SMC Diamond Notes
Pioneers in Action: SMC kicked off the fall schedule with a trip to the College of Charleston to lineup against a few other South Carolina Junior College teams. Since, the Pioneers have played host to a few select travel teams in the area and took to the road to match up against the Crusaders of Belmont Abbey. At the plate, sophomore Seth Neely has come back swinging the bat well posting a .500 average with five doubles and 10 runs batted in in seven games. Sophomore transfer Will Leathershas been a spark plug atop the lineup hitting .500 with a team leading on base percentage of .636. Leathers has also swiped four stolen bases.
The freshman talent has been on display with Domineke Albert leading the way hitting safely seven times in 13 at bats for a .538 average. On the bump, the Pioneers have been equally impressive with freshman Cody Mincey having a strong first month of the fall season. Mincey has posted a 0.00 earned run average in five innings pitched with six strikeouts and no walks. Sophomore Rob Landers has seven innings pitched, three hits allowed, six strikeouts, while issuing no walks and only allowing one earned run. Freshman sinker-baller Josh Kisamore has created contact early with five innings pitched, two hits allowed, three strikeouts and one walk.
Alumni Update: Ten year major League Veteran Orlando Hudson is hitting at a .240 clip with 13 doubles, three triples, seven bombs, and 41 runs batted in. He has also stolen 18 of 21 bags this year... Heath Hembree led all of the Minor Leagues this year with 38 saves while pitching in 54 games between San Jose and Richmond. Hembree racked up 78 strikeous in 53.1 innings pitched while opponents hit a dismal .188 against him. Heath was named to the California League All Star team and won the relief pitcher of the year award for his time in San Jose... David Walters earned a promotion to High A Fredrick where the Keys went on to win the Carolina League Championship. Walters finished the year with 30 saves while appearing in 48 games... Travis Witherspoon and Allen Caldwell both received invites to Instructional League for their respective organizations after having stellar campaigns which ended in High A ball. Witherspoon hit .279 with four doubles, one bomb, ten runs batted in and stole two bases in 16 games with High A Inland Empire. Caldwell was 6-0 with two saves while posting a 1.97 era with 62 punchouts in 50.1 innings pitched while ending his season with High A Wilmington Blue Rocks... Taylor Black finished the year in the New York-Penn League hitting .212 with eight doubles, two triples, and one bomb. Black also had 17 runs batted in for the Willimasport Crosscutters.
Upcoming Games: The Pioneers hit the road this weekend travelling to Tigerville, SC to take on the North Greenville Crusaders. Next weekend, SMC will travel to Newberry College to match up against Newberry and Florence Darlington Tech. Wednesday October 12th, the Pioneers take on the Saints at Limestone College before leaving for the fall break.
