Baseball: Gamecocks Saturday scrimmage recap
Starting pitchers: Colie Bowers- Garnet; Matt Vogel- Black
Scoring:
Black- LT Tolbert: Solo shot, 2 outs, T1 1-0; Ross Grosvenor: RBI single, 2 outs, T1 2-0; Clarke Scolamiero: RBI triple, 2 outs, T2 3-1; Matt Williams: Solo shot, 0 outs, T4; John Jones 2-run double, 0 outs, T5, 6-2; Jon Jones wild pitch, 2 outs T5, 7-2; Weber Pike RBI single T5 8-2
Garnet: Brandon McIlwain: Solo shot, 1 out, 2-1; Hunter Taylor: RBI single, 1 out, B2 3-2
** Saturday scrimmage photo gallery from Paul Collins
Saturday marked the second scrimmage in as many days for South Carolina and even in January, it felt like baseball season. Sunny and 60 at first pitch, the garnet and black teams squared off in what would be a high-scoring affair.
The teams played seven innings in a game that the Black won, 9-6.
The away Black opened the scoring with a two out rally in the top of the first inning. Freshman LT Tolbert started the scoring with a solo shot off of junior college transfer Colie Bowers. Two batters later, transfer Ross Grosvenor took a low curve ball into center field for an RBI single.
South Carolina has a slew of young talent, but perhaps none bigger than freshman outfielder Brandon McIlwain. The top player in the Gamecocks’ 2016 football class, McIlwain was also the 16th-ranked baseball prospect.
In just one pitch, he showed why.
With one out in the bottom of the first, McIlwain took junior Matt Vogel deep to left to put the Garnet on the board.
Sophomore Clarke Scolamiero became the first returning player with an RBI when his triple put the Black ahead 3-1 in the top of the second. Sophomore catcher Hunter Taylor pulled the Garnet within one with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame.
After a scoreless third, sophomore Matt Williams’ solo home run on his birthday extended the Black’s lead to 4-2 in the fourth inning.
The Black broke the game open with a four run fifth inning, highlighted by junior college transfer John Jones’ 2-run double and junior Weber Pike’s RBI single.
The Garnet team made a rally behind MciIwain’s second home run of the day, a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, but ultimately fell short, 9-6.
It pays to have an offseason
A sophomore class that showed flashes of brilliance last season really shined on Saturday. Scolamiero, who racked up just 12 hits in 56 bats a season ago, saw the ball well and made solid contact at the plate.
Sophomore first baseman Alex Destino, who saw most of his action at the designated hitter position in 2015, played well. His third inning single was a line drive that found the hole between the second and third basemen, opposite field for the left-hander. If there was any knock on Destino a season ago, it was that SEC pitchers were able to expose his tendency to pull the ball.
Destino added two more hits, one to right and one to center in four at-bats.
Fellow sophomores Matt Williams and Hunter Taylor each added RBIs and played well on the defensive side as well.
Fresh Faces
In addition to McIlwain’s three RBIs, several newcomers had impact performances. Freshman LT Tolbert was very impressive, racking up three hits and an RBI.
Other impact newcomers included junior college transfers John Jones and Ross Grosvenor who combined for three hits and three RBIs.
Freshman pitcher Adam Hill pitched a pair of hitless innings, striking out three while preventing any ball from reaching the outfield.
Game Ball
Brandon McIlwain excited fans with his two homers and was able to show off his arm on a long throw from right field in an attempt to prevent a run. The freshman went 2-4 with two home runs and three RBIs for the Garnet.
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