times

Pitchers

Top Prospects

-J.L. Mann Patriots-

Brian Simpson’s troops hung in there until the fourth inning and a 2-0 deficit turned into a 14-0 deficit at the end of five. They will miss David Donald who will likely miss the entire season with a shoulder injury. Mann will look to youth in the program for possible candidates that can step up and play a solid role. Mann’s whole offense will be centered around Emilio Pagan (right) and Paul Nitto. If they are as unproductive at the plate as they were tonight, Mann will have trouble scoring runs against quality pitching until the younger players beat the learning curve.

60 Times

Pitchers

Top Prospects

-Boiling Springs Bulldogs-

Jeff Lipscomb’s team has to stay healthy, especially on the mound to have a chance at making a serious run again. Cameron Holmes and Hunter Rice (right) will have to carry the load on the bump and at the plate. The mentality hasn’t changed and they never let up until the game is over. They piled on 19 runs tonight, and they thrive off the opposition’s mistakes. Boiling Springs has a special style of baseball and its very fun to watch.  

60 Times

Pitchers

Top Prospects

DP Notes: All MPH’s were recorded with a Stalker radar gun…60’s times were recorded on a track.