News and Announcements
MAY 29 UPDATE
TYLER TEWELL 2009 Butler hit for the "CYCLE" in a 17-6 victory over East Meck. He had a triple in the third inning, a three run HR in the fourth (his 3rd of the season); a two run single in the fifth and a two run double in the seventh. Tyler finished 4 for 6 with 7 RBIs to add to his team leading 24. As if hitting for one "CYCLE" in a season was not enough; Tyler repeated the accomplishment one week later versus Independence when he went 5 for 5 including a single, double, triple and his fourth HR while driving in 6 Runs!
CORBIN SHIVE (11-1) 2009 East Rowan had a career game in a key conference match up versus Mooresville. Corbin hit a monster 3 run HR in the first inning then shut down the Mooresville nine on the mound with 6 innings of shut out pitching with 6 strike outs for his sixth win. He capped the night off with his second HR to end with 4 RBIs. Corbin added to his record this week going to 7-0 on the season with a win over S. Rowan. The win helped lead the Mustangs to the NPC Conference Championship crown. Corbin continued his hot streak the next week with a 1 run victory over North Irdell to take his record to 8-0. After giving up a run in the first Corbin retired 13 of the next 14 hitters including 8 Strike Outs before finishing his night after 5 innings. Round one of the NC State 3A Play Offs found Corbin on the mound where he ran his record to 9-0 ; leading East Rowan to a 3-0 win over SW Randolph. THEN IS WAS 10. East Rowan and Corbin continue to roll as they knocked off Lake Norman in the third round of the 3A NC Play Offs behind Shive's tenth victory of the season. Corbin entered the fourth round play off game versus Mooresville and although giving up a walk and HR earned the win after The Mustangs made a remarkable 7th inning comeback to gain a spot in the 3A Western Region Finals. For the season Corbin has an ERA of 1.25; and has 76 Strike Outs in 67 Innings Pitched
Starting pitcher COREY ROBERTS (6-3) 2009 Olympic helped the Trojans lock up the Queen City Conference championship with an 8 inning victory over rival Charlotte Catholic. Corey struck out 15 on the mound as well as contributing 3 hits and 2 RBIs in the contest. This week Corey once again went 8 innings and earned his fifth victory of the season in a 4-3 victory over conference rival West Meck. Corey struck out 11 in helping Olympic tie an all time victory record with 17. The Trojans broke the all time wins record in the first round of the NC3A play offs behind starting pitcher Corey Roberts who struck out 10 on his way to his 6th victory of the season. The Trojans streak ended in 4-1 loss to Ryan Arrowood and RS Central in the third round. Corey took the loss in the game after giving up only 1 earned run and striking out 9.
Providence HS CF TYLER ZUPCIC added to his team leading steals with a steal of home base in conference action versus East Meck. Tyler took the Panther philosophy of aggressive base running to a next level. Tyler finished that week going 3 for 5 in the Panthers doubleheader win over Wautaga including the game winning HR in a 1-0 victory. Tyler stayed hot going 2 for 2 in a win versus East Meck in conference tournament action followed by a 3 for 3 night in the Panthers opening round play off win over W. Forsyth. Check out Tyler's third round heroics in the play off section.
Christian 2010 CF TY LINTON has gotten off to a blistering start with his bat in CISAA Conference action as the Knights have won 8 of 9 conference match ups. Ty finished the 3 game series versus Providence Day 5 for 10 with a double and a triple. He was 6 for 11 versus Country Day with 3 doubles and 5 RBIs. Ty did not slow down in last weeks action helping the Knights to a three game sweep over Latin by going 2-3 with 2 Doubles and 1 RBI in game 1 and then hitting Grand Slam HRs in each of the next two games in addition to two other hits. Ty hit his 5th HR in conference tournament action prior to the Knights start of state play offs. As they say in the video games; "He's On FIRE". Christian lost out in the finals to a strong Wesleyan team but not before Ty collected his sixth HR for the season in the finals. Ty was recently honred as a selection to the NCISAA ALL STATE TEAM
2008 Panther RYAN ARROWOOD (10-0)continues to make a strong case for North Carolina PLAYER OF THE YEAR honors leading Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 # 4 and State 3A #3 ranked RS Central High School to an 22-3 record. As of May 1 Ryan was 8-0 on the mound with an area leading 101 stike outs and an ERA of 0.94. At the plate he is leading the team with 5 HRs; 28 RBIs and a .469 batting average.
Since then Ryan has earned the win in both round one and three with dominating performances on the mound. In his round three win over Corey Roberts and Olympic; Ryan struck out 13 and gave up 1 run off 3 hits. RS Central advances to the fourth round this week where they will take on South Pointe.
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.
I followed Providence High School south to Union County to take on the Weddington Warriors in both team's initial conference game. Providence entered the game looking for their first win while Weddington came in undefeated; scoring over 10 runs per game.
Weddington started their senior ace Tyler Pilkington (UNCC) while Coach Hignight countered with junior right hander Richie Shaffer (Clemson). The game set up as a classic pitcher's duel and neither starter failed in that expectation. Providence was able to get a runner to third with less than two outs in a couple of early innings but were stymied both times by the experienced lefty. With no score in the top of the 6th inning, Panther SS C.A. Clayton; already with two hits for the game; led off with a double down the LF line. Shaffer followed that hit with a line shot single to RCF advancing the runner to third. Then with one out, Panther 1B Corey Smith executed a bunt single to drive in the run. Pilkington again worked out of the jam yet this time down 1-0.
In the top of the 7th inning, Panther CF Tyler Zupcic hit his second double of the game off of the LF fence and came around to score to give them a 2-0 lead. Weddington's Brent Watkins set up some bottom of the 7th dramatics with a HR to LF but the next two Warriors struck out and the Panthers won 2-1.
The story this night was the dominant pitching of Shaffer. Richie held the hard hitting Warriors to 2 hits, while striking out 16 and walking 1. He showcased a dominating fast ball from start to finish complemented by outstanding command of his off speed pitches. Junior 2B Drew Casella supplied solid defense to eliminate any threat on balls put in play.
Providence ended the week by knocking off a second undefeated conference rival when they shut out South Meck 4-0. Panther sophomore Kurt Semeniuk (1-0) picked up his first varsity win by shutting down the Sabres for 5 innings. Kurt scattered 4 hits while striking out 3 in the victory. SCP players all contributed hits with 3B Richie Shaffer 2 for 3; CF Tyler Zupcic 1 for 2 with 2 RBI's and SS C.A. Clayton going 1 for 4. 2008 SCP Eric Semeniuk (Marshall) contributed to his brother's victory getting 2 doubles and driving in a run while Kurt helped himself going 1 for 3. Freshman 1B Brett Austin in his first varsity start went 1 for 3 with a towering double to RF. Richie Shaffer closed the game on the mound for the save, striking out 3 in an inning and a third. The Panthers enter week two of conference play 2-1 and are in the thick of what looks to be a dramatic SW4A Conference season.
SCP Players for the 2008 season are noted in RED
Check back for projected pitchers
SC PANTHERS 2009 (28-14-5)
MAY 24-25 Heat Showcase (3-1) Lenoir Rhyne Hickory
MAY 31-J1 Impact Showcase (2-0-2) Appalachian State Boone
JUNE 7-8 Panther Showcase (1-1) Campbell Raleigh
JUNE 16-18 E. Cobb Showcase (3-0-1) U of Georgia Athens
JUNE 20-22 Canes Showcase (1-3) VA. Tech Blacksburg
JUNE 24-25 D Devils Showcase (0-2) U of S. Carolina Columbia
JUNE 27-28 D Devils Showcase (2-1-1 ) Clemson Clemson
JULY 1-7 Perfect Game (5-1) WWBA 18U E. Cobb
JULY 8-14 Perfect Game (3-1-1) WWBA 17U E. Cobb
JULY 18-20 On Deck Showcase (2-2) UNCC Charlotte
JULY 25-28 Impact World Series (3-1) Wake Forest Winston
AUG. 1-4 Canes World Series (3-1) E. Carolina Greenville
SC PANTHERS 2010 (29-11)
MAY 24-25 Heat Showcase (4-0) Lenoir Rhyne Hickory
MAY 31-J1 Impact Showcase (2-2) Appalachian State Boone
JUNE 7-8 Panther Showcase (3-1) Ripken Complex M Beach
JUNE 12-15 Winthrop Showcase (3-1) Winthrop Rock Hill
JUNE 17 Sand Gnats (1-0) Winthrop Rock Hill
JUNE 19-28 USA BASEBALL (5-2) Roger Dean Jupiter
JULY 2 Panther DH (1-1) Winthrop Rock Hill
JULY 4-6 D. Devil Showcase (4-0) USC Columbia
JULY 15-20 Perfect Game (4-1) WWBA 16U E. Cobb
JULY 27 Carolina Lake Monsters (2-0) Providence HS Charlotte
AUG. 1-4 Impact World Series (0-3) UNCW Wilmington
Seasons
Sponsors
