Virginia Teams Win Gold at Border Battle
This past weekend the South Atlantic Border
Battle provided the opportunity for some of the best high school baseball
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players from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina to
demonstrate their skills and abilities in front of fans, professional scouts and
college coaches. The prospects from the Commonwealth of Virginia did not
disappoint, as the both 2011 team and 2012 team won 'gold' by winning their
respective divisions.
The 2011 team faced Maryland in their 'opener'
and wasted little time in disposing of their northern opponents. The Virginia
team scored eight times in the first inning, benefiting from walks by T.J.
Costen (First Colonial / South Carolina) and Kenny Towns (Lake
Braddock / UVA) followed by singles from Nick Thompson (Western Branch /
East Carolina) and Patrick Corbett (Tabb / Coastal Carolina). The team
would bat around, and Costen doubled in his second at bat of the inning.
Maryland countered with Garrett Grill in
relief in the second inning and Grill stopped the bleeding with an assortment of
off-speed pitches and a sub-80 mile per hour fast ball that kept the Virginia
11's baffled for the three innings he pitched. But the damage had been done. The
Virginia 11's scored one additional run when Robbie Kidd (Paul VI / Cal
State Fullerton) who was a courtesy runner for Mike Perez (South
County/Old Dominion) who had doubled, stole third and then reached home on a passed ball.
The Virginia squad obviously benefited from
some very good pitching led by Greg Tomchick (Princess Anne / Old
Dominion) who allowed no hits, struck out two and challenged the Maryland 11's
with his fastball.
Defensively, in the first inning, centerfielder
Leland Clemmons (Portsmouth Christian / UNC-Charlotte) threw out a batter
who was trying to stretch a single into a double, in the fifth inning catcher
Mike Perez threw out a runner trying to steal
second and in the sixth inning, Thompson and Costen participated in a 6-4-3
double play.
In the "Gold Medal" game against North
Carolina, Virginia again struck early with a first inning unearned run after
Towns reached on a walk, advanced to second on passed ball and came in to score
when the North Carolina shortstop committed an error.
In the third inning, Thompson came to bat with
the bases loaded and two outs. His line drive single plated John McGillicuddy
(WT Woodson / Marshall), who had led off the inning with a single.
McGillicuddy's run would prove to be the winning run.
Most 2-1 games have their share of defensive
gems and this one proved no exception. In the second inning Costen started a
6-6-3 double play, and in the third inning, with two outs and a runner at
second, Thompson made a nice snag of a line drive to his right to end the inning
and scoring threat. In the 5th inning Preston Grissom (Great Bridge /
Uncommitted), playing leftfield, threw out an opposing base runner who was
trying to stretch a single into a double.
The Virginia squad again received outstanding
pitching in the championship game, with Joe McGilliguddy (WT Woodson /
Marshall) going the first and second innings, Towns pitching the third, Clay
Keranen (Courtland / Uncommitted) the 4th, Wes McGuire (Deep Run /
Uncommitted) the 5th, and Thompson closing things out by pitching the 6th and
7th to pick up the save.
Thompson was outstanding all weekend and was
named the 2011 MVP. For the two games, Thompson batted in three runs, including
the game winner in the Gold Medal game, picked up the save in the Gold Medal
Game and made a great defensive play as well.
Virginia Coach Tim Lowery told us "The overall
team performance was outstanding. We had outstanding talent on all ends of the
game. The MVP for 2011 was Nick Thompson with two innings of shutout baseball.
Team Virginia 2011 has the bragging rights by winning Gold Medal game with
impressive pitching performances by Evan Beal (South County / South
Carolina), Nick Thompson, Patrick Corbett, Greg Tomchick Joe and John
McGillicuddy.
The Virginia 2012 team equaled the success of their older counterparts by
defeating the South Carolina 2012 squad in the Gold Medal Game.
Coach Lowery shared his comments about the 2012
team: "Team Virginia 2012 has the bragging rights by winning the Gold Medal game
with outstanding pitching performances by Tyler Thomas (Woodbridge /
Uncommitted), Tim Kelly (York / Uncommitted), Stephen Godfrey
(Douglas Freeman / Uncommitted, Nathan Kirby (James River-Midlothian /
UVA), Chase Boster (Colonial Forge / Uncommitted), Thomas Rogers
(Lake Braddock-Class of 2013 / Uncommitted) and Stephen Brooks (Deep Run
/ Uncommitted)." Lowery added "Kyle Moore (Nansemond River /
Uncommitted), Josh Henderson (Home Schooled/ Uncommitted), Matt
Campbell (Hickory / UNC), Luke Lowery (Cosby / East Carolina),
Christian Younce (Kellam / Uncommitted), Dylan Raymond (Giles /
Uncommitted), Hayden White (Steward School / Uncommitted), and Brandon
Lowe (Nansemond River / Uncommitted all did great jobs of hitting and
playing great defense throughout the weekend. Every player contributed in
different ways all weekend."
The 2012 MVP was Kyle Moore who had a bases loaded double in the championship
game, smacking a 2-2 pitch off the left field wall, plating what would prove to
be the winning runs. Coach Thomas commented about Moore's hit "That was a real
clutch hit and the ball was crushed." Godfrey earned the save.
The outstanding talent of the two teams was complemented well by the coaching
staff that included John James (West Springfield), John Thomas (McLean) and Tim
Lowery (Cosby). These coaches did outstanding job of setting the pitching
rotations and just having the players play the game.
Some additional info on the standouts from the 2012:
Pitchers
Tim Kelly -- touched 89 mph on mound, 3-8 at the plate
Stephen Brooks -- touched 89 on mound, 2-7 at the plate
Hayden White -- touched 88 on mound, 2-7 at the plate
Stephen Godfrey -- touched 87 on mound -- 1 1/3 hitless innings
Nathan Kirby -- touched 87
Catchers
Christian Younce -- 1-3 hitting with 3 walks, threw 1.94 pop time between
innings
Luke Lowery -- 1-6 hitting, threw 1.91 between innings
Infielders
Brandon Lowe -- 2-6 hitting with EVERY ball hit hard
Matt Campbell -- 1-6 hitting
Outfielders
Kyle Moore -- 2-6 hitting, 2 RBI double, Gold Medal MVP
Josh Henderson - 2-6 hitting, triple.
One additional participant for the 2012 squad
was Jamie Rooker a left handed pitcher/outfield prospect from Hermitage
who is actually in the Class of 2013, and has yet to make a college commitment.
The event was well attended by Pro scouts with
at least 22 on-hand and between 25-30 college coaches in attendance.
Many thanks to the sponsors: Pizza Inn, Comfort Inn, Country Inn Suites, Jameson
Inn, Mike Houchins, Rocky Mount Visitors Bureau, NC Hall of Fame Museum. A
special thanks to Michelle Hill and Ronnie Ezzell for doing a great job with the
National Anthem and Gold Bless America songs. The radar gun board provided by
the South Carolina teams was awesome for everyone in the Stadium to see the
pitching speeds.
VirginiaPreps.com would like to thank the
many fans, parents and coaches that contributed to this report!