Page 845 – Diamond Prospects

Spring Preview: Blythewood Bengals

Spring Preview: Blythewood Bengals By: DP Staff Writer-December 12, 2007 The 2008 Bengal Baseball team is coming off of its second season of Varsity Baseball. Last year the Bengals finished the season with a 19-8 record and were the runners-up in their region behind defending AAA State Champions AC Flora. . The Bengals will return eight … 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

Spring Preview: Laurens Raiders

Spring Preview: Laurens Raiders By: Dale Nelson-December 11, 2007 With six returning starters the Laurens Raiders hope to build on the success of the 2007 campaign. A year ago the Raiders compiled a 23-7 record, won the Region I 4A championship, won the Emerald City Classic, finished third at the Upstate Diamond Classic … 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.

Spring Preview: Gilbert Indians

Spring Preview: Gilbert Indians By: DP Staff Writer-December 5, 2007 The Gilbert Indians enter 2008 fresh off the most successful two-year run in school history. The past two seasons have seen the Indians win 48 games, two region championships, two district championships and the 2006 state championship. Four starters remain from the 2006 … 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.

Spring Preview: Barnwell Warhorses

By: Joel Vaughn-December 5, 2007 The 2008 Barnwell Warhorse Baseball team will return all starters and reserves from the 2007 squad. Having won the past two (2006 & 2007) Region V-AA Championships, the Warhorses bring a 22 – game region winning streak to the table. This same team is also the defending 2006 & 2007 District V-… 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.

Al’s View: Baseball Scholarships

Al’s View-Baseball Scholarships By: Al Hudson-December 4, 2007 I would like to comment on college athletic scholarships and baseball in particular. Ron Polk, Head Baseball Coach at Mississippi State University, and one of the most revered coaches at the college level, has been adamant in his attempt to rectify a problem he sees in college baseball. “A college baseball player ought to get a full scholarship. It’s a ridiculous situation, and it punishes a lot of good kids, especially those without solid financial means.” Colleges can offer up to 85 scholarships in football, but 11.7 is the maximum for baseball. College teams now have 35 man rosters. Scholarships are split to accommodate a large number of players. Some players get only enough money to pay for books. For those with parents able to bear the cost, it may not be a problem. But some talented kids simply cannot afford to attend college and play baseball. . Polk continues, “Recruiting ought to be about identifying top talent and selling them on your school and program. Instead, we have to negotiate with the kids and their parents like a used car salesman to get their expectations low enough to sign them cheaply.” Some changes have been made to the system as Division I schools now cannot give less than a 25 percent scholarship to a player. Now some kids won’t even get the book money, and 25 percent probably will still leave some kids out for financial reasons. . Baseball is a character building sport, but what are we teaching these kids about character. The almighty dollar rules the sport and will until college presidents realize what they are doing to the sport. Thumbs Up: On a more positive note, the Colorado Rockies have voted the widow of Mike Coolbaugh, a full World Series share. Most will remember that Mike, a minor league coach in the Rockies system was killed by a line drive while coaching first base in a game. Mandy Coolbaugh will receive the share worth over $230,000 to help raise their family. A classy and commendable move from the Rockies. Please send your quotes and comments to: [email protected] .

Where are they now: Brad Chalk

Where are they now-Brad Chalk: Former Riverside High and Clemson University standout Brad Chalk was selected in the second round back in July by the San Diego Padres. Following his first taste of professional baseball, Chalk now finds himself in the off-season and took some time with DP to cover a range of topics spanning from high school ball to Omaha and from his gameday routines to facing Kerry Wood! DP-Please list any pro statistics of importance, awards won, led league or organization, honors, etc: BC-AZIL most improved for Padres DP-Please list any major high school/college accolades: BC-2 State championships (03, 04), Gatorade state player of the year (04), Team USA Silver medal for Jr. National Team (03); TPX Freshman All-American at Clemson (05), Tiger Baseball Award (06), Cape Cod All-Star game MVP (06), Preseason first team all-american by Baseball America (07), 2nd team All-ACC (07). DP-What are some of your nicknames? BC-Chalker, Chalky DP-What is your greatest high school thrill? BC-The dog pile in my first state championship in 2003 against AC Flora. DP-You come from a tradition–rich high school program at Riverside. Why has that school turned out so many quality players? BC-I really believe the reason there have been so many productive players is because we have been fortunate enough to have great coaches along the way such as Don Miller, Chris Bates and Mark Kish who know the game well and teach their players to play the game the right way. What people don’t see is the time that the players and coaches spend during the winter for the conditioning aspect. Our practices were very organized and they always had a purpose for that particular day. We didn’t just go throw and hit BP, and then call it a day. DP-What is your greatest thrill, or two, beyond high school? BC-Winning the ACC Championship in Jacksonville in 2006 and later going on to play in the College World Series. The atmosphere in Omaha is surreal. DP-How did your experience at Clemson help you cope with professional baseball better? BC-It allowed me to structure my time and be responsible for things that I can handle. It’s tough handling classes and the baseball schedule, but you have to figure out how to do it or you won’t last. I have only gotten my feet wet in pro ball so far, but I get the feeling it’s the same type situation where you will get weeded out real fast if you don’t prepare properly. DP-Tell us what it was like to play in the College World Series: BC-Adrenalin pumping all nine innings. Our first game we played Georgia Tech and they threw a lefty who was throwing three pitches for strikes with an occasional splitter. He had us shut out through seven innings, but we got his pitch count up and got into the bullpen. When we got to the pen we put together some runs and got a huge go ahead home run from Andy D’Allesio. That was the biggest homerun that we had all year. The crowd never sleeps in Omaha. DP-Take us through draft day this June: BC-We were on our way to a banquet in Mississippi for the Super Regional at Mississippi State and we had just found out that Daniel Moskos was taken with the fourth pick, so everyone was excited for him and congratulating him. Our team had loads of prospects, a handful were supposed to get taken in the first five rounds; so we had plenty of people anticipating calls. I know that my back trouble scared some clubs away, but I knew there were still some people who had me slotted pretty early, so I was anticipating a call, but not getting my hopes up. Stan Widmann had the draft on his telephone and I got a call from the Padres at pick 86 and they were pick 87. I waited until he saw my name pop up and then I told him I was picked up. It all happened so fast, but it was a great moment. DP-Who are the three toughest pitchers you faced in high school and the three toughest in college? BC-I remember Derek Vidro from AC Flora before he got hurt was tough because he had so many pitches he threw for strikes and his ball had good movement. The other two were on my team, Marc Young and Brad Hocking. I hated hitting off Marc because of his curve and Hocking had electric stuff. The best arms I faced in college would probably be Daniel Bard from UNC, Chris Perez from Miami and Cory Van Allen from Baylor. DP-What was your most difficult adjustment (in and out of baseball) after high school? BC-The fact that people in college locate and mix pitches well. You really can’t miss your pitch when you get it and you can’t expand your zone. I think after high school I felt like I had to have a plan for everything. I am always thinking ahead. I am not the most organized person, but I have learned that you have to have a plan if you want to succeed. DP-Tell people out there what it feels like to sign a professional contract: BC-It’s great to say that you’re a professional, especially if someone asks what you do for your occupation. DP-What is the biggest crowd you’ve ever performed in front of and where? BC-I know we pack out six thousand plus when we play South Carolina every year, but we had over 16,000 watching our game against UNC in Omaha. DP-Give us an idea of what a typical gameday is like from the time you get up until the time you go to bed again: BC-In college I would get up and eat breakfast around 9 or 10, go back and watch some TV until lunch. I would usually roll down to the field after lunch and …

Spring Preview: Hilton Head Seahawks

Spring Preview: Hilton Head Seahawks By: Chris Wells-December 2, 2007 The 2008 Seahawk Baseball team is coming off its best season in school history. Last year, the Seahawks finished the season with a 29-7 record, won the Sertoma Classic, the Region Title, the District Championship and the Lower State Championship. Last year’s squad was o… 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: Al’s View

Al’s View He’s back! Well, not really. Al Hudson, former Head Coach and founder of the Diamond Travelers is going to be a contributing writer to TheDiamondProspects.com website. Hudson, now living in Nashville, Tennessee, was involved in South Carolina prep baseball in several capacities from 1989 to 2003. A bird dog scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, writer and baseball editor for the High School Sports Report, and contributor for Jim Baxter’s SC Prep website, Al visited many high school campuses during his time in South Carolina. “I truly enjoyed my experiences in South Carolina. My ranking list was published statewide by several outlets. I know my opinion, at times, was controversial. But I look back with a clear conscience about my work. I tried to make all my decisions based on current ability and college potential skills.” Hudson is currently employed as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee. “I still have family in Charleston, but I don’t get there as much as I like. I miss South Carolina and the coast in particular. I have many friends in the state, and would love to see them all.” “When my good friend, Austin Alexander, asked me to contribute to the site, I was honored to accept. Hopefully, I can remain in touch with the baseball family in the state.” Diamond Prospects will continue to provide Hudson’s take on a variety of baseball issues, stay tuned over the coming months! About the author: Hudson writes for a Nashville-based paper as a sideline. His column is sports based, and covers the full gamut of athletics. His contribution here will be totally baseball. If you have questions or comments for Al, you can reach him at: [email protected] .

Diamond Spotlight: Gabe Grammer

Presbyterian Signee: Irmo High School two-way standout Gabe Grammer burst onto the scene during his junior year, especially when he hit the showcase circuit with an upper-80’s fastball. He signed with Presbyterian College last week with aspirations of being a duel player for the Blue Hose. In his Diamond Spotlight, Grammer talks about baseball, his… 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.

Coaches Corner: Jack Jolly

Diamond Spotlight-Jack Jolly: Carolina Forest head coach Jack Jolly enters his tenth year at the helm of the Panther baseball program, his 20th overall at the prep level. The father of five children has another family when arrives at the ballpark, the young men whose lives he touches everyday. In this Q and A, Coach Jolly reminisces about his … 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.