Baseball: Carolina opens weekend scrimmages
With less than three weeks to go until the season starts, the South Carolina baseball team is starting their Spring scrimmages in hopes of solidifying a starting lineup.
And after Friday’s scrimmage, it looks like the younger players will get ample opportunity to make the starting nine.
***Check out Paul Collins' photo gallery from Friday's presser and scrimmage***
Of the 18 players in the starting lineups, 14 were underclassmen. The Black team was made up of mostly underclassmen with senior DC Arendas as the only upperclassman.
The Garnet team had more seasoned veterans with Arendas, Marcus Mooney and Gene Cone all starting.
And it was dual-sport athlete and true freshman Brandon McIlwain who drew the first blood during his second at-bat when he hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to give the Black team a 1-0 lead.
The seven-and-a-half inning scrimmage Friday was McIlwain’s first-ever scrimmage since he arrived on campus in January. He struck out in his first at-bat and grounded into a double play in his last. He also played left field during the final inning; however, no ball was put into play near him.
***Check out Chris Gillespie' photo gallery from Friday's presser and scrimmage***
Alex Destino also drove in a run for the Black team, hitting a single in the seventh inning to allow Danny Blair to score from second.
That was all the scoring the game had to offer and the Black team won 2-0.
Both starting pitchers were dominant to start the game. Sophomore Clarke Schmidt started for the Garnet team while freshman Braden Murray started for the Black. The two combined to give up three hits. Neither let up a run.
Marcus Mooney, who started at shortstop for the Garnet team, went 1-for-2 with a stolen base and a hit by pitch.
Dom Thompson-Williams returned from an injury during Fall practice and started in left field for the Garnet team. He finished the day 1-for-3 with a double and two strikeouts.
Coming into the season, the Gamecocks have 20 players, including Thompson-Williams, who haven’t played competitively for the team yet: one redshirt freshman, seven junior-college transfers and 12 true freshman.
The team also has six sophomores playing just their second go-round of college baseball. So spring practice is a way for the younger players to gain valuable experience.
Spring scrimmages continue every weekend until opening day on Feb. 19. The team will scrimmage tomorrow at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Starting lineups
Garnet: 1B, Madison Stokes; 2B, DC Arendas; 3B, Jonah Bride; SS, Marcus Mooney; LF, Dom Thompson-Williams; CF, Clark Scolamiero; RF, Gene Cone; C, Hunter Taylor; P, Clarke Schmidt
Black: 1B, Alex Destino; 2B, Matt Williams; 3B, DC Arendas; SS, LT Tolbert; LF, Evan Williams; CF, Danny Blair; RF, TJ Hopkins; C, John Jones; P, Braden Webb
Top Hitters
Clark Scolamiero: 1-3, BB, SB; Alex Destino: 1-3, RBI; Madison Stokes: 1-2, 2B; TJ Hopkins: 1-3, 2B
Pitching lines
Clarke Schmidt: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB
Braden Webb: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, BB
Brandon Murray: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB
Josh Reagan: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 K, 0 BB
Canaan Cropper: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 0 BB, 1 HBP
Reed Scott: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB
News, notes and observations
--Two-time National Champion and current Boston Red Sock Jackie Bradley Jr. took batting practice before the scrimmage. He is spending time in Columbia during the MLB offseason.
--Four scouts were on hand to watch the scrimmage.
--Athletics Director Ray Tanner returned to his old stomping ground to watch the majority of the scrimmage. Chad Holbrook came up and spent a half-inning talk.
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