Gamecock newcomers on display at first baseball scrimmage
College baseball is back at least for the time being with South Carolina baseball starting its fall scrimmages Friday with a 5-0 victory for the Black team.
The six-inning game turned into a pitcher’s duel for all but two innings with potential weekend starters Adam Hill and Cody Morris pitching four no-hit innings.
Also see: Photo gallery from the scrimmage
This was Morris’ first live action since undergoing Tommy John surgery 16 months ago. He would up giving up no runs and no hits while walking two. He also struck out two batters.
Hill, who’s coming off a 7-0, 3.53 ERA season, kept pace with Morris throwing two perfect innings and striking out four.
The majority scoring happened in the third inning off senior lefty Josh Reagan. Matt Williams singled and was brought home two batters later by Christian Flint’s double. Danny Blair drove in Flint a batter later on a double.
Madison Stokes also joined in on the RBI party with a two-run home run to left field to put the Black team up 4-0. It would add one more run in the sixth on a Hunter Taylor sacrifice fly scoring John Jones.
Also see: Visitor list for Saturday's football game
Of the 20 starters, seven were newcomers, including Morris who hadn’t pitched competitively for the Gamecocks yet. Flint wound up doing the most damage for a freshman, showing flashes of power and speed on the bases.
Carlos Cortes, a highly touted freshman, started at second base for the Garnet team but played in the outfield as well. He had a running grab in left field on a dying ball for the third out of an inning.
He also flashed his power, launching a foul ball onto the concourse in right field. He also powered a high fly ball to the warning track in right field in the sixth inning.
The scrimmage also had a blast from the past as Michael Roth pitched two innings for the Garnet team. He wound up allowing one run on two hits.
Also see: Friday's Insider Report
Another newcomer who made an impact was junior college transfer Jacob Olson, who started in right field for the Garnet team, went 1-for-3 with a single batting in the two-hole. Chase DeMars, another transfer, played second and hit in the two spot for the Black team. He went 0-for-3 with two groundouts.
The last junior college transfer in the 2016 class Justin Row will not play this weekend due to injury.
Tomorrow’s scrimmage starts at 10:30 a.m. and will feature two weekend starters in Clarke Schmidt and Wil Crowe. Sunday’s scrimmage will start at 1:30 p.m. Both are free and open to the public.
Also see: Keys to Saturday's game vs ECU
Starting lineups
Garnet
1B, Riley Hogan; 2B, Carlos Cortes; 3B, Jonah Bride; SS, LT Tolbert; LF, Alex Destino; CF, TJ Hopkins; RF, Jacob Olson; C, Chris Cullen; SP, Adam Hill
Black
1B, Joey Polak; 2B, Chase DeMars; 3B, Matt Williams; SS, Madison Stokes; LF, Christian Flint; CF, Danny Blair; RF, Josh Gregory; C, Hunter Taylor; SP, Cody Morris
Pitching lines
Garnet
Adam Hill: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Josh Reagan: 2 IP, 4 H, 4 R (4 ER), 0 BB, 0 K
Black
Cody Morris: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Reed Scott: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Dillon Hodge: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Top offensive performers
Madison Stokes: 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI; Christian Flint: 2-for-2, RBI, R
