South Charlotte Panthers

The Jack Sink Tournament at Myers Park HS as well as the Cardinal Invitational at Berry HS allowed us to see 12 games in 3 days and 18 SCP players.

CARDINAL INVITATIONAL

First year program Mallard Creek HS earned their way to the championship game of the Cardinal invitational with wins over Berry HS and West Charlotte and faced off versus the Harding Rams for the trophy. Mallard Creek SS Mikal Hill led the Mavericks to a 16-6 victory in the high scoring game. Mikal finished the game 1 for 2 with a 3 RBI double and three walks. He showed flashes of outstanding speed with 3 stolen bases to add to his team leading 25 for the season and was clocked at 4.15 down the line from the right side of the plate. Congrats to Coach Chris Hill and Mikal on the championship.

JACK SINK

One of the oldest spring tournaments in the state is the Jack Sink Invitational honoring long time Myers Park coach Jack Sink. This year's event featured four top public school programs facing off for the first time ever with four top private school programs; all from the south Charlotte area. The event featured wood bats only and was played as a round robin with no formal championship. The SC Panthers had no less than 17 players participating in the event.

Host team Myers Park HS went 3-0 for the week on the strength of their pitching staff which gave up 6 hits in 3 games. 2010 C Brian Holberton was selected as a MVP finalist for leading the Mustangs at the plate and in the field. Brian finished the week 5 for 7 with a double and 3 RBIs. 1B/DH Andy Wilson finished the week with a sharp hit in 9 at bats and an RBI yet hit the ball solid through the week including a potential extra base hit robbed by an ESPN play by Christian's CF Ty Linton.

The Providence Panthers look to be hitting their stride as they completed the week 3-0. Coach Hignight may be keeping the wood bats around as the Panthers pounded out 29 hits for the week. 3B Richie Shaffer was awarded tournament MVP after going 5 for 9 with a double, a triple and back to back HRs. Richie drew 5 walks and drove in 5 runs for the week. He also started game one on the mound getting 6 Ks in 4 innings of work with no decision. Lead off hitter SS C.A. Clayton set the table all week; reaching base 7 times including 5 hits and scoring 6 runs including the game winner in a tie game after hustling around third on a bobbled play in the field. He had a double and 3 stolen bases to add to his totals. 1B/P Kurt Semeniuk earned his second victory on the mound. Kurt entered the extra inning game with the potential winning run on third and popped the batter up. He went on to pitch 3 additional innings in the exciting game; striking out 5. Kurt was also 2 for 9 at the plate for the week. CF Tyler Zupcic finished 5 for 10 with a double and 4 RBIs. Tyler made an ESPN catch in center on a hard hit line drive to keep the tie game in check. 2B Drew Casella went 2 for 3 in game 3 with 2 steals and supplied steady glove work in the field. Drew showed exceptional speed down the line in 4.17 from the right side. 1B Brett Austin was skunked at the plate but showed some nice glove work in the extra inning contest at 1B.

The Charlotte Christian Knights finished the week a disappointing 1-2 yet faced the public schools top pitchers in each of their games. P/LF Luke Bard took his second loss of the season on the mound versus hot hitting Providence. Luke finished the week 2-8 at the plate with a run scoring double. CF Ty Linton hit a couple of bullets with the wood to finish the week 2-7 at the plate. 2B Trey Laney reached base 4 times including 2 hits and showed some nice infield actions at second. 3B/P Jake Watson also found his way on base 4 times with a hit for the week. Jake pitched a couple of innings in relief and struck out 2 in two innings of work.

Ardrey Kell finished the tournament 2-1. P Ryan Butler got the start in game 2 and completed 5 innings getting no decision. Ryan was in command for 4 innings with 5 Ks before giving way in the fifth after a couple of hits and walks. P Alex Wood was on the shelf for the week with big conference games coming up this week.

South Meck HS won 1 and lost 2. CF Casey Gebhardt was 2 - 9 and reached base a couple of other times. While on base Casey stole 4 bases to add to his team lead. 1B Spencer Shuey finished the week 2 - 9 with two shots up the middle and an RBI. P/RF Joseph Shealy drove in 2 runs with a hard hit triple in the Sabres opening win. Joe started game 2 on the mound. He had a no hitter through 4 innings before giving up 3 unearned runs in the 5th and subsequently took the loss.

Conference play resumes this week for all of the teams and it looks as though there will be some battles to the wire as play off spots begin to take shape.