The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 09, 2002, Page 12, Image 12
Baseball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
know one of the battles going on
now is af shortstop with Tolleson
and Triplett. That’s a battle that’ll
go right on into spring drills.”
The incoming pitchers on this
team will benefit from a bevy of
big-game experience returning
this season.
Sophomores Matt Campbell
and Aaron Rawl played important
roles in the College World Series,
and senior Steven Bondurant
threw a complete game for a win
against Clemson in Omaha.
Junior David Marchbanks, de
spite tailing off toward the end of
last season, is also back and
should continue making progress.
“I like our pitching staff; I like
the quality of our pitching staff,”
Tanner said. “Chris Hernandez is
a senior that’s not going to enjoy
sitting back and watching the
younger guys pitch. He’s going to
fight for his innings, and the fresh
men will, too. Coach (Jerry)
Meyers has done a tremendous job.
“The question seems to be, who
is going to be our late guy? Who is
going to be the Blake Taylor? He
had 21 saves last year; that’s some
big shoes to fill, and that seems to
be a major question this year.”
As fall practice continues,
Tanner knows the task that lies
ahead. But he’s confident the team
has what it takes.
“We feel like we’ve got capable
people,” he said, “but now we’re
in the process of turning that po
tential to reality.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
USC’s 2002 Baseball Recruiting Class ■
Collegiate Baseball ranked Carolina’s recruiting class eighth in the nation. This marks the third
straight year that the Gamecocks have assembled a Top-10 class. USC-brings in 14 newcomers to ■
fortify a teamlhat lost many of its starters to graduation or professional baseball.
Forrest Beverly LHP 6-3 205 Conway HS / Conway
2002 Gatorade South Carolina Playfer of the Year was drafted in the 17th round of the MLB Draft
SadtyCafe OF 6-0 191 Lake Sumter CC / Orlando, Fla.
Florida Junior College All-Star hit .482 last fall With 10 HRs and 37 RBI
Michael Campbell LHP/OF 6-0 173 Handley HS / Winchester, Va.
2002 Virginia Player of the Year was 10-0 as a pitcher (1.06 ERA) and hit .450
Nick Gardiner OF 5-10 209 San Jose City College / San Jose, Calif.
2002 California Junior College All-American batted .360 with 15 HRs and 14 doubles
Conor Lalor RHP 6-4 206 Houston HS / Germantown, Term.
44th-round draft pick recorded 16-4 record in three seasons at Houston HS
Ryan Mahoney C 6-4 222 Carmel HS / Patterson, N.Y.
Eighth-round draft pick named second-team all-state In New York
Trey McDaniel INF 6-3 235 Braokland-Cayce HS / West Columbia
Batted .430 with nine homers and 40 RBI for Braokland-Cayce
-—-■ —
Hank Parks IB 5-11 224 Spartanburg Methodist JC / Easley
NJCAA first-team All-American had 25 HRs and 80 RBI in 2002
Zach Reeves LHP 5-10 165 Easley HS / Easley
Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball High School All-American struck out 97 in 56 IP
BJ. Richmond OF/IB 6-3 183 South Point HS / Belmont, N.C.
Earned All-State honors in North Carolina while batting .375 with 7 HRs and 30 RBI'
Steven Tolleson INF 5-9 165 Dorman HS / Spartanburg
Was perfect 89-for-89 in stolen base attempts; also batted .439 for Dorman
Bryan Triplett INF 5-11 172 Spartanburg Methodist JC/ Leesvllle
NJCAA third-team All-American finished the season with a .676 slugging percentage
Bobby White LHP 6-3 227 Spartanburg Methodist JC / N. Augusta
Chosen in 39th round of MLB Draft after posting 8-2 record with 4 CGs and 57 SOs
Walker Whitley RHP 6-6 212 Rose HS / Greenville, N.C.
Two-time All-Conference selection with a 5:1 record and a 1.81 ERA
Club Corner
Men’s Soccer
This weekend, the Men's Soccer Club
played in the Socctoberfest tournament,
the largest club tournament in the nation.
But the Gamecocks failed to move
past the group phase after tying even
tual champion Kentucky.
. Carolina hit the post three times
against the Wildcats and was led by
Daniel Philips and Martin Heaney.
USC has been invited to the regional
championships to be played in two
weeks in Columbus, Ga.
Club Comer will run every Wednesday
in The Gamecock. To be included, e
mailyour information, in paragraph
form, togamecocksports@hotinail.com.
The deadline for each issue is Monday
at2p.m.
Almond
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
in real life from the good teams in
cyber life. How else can I explain
my embarrassing performance
this season in The Gamecock’s
Sports Challenge? Pat Dye would
be questioning my manhood right
now; my girlfriend’s made better
predictions than me.
6. Seeing Cocky in my sleep
And the thing is, Cocky looks
so creepy in the video game. He’s
a lot skinnier than usual, almost
anorexic, and his eyes bulge out
of his head and stare you down
the whole time.
7. Getting turned on by the cy
ber cheerleaders
I guess EA concentrated all their
time on the cheerleaders instead of
the mascots. Good work, guys.
8. Feeling like life is pointless
after my roommate waxed me
in the Rose Bowl
If you lost 45-6, though, you’d
probably feel the same way.
Damn you, Michigan!
9. Enjoying watching other
people play the game
I actually sat down today and
watched four of my roommates
battle it out. And I provided play
by-play. God, I need help.
The list could go on and on. As
you can see, I’m pretty pathetic.
I don’t know how to stop. The
game is just too much fun. I’ll
probably stop when I win a couple
of more Sears trophies. Or when
my girlfriend, desperate for atten
tion, threatens to get rid of me.
But most likely, I’ll be playing
NCAA Football 2003 until the next
big game comes out: NCAA College
Basketball 2K3. Awww yeah!
Weekly Awards
Pimp Daddy of the Week:
Barry Bonds
It was nice to see the Yankees
lose. It was perhaps even nicer to
see the Braves lose. Bonds final
ly came through in the postsea
son Monday night, hitting a two
run blast in Game 5 to lead the
Giants to a 3-1 win.
I know there are a lot of bitter
Atlanta fans out there, but the
rest of us are going to enjoy see
ing some new teams go at it for
once. Maybe the Minnesota
Twins can complete their
Cinderella story and win the
World Series. Wouldn’t that be
something?
Toolbox of the Week:
The previously mentioned Pat
Dye
The former Auburn head
coach publicly challenged
Georgia’s football team, saying
they weren’t “man enough” to
beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa this
past Saturday.
He was wrong. Georgia won 27
25 and took control of the SEC
East race with Florida’s loss to
Ole Miss.
Dammit, Dye. Why did you
have to go and give the Bulldogs
more motivation? An Alabama
win would have gave all the SEC
East teams (except Vanderbilt)
one loss. Carolina would be sit
ting pretty.
He probably knew what he was
doing, though. Being a former
Auburn coach, he likely wanted
to see the Tide go down. If so,
what a great idea. Steve Spurrier
should issue a similar challenge
to Tennessee this week.
Quote of the Week:
“Sex a couple of hours before the
match is the key to success.” —
soccer player Ronaldo, on
Spanish TV.
Of course, the Brazilian said
the woman must take the domi
nant role. Burning too much en
ergy would sap the man’s
strength.
Sounds like just the thing to
break the men’s soccer team’s
two-game losing streak.
Almond is a fourth-year print
journalism student. His column
appears every Wednesday in
Gamecock Sports.
Interested in taking The Gamecock Sports Challenge?
If you can beat the editors, you win a free Gamecock T-shirt
Send your picks to gamecocksports@hotmail.com by 2 p.m. Thursday. We’ll select ONE person’s picks, at
random, to be our Reader of the Week.
litis week's games:
USC at Kentucky
Clemson at Virginia
10 Tennessee at 6 Georgia
18 LSU at 16 Florida
Arkansas at 24 Auburn
9 Florida State at 1 Miami
2 Oklahoma at 3 Texas
15 Penn State at 13 Michigan
Texas Tech at 11 Iowa State
Oregon State at Arizona State
♦ FOR TIEBREAKING PURPOSES,
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR SCORE
FOR THE USC/KENTUCKY GAME.
AND DONT FORGET TO INCLUDE
YOUR NAME!
-1
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sleeping bags & pads
• Miscellaneous camping items
(stoves, headlamps, water filters, etc.)
• Waterproof jackets
for men & women
• Hiking boots for -_4
men & women <
• Longjohns,
fleece jackets
& pants to keep
you warm
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