Gamecocks finish first weekend of fall scrimmages
The Gamecocks finished up their first weekend of scrimmages Sunday at Founders Park with the Garnet team taking a 2-1 victory in 6.5 innings.
It was a big day for young pitching with freshmen Colby Lee and Rian Haire starting for the Garnet and Black teams respectively.
The two would combine for four shutout innings and four strikeouts. Lee had some control issues through two innings, throwing one wild pitch and hitting a batter. Haire would give up two hits, both singles.
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It took until the third inning for the Garnet team to break the scoreless tie. Carlos Cortes roped a one out double and would be driven in on a Jonah Bride single. Cortes would finish 2-for-2 Sunday with two doubles, two walks and a RBI.
Cortes finishes his weekend going 3-for-7 with three doubles and three walks. He was just shy of a couple home runs Friday because the wind was blowing in, head coach Chad Holbrook said.
“He swung the bat pretty well, but I was more impressed with his savvy defensively: turning double plays and talking to our older guys like he was in charge,” Holbrook said. “That’s indicative of some of our freshmen.”
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Madison Stokes would tie the game in the sixth inning with a solo home run off redshirt freshman Hank Nichols. It’s his third home run in three games and his sixth RBI. All three home runs were to left field.
The junior played shortstop all three games this weekend, a place he’s comfortable with. He’s also played the other three infield positions during his career at South Carolina as well.
“He played a good shortstop too. He played good defense; he had a really good weekend,” Holbrook said. “He’s got some juice, got a lot of power; he’s got a lot of confidence in himself right now. He works really hard. He’s one of our hardest workers. He’s physically gifted to make and impact on our team. He certainly looked good this weekend.”
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The Garnet team would win the game in the bottom of sixth on a Cortes double driving in Jacob Olson. Holbrook said he likes the way Olson plays the game, saying Olson’s mentality and toughness reminds him of a football player.
Defensively, it was a revolving door again at first and in the outfield. Freshmen Joey Polak and Riley Hogan took reps at first along with senior Ross Grosvenor. Hogan went 1-for-3 Sunday and Holbrook said he’s still adjusting to the college game but should be a good player.
Polak would go 0-for-3 with two strikeouts but put a few good at-bats together this weekend, Holbrook said.
“I was very impressed with Joey Polak’s at-bats for the most part,” the fifth-year head coach said. “He did chase pitches outside of the strike zone, but he’s big and strong. He has the makings to be a middle of the lineup hitter this year for us.”
The Gamecocks continue fall scrimmages next weekend with Holbrook expecting to go more “full throttle.” A few players, including junior college transfer Justin Row didn’t play this weekend. Holbrook said outfielder T.J. Hopkins was sick today but played anyway.
Row is expected to be ready to scrimmage next weekend.
“I protected our catchers this weekend because we had a couple guys banged up this weekend: Jones’s knee is a little sore and so is Cullen’s elbow,” Holbrook said. “So we took it easier on our catchers. We’ll hopefully go full throttle this weekend.”
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Starting lineups
Garnet: 1B, Joey Polak; 2B, Carlos Cortes; 3B, Jonah Bride; SS, LT Tolbert; LF, Alex Destino; CF, TJ Hopkins; RF, Jacob Olson; C, John Jones; SP, Colby Lee
Black: 1B, Ross Grosvenor; 2B, Chase DeMars; 3B, Matt Williams; SS, Madison Stokes; LF, Christian Flint; CF, Danny Blair; RF, Josh Gregory; C, Chris Cullen; SP, Rian Haire
Pitching lines
Garnet
Colby Lee: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Graham Lawson: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Hank Nichols: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (ER), 0 BB, 1 K
T.J. Shook: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
Black
Rian Haire: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Wilson Beattie: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (ER), 2 BB, 2 K
Harrison Smith: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (ER), 1 BB, 2 K
Top offensive performers
Carlos Cortes: 2-for-2, 2 2B, RBI, R; Madison Stokes: 1-for-3, HR (3), RBI; Jonah Bride: 1-for-4, RBI
