Three of the four defending state champions in South Carolina begin the season ranked No. 1, according to the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association preseason rankings.
Belton-Honea Path (Honea Path, S.C.) (3A), Bishop England (Charleston, S.C.) (2A), and Bamberg-Ehrhardt (Bamberg, S.C.) (1A) all won state championships last year and all begin the season in the top spot. Gaffney (Gaffney, S.C.), an upset winner over Wando (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) in the 4A state finals last year, starts the year at No. 3 while Wando occupies the top spot.
Drew Cisco, Wando
Courtesy Photo
Class 4A
Wando was the favorite for most of last season, but lost two straight to Gaffney in the state finals to finish second. The Warriors begin the 2010 season ranked No. 1 in the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association poll thanks in part to the return of arguably the state’s best player in Drew Cisco.
A Georgia commit, Cisco threw in the 90s at Wrigley Field during the summer and is considered the 17th best player in the class of 2010 by Baseball America. His grandfather, Galen Cisco, is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.
Wando also returns all-area pick Bradley Evsich at third base.
Sumter (Sumter, S.C.) is the No. 2 pick in the 4A division, just ahead of defending champion Gaffney.
Class 3A
Belton-Honea Path loses state MVP Matt Moore from the pitching rotation, but that didn’t stop the coaches association from selecting the Bears as the top team in the preseason rankings. After going 22-7 last year, the Bears split with Camden in the championship series with Belton-Honea Path winning the final game 5-4.
The Bears graduated five seniors from last year’s team, but return five players who played over 30 games last year, including Andrew Cox (.317), Jacob Tavernier (.327) and Jarad Jennings (.255).
Riverside (Greer, S.C.) comes in at No. 2 and has an excellent history. Besides winning 14 of the past 15 region championships, Riverside also has won three state titles in the past seven years.
Class 2A
Bishop England has been a familiar face in the 2A state playoffs, winning the state crown every other year dating back to 2003 with six titles total since 1994. The Battling Bishops’ only losses last year were one to Northwood Academy and a pair to Wando.
Bishop England lost one of the state’s best players in Brison Celek, an all-state catcher, and Ryan Connolly, an all-state pitcher. However all-state shortstop Alex Abrams returns along with all-region juniors Morgan Bastian and Jimmy Lindberg. The Battling Bishops were also tagged with a preseason No. 1 ranking by the SCBCA.
Chesnee (Chesnee, S.C.) comes in at No. 2 in the preseason poll with a pair of talented pitchers leading the way. Dustin Sherbert and Region II-2A player of the year Brandon Henderson are both back on the mound with Henderson posting a 10-2 record with a 0.75 ERA last season. Colby Painter, a junior, will help out in the infield after batting .405 last season. Austin Morris is also a prospect at catcher.
Class 1A
Bamberg-Ehrhardt won its 15th state championship last year, its second in a row, with a 7-1 win over Chesterfield (Chesterfield, S.C.). The Red Raiders had to battle back from a loss in the first game of the championship series to win two straight and capture the title.
Horton, one of the winningest coaches in the nation with 817 career wins and all 15 of the team’s state championships, is back to coach after briefly considering retirement over the summer. He loses two of his top players in Zack Godley and Don Sandifer, both of whom earned all-state honors with Sandifer getting the nod as state player of the year.
Nevertheless, the Red Raiders have been pegged as the favorite to win the 1A championship again this season by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association. Helping lead the way are junior shortstop Randon Sandifer (.473 batting average), and senior outfielder Rob Wrightenberry (.436).
Chesterfield begins the season in the No. 2 spot in the SCBCA polls after finishing second to Bamberg-Ehrhardt last season. Chesterfield gave the champs a scare in the first game of the championship series with Seth Truesdale belted three home runs to lead his team to the victory. The Red Raiders won the next two games and kept Truesdale’s bat silent, but he returns for his junior season after earning all-state honors as a sophomore.
Johnsonville (Johnsonville, S.C.) should also be in the mix after falling to Bamberg-Ehrhardt in the state playoffs. All-state players Taylor Strickland and Josh Powell both return for the Flashes.
