Page 799 – Diamond Prospects

Recap: Hartsville Red Foxes at Conway Tigers

By: Adam Vrable – March 19, 2009 Holmes dominant in 4-1 Tiger victory Diamond Prospects visited Conway Thursday evening to see a showdown between Hartsville and Conway. These two baseball programs have been powerhouses the past few seasons in Region VI-4A. In fact, they have reperesented the Lower State during the past two years in the 4… The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well. Username Password Remember Me Forgot Password

Recap: Woodruff Wolverines at Palmetto Mustangs

By: Nick Nickles – March 18, 2009 Palmetto puts the breaks on Woodruff’s hot streak with a 9-3 victory Woodruff traveled to Williamston Wednesday to open up region play with Palmetto in a Region 2-2A matchup. Woodruff was undefeated coming into region play, notably winning the Steve Sanders Classic a few weeks ago against s… The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well.

Recap: Lexington Wildcats at Irmo Yellow Jackets

By: Will Cheatham – March 18, 2009 Region V rivalry goes to the visitors as Brooks pitches Wildcats to win DP was in Irmo for the battle of the Dam against rival Lexington. This game has all the make up to be a intense battle between region foes. It was perfect baseball weather tonight which only brought more people to the ballpark to make t… The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well.

Recap: TL Hanna Yellow Jackets at Laurens Raiders

By: DP Staff Writer – March 17, 2009 TL Hanna’s Hall Rebounds on Mound to Lead Jackets to 9-4 Victory over Region Foe Laurens With a blue sky for the first time in a while, Diamond Prospects landed at Laurens High School for a 7 p.m. tilt against TL Hanna. Coach Dale Nelson and his staff are to be commended for having the field in rema… The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well.

Recap: Midland Valley Mustangs at Dreher Blue Devils

By: Sterling Dye – March 17, 2009 Class 3A Region V foes face off DP was in Columbia on what turned out to be a chilly evening to catch two quality teams in action. Midland Valley got on the board in the first with a sac fly from Grant Baxley that scored shortstop Kiefer Richardson, who led off the game with a double to left. … The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well.

Diamond Notes: DJ’s Daily Journal

By: DJ Rhodes- March 15-21, 2009 The First Baptist High School Hurricane baseball team has taken a week-long trip to Viera, FL to participate in the Westminster Sunshine Classic. Head coach DJ Rhodes is keeping a daily journal of the trip and has shared his entries with DP readers: -Friday, 3/20/09- After almost three hours of sleep, it was time for a little breakfast then off to the field for our third game of pool play. The opponent was Cambridge Christian from Tampa, Florida. Finally, a school of about two hundred high school students, about the same as us! They came into the game 2-0 in pool play and we knew we had a fight on our hands. We also knew the winner was probably going to end up in the championship game vs. the other pool’s #1 seed, Charlotte Christian. On the mound for the Canes was sophomore Marlin Morris. He was 81-83 from the left side and worked his changeup in as he only allowed the Lancers one hit through four innings. Offensively, First Baptist scratched a run in the second and fourth innings and carried a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning. Morris though has been battling a slight bit of tendonitis in his elbow since January and the season still has long to go, so enter senior Tyler Graves, the right-hand sidearm slinger, to change up things for the Cambridge hitters. Unfortunately, he did not have his control this day and walked two before the Lancer’s Trent Tagliarini, a Quincy University (Div. II) signee, roped a two-run double off the left center field wall. To shut their opponent down, First Baptist brought in center fielder Josh Hickman to finish the game. He did not disappoint. He struck out five batters through the seventh inning, but the score was still 2-2. Free baseball for those in the stands, and now the Canes didn’t really care about their lack of sleep. After another K for Hickman in the 8th, the Lancers were issued a walk, advanced on a wild pitch, then on a 3-2 count with two outs and a runner on second squirted a ground ball through the middle to score the go ahead run. It was like the life was sucked out of us, but we gave it our best shot despite, afterall, we did have our 3-4-5 hitters coming up. Hickman led off and beat out a infield single with a diving slide to first. The Lancer’s closer, Tagliarini, would have no more though as he got Ryan Walker to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and then retired Brandon Stone for the final out. We couldn’t have fought any harder, and the only words I heard from the opposing coaches and other tournament teams lined down the fence watching the game was that our schedule just wasn’t fair and that we had a heck of a ball team. All good things to hear, but I wanted to see how the team reacted to going from a possible 1st place game to now playing two hours later in the 5th place game. 2:30 in the afternoon rolled around and it was play ball for the final time in Florida. The opponent was another Oklahoma bunch, Cascia Hall, a Catholic school from Tulsa. I quickly realized that despite the chatter from both dugouts, this was going to be a battle of attrition and who could fight through the pain the most. Starting for the Canes was junior Ricky Padgett, who moved the ball effectively around the zone but got into trouble with walks. Fortunately, our offensive was on attack and score 3 runs in the first two innings and create a tied ballgame after three innings of play. The exhaustion on the faces of everyone was apparent and it really did seem to be a bit of a blur of a baseball game. Except for one person, sophomore Lawton Hendricks who came into to pitch the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings and did not give up a run and only gave up two hits. Well placed strikes and good off-speed stuff can get the job done just about every time. Lesson for all pitchers to be learned! In the 5th inning, after working the bases loaded with sophomores Larson Walker, Lawton Hendricks, and Matthew Burton, the Canes picked up a run off a walk to Drew Rhodes, but then grounded into a double play to end the inning. Then, in the 6th, one more insurance run was picked up off the bat of Burton and the Canes were up 5-3. To close it out, junior Clayton Smith took the mound and looked the strongest the year yet. He was 83-85 consistantly and hit 87 a few times. While he did issue a leadoff walk that stole second, took third, then was scored on a sacrifice, he struck out the next batter and then got the final out to fly out to right field. Canes win, 5-4. It was over. The trip was amazing. We saw so many things while down here like a space shuttle launch, spring training games, and even Team USA in the bottom of the 9th pull out a win! We also saw rain and rain, and more rain, but it was all worth it. The quality of teams we played while down here and the intensity of the games was more than I could ask for. The boys from Charleston didn’t do too bad either. Congrats to Ryan Walker for making the All-Tournament team with a .556 average, 1 HR, 5 RBI, and 1 save in pool play. So, 2-2 and a 5th place finish isn’t too shabby, although I could see on the players faces they were disappointed and wanted more. Hopefully the thought of this trip will be motivation for them later in conference play and again in a playoff run! -Thursday, 3/19/09- After all of Wednesday being a wash and many hours spent in the hotel and walking around malls in …

Player of the Week – 2009

-2009- Week Name High School Class Position March 2-8 Daniel Aldrich Wando Senior OF March 9-15 Will Muzika Dorman Senior SS Colby Holmes Conway Senior RHP March 16-22 Zack Smith White Knoll J… The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well.

Recap: Heathwood Hall Highlanders at Hammond Skyhawks

By: Ashley Farr – March 14, 2009 Highlanders Rally Past Skyhawks in Early Region II-AAA Matchup On a cold, dreary night at Folsom Field, the Hammond Skyhawks and Heathwood Hall Highlanders squared off in an early season matchup of Region II-AAA favorites. Heathwood senior, Melton Bristow (right) and Hammond sophomore, Kyle Grant squ… The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well.

Diamond Notes: Three Days in Paradise

By: Austin Alexander – March 14, 2009 Here at Diamond Prospects, we take great pride in the fact that we beat the bushes and do a ton of hunting for that next diamond in the rough or local phenom that is not known outside his area. Since starting in January of 2006, I believe we have done a good job of that, thus making the task of college coaches and professional scouts a little bit easier. But while fishing for players, we often have to sit through games with little talent on the field, that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy and are just a notch better than a little league game. We certainly see and hear our share of craziness, enough to write a book! However, every once in a while, we have to treat ourselves to quality games and clear our eyes by indulging in pitching match-ups that were sent to us from heaven. This past week I had a three day string of games that would make most evaluators extremely jealous! On Tuesday, I mosied up to Gaffney to see the Indians host #1 Dorman. During the contest I saw four different pitchers run it up to 88 MPH, with junior Tyler Wilson sitting in the low-90’s. I cannot recall the last time, if ever, that I saw something like that in the same game. An added bonus was that several seniors had committed to play in college and also graced the lineup card. Wednesday was a day I will never forget. More than 75 professional scouts (left) were at Mauldin High School to see the showdown between Mavericks’ senior Madison Younginer and TL Hanna senior Brooks Hall. Both are likely to go very high in the June draft and both made the radar gun dance! Hall touched 95 several times and Younginer sat in the mid-90’s, even flashing a 97 on the Stalker beside me. Once again, a first for me, two prep guys hitting magic numbers in the same ballgame! While the above mentioned games were pleasing from a scouting standpoint, a little was left to be desired in terms of the final score as both ended at 10-0 and in 6 innings… Thursday would prove to be a little more engaging from every angle. Byrnes sophomore Daniel Gossett toed the rubber on a very cool night and Spartanburg countered with another sophomore, RHP Ben Kyle. Kyle matched the Clemson signee zero for zero until handing the ball over to another tenth grader, Brandon Landrie in the fourth. Ranked #1 and #2 by DP in the 2011 class, both arms worked around defensive woes and impressed on the field while blowing up the gun too. Both pitchers flashed more than a few 88’s with quality breaking stuff, meanwhile 3 unearned runs led to a 2-1 Spartanburg win. Several DP scouts are now rocking the Stalker Sport 2 and what a way to christen the new and improved, pint-sized version! When readings started chiming in on the website, several texts and emails questioned our accuracy. But I went to see velocity, and velocity I saw! Even though my entire adult life has been spent tracking baseball talent and watching high school games, I cannot recall that I have ever seen four different 88’s in one game or two 95’s in one game or two sophomores up to 88 in one game, national tournaments and showcases not included. But to sit in on these feats in consecutive nights was, indeed, a sight for sore eyes! The viewing of pure talent is always a shot in the arm for evaluators, I had mine last week and cannot wait for the poor weather to clear out so DP can uncover some more unknown names! And to the young men whose arms prompted the above words, thank you for creating a little bounce in my step!

Recap: Spartanburg Vikings at Byrnes Rebels

By: Nick Nickles – March 12, 2009 Spartanburg wins a thriller 2-1 against Byrnes in Region II-4A DP was in Duncan on Thursday to watch the two top rated arms in the 2011 class duel in the first conference game of the season in Region-2 4A. Byrnes would start Daniel Gossett (left) and Spartanburg would go with Ben Kyle before turning to… The new DP website is here. For all the great DP content, subscribe. If you have any login/subscription issues, please contact our support team. Your feedback on the new experience is appreciated as well.