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Former Carolina baseball stars survive in MLB’s minor leagues ■ Part three in a three-part series By BRIAN SAAL THE GAMECOCK In part two of this three-part series, The Gamecock broke down most of the 2003 draft class from South Carolina. USC’s College World Series run began in 2002, when four Gamecocks were drafted by pro teams. The last Gamecock drafted from the 2003 class was catcher Landon Powell, who would eventually turn down the 25th-round pick of the Chicago Cubs. Powell would eventually hit .328 with 19 homers and 66 RBIs to get the attention of the Oakland A’s and their first-round pick in 2004. The Gamecocks had a momentous year in 2002. They went 21-8 and went all the way to the College World Series finals, beating Clemson twice to get there. The team received attention because of its striking youth. On June 4-5, 2002, only four Carolina players were drafted. Perhaps the most talented Gamecock, Drew Meyer, was the first Carolina player called with the 10th overall pick by the Texas Rangers. Unfortunately, the shortstop’s minor-league career has been rather mediocre. After hitting .359 in his last season in Columbia, the slugger has bounced between A- and AA-level play. Meyer showed an improvement last year when he dropped down to rookie level for rehab, where he hit .387 in 15 games. Patience is growing thin in Dallas, as he has yet to match the hype. Meyer struck out a career-high 92 times while only walking 32 times last season. The Rangers, however, have faith in the Bishop England graduate because they moved him further away from play to centerfield. The Rangers have Gary Matthews at center, which most believe is a temporary solution. It’s now or never for Meyer, as he has the opportunity to get called up some point this season, as long as he can keep his strikeouts down. Yaron Peters was drafted in the 10th round by the Atlanta Braves and was last seen leading the Rome Braves to the league championship in 2003, hitting .286 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. Gary Bell was taken in the 10th round by the New York Yankees. Bell has not received much news during his three-year minor league career. The left-handed pitcher played with the Independent League’s North Shore Spirit, where he pitched for a 3-3 record with a 5.32 ERA. The future does not look bright for the starter-turned-reliever with his current ball club, but perhaps a change of teams would bring Bell back to the 10-3 form of his final season at the Sarge. Both Garris Gonce and Blake Taylor were drafted in the 31st and 39th rounds, respectively. Unfortunately, both players only played one season in the minors. Look for a few Gamecocks on this year’s squad to garner draft attention as well. Junior infielder Steven Tolleson will be draft-eligible after this season, and senior ace Aaron Rawl could also hear his name called on draft day. Also looking to take his game to the next level is outfielder Michael Campbell, who will try to bounce back from offseason surgery to have a good season. Don’t forget about Steve Pearce, who, after being drafted in the 10th round of the 2004 draft, could see his stock rise to a top pick in 2005. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Briefs ESPN moves opener to Thursday night The USC athletics department announced Thursday that ESPN will carry the Gamecocks football season opener against Central Florida to a national television audience on Thursday, September 1. Newly hired USC head coach Steve Spurrier will make his debut as a Gamecock on the first nationally televised game of the season. This will be the sixth time USC has been showcased by ESPN in primetime, the most recent coming with a loss at Arkansas in 2003. “The fact that ESPN has elected to televise our season opener against Central Florida is, I believe, a tremendous compliment to the South Carolina football program,” Spurrier said. “This should be a big boost to our team and to those who follow and support the Gamecocks.” Track teams to travel to Clemson meet USC and Clemson will meet for the first time this track and field season at the Clemson Invitational, held today and Saturday. Competition begins at five o’clock with the women’s 20-pound weight throw and the men’s distant medley relay. Today’s events will end with the women’s 5000 meter tun at 7:50. Saturday’s events will begin at 11 a.m. with the men’s shot put and 60 meter hurdles final. The Invitational will wrap up with the women’s four by 400 meter relay at 4:10 p.m. The Gamecocks had an impressive showing last week at the Virginia Tech Invitational. USC managed 29 top finishes, including four titles and nine NCAA qualifying times. * u AFC CHAMP Continued from page 8 Steelers’ only defeat of the season. He went on to shatter the record for consecutive wins (six) by a rookie QB, winning 14 straight and becoming the first quarterback to be voted offensive rookie of the year. At that position, rookies either struggle or sit. There were different expectations when each arrived in the NFL. Bradv was a sixth-round pick after starting at Michigan only in his senior year. As a rookie in 2000, he threw three passes, completing one for 6 yards and was considered a long-range project _ at best. s He was behind Drew Bledsoe, s seemingly locked into the starter’s spot; " veteran journeyman John Friesz, and the much more athletic Michael Bishop. But he moved up to No. 2 behind Bledsoe the next year and became the starter when Bledsoe was injured in the second game. He went on to lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl victory and was voted the game’s MVP after leading a last minute drive that led to Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal. Brady was MVP again last year in a 32-29 win over Carolina and is often compared to Joe Montana because or his calm under pressure. Neither was a first-round pick (Montana was a third-rounder) and neither has the powerful arm of John Elway, Dan Marino _ or Roethlisberger for that matter. ^ Roethlisberger, a mobile 6-foot-5, P241 pounds, was a first-round pick, 11th overall from Miami of Ohio and the third quarterback taken last April after Eli Manning and Philip Rivers. He got his chance right away, but broke in slowly as the defense and running backs Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis carried the team. But he performed when he had to, leading late drives to beat Dallas and Jacksonville and his passer rating of 98.1 was fifth in the NFL behind only Peyton Manning, Daunte Culpepper, Drew Brees and Donovan McNabb. “It’s not like he is 14th in the league or anything,” Belichick says. “He is up there at the top with and above a lot of guys who have a lot more experience. I don’t think he is just a guy to stand there and hand the ball off to Bettis and ^italey. He makes plenty of plays himself in that offense.” But that was before last week. Against the Jets, Roethlisberger had an interception returned for a touchdown. He threw another that gave New York a shot at a game-winning field goal _ Doug Brien missed from 43 yards and the Steelers ended up winning in overtime. Meanwhile, the Patriots shut down Peyton Manning and high-scoring Indianapolis 20-3 in the snow at Foxboro with Brady his usual efficient but unspectacular self. Sunday’s game will be a test of Roethlisberger’s resilience _ he says it took just 10 minutes to put last week’s game behind him. (It would have been a lot longer had the Steelers lost). “You can’t afford ro feel like a rookie,” he said. “If I go out and play like a rookie this week like I did last week, we’ll definitely lose the game.” Brady had his ups and downs in his first playoff season _ his “rookie” year as a starter. In his first postseason game, he “fumbled” in the snow of Foxboro with the Patriots trailing Oakland by 3 points in the final minutes. But the fumble was negated by the infamous “tuck rule” replay, the Patriots tied it and Brady was 6-of-6 in overtime to set up a game-winning field goal by Vinatieri. The next week against Pittsburgh, he injured his ribs in the first half against the Steelers and Bledsoe relieved him and threw for the Patriots’ only offensive touchdown in a 24-17 win. Brady was back for the Super Bowl, led the Patriots to an upset over favored St. Louis and established himself as one of the game’s top quarterbacks _ not a statistical machine, but a winner. Both quarterbacks have a lot of support, especially on defense. The Patriots set a record with 21 straight wins _ 18 in the regular season _ before the loss in Pittsburgh. They have done it with everyone on the roster making big plays _ especially Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Richard Seymour on defense and Corey Dillon and five different wide receivers on offense. But when starters go down, others step up _ like wide receiver Troy Brown, who had a punt return for a touchdown in the title game in Pittsburgh three years ago. Brown plays offense, special teams and is a third cornerback because both starters are out. The Steelers rushed for 154 yards a game in the regular season, second in the league. Their defense allowed the fewest points and the fewest yards as James Farrior had a career year at linebacker and second-year safety Troy Polamalu emerged as a playmaker. . But quarterback is a glamour position, so Brady and Roethlisberger are likely to get the credit. Or blame. “This business is about being accountable,” Steelers coach Bill Cowher said of Roethlisberger, who made no excuses for last week’s mistakes. “To admit when you haven’t done well is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength. “Sometimes you’re going to have a bad game. But you learn from it, you move on, you grow from it.” WINSLOW TOWNSON/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looks downfield for a receiver in this photo. Brady will lead the Patriots against the SteelerS this weekend. I ■ RECRUITING Continued from page Wednesday. Brandyn Young, listed by Rivals.com as an athlete, made his verbal commitment to Spurrier and USC Wednesday. Young, who told Gamecockcentral.com he will start out at running back for Carolina, is listed as a three-star prospect from Tucker, Ga. The 6-foot, 190-pound back runs a 40 yard dash time of 4.4 seconds. He also had offers on the table from Auburn, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and Maryland, among others. Staying in the Palmetto State for his collegiate career will be North Charleston defensive tackle Jarriel King. King stands at 6-foot-6-inches and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.87 seconds, according to Rivals.com. He is listed as a two-star prospect. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports®gwm.sc. edu WORKING OUT THE KINKS ALLEN SHARPE/PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK The USC baseball team stretches Wednesday as the Gamecocks prepared to start their first official day of practice. The team will take the field for the first time in the 2005 season on Feb. 11. ■ WOMEN Continued from page 8 team. The Gamecocks grabbed 34 boards, its second lowest output of the season, while the Tide grabbed an impressive 45 boards. The minus-15 margin and 45 rebounds put up by Alabama are both season-highs against the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks travel to Fayetteville on Sunday to take on the Arkansas. Arkansas registered its first conference victory of the season last Sunday against Mississippi State, a team that the Gamecocks lost to 48-55 earlier in the season. After losing starting center Kristin Moore to a knee injury Jan. 2, the Lady’Backs saw a great 10-2 start begin to slide while searching for consistency on offense and defense. The first key to the game will be the size advantage that USC will hold yet again. Carolina will look to exploit Arkansas on the boards, as the Lady’Backs are last in the SEC with a sub-zero rebounding margin. Coach Susan Walvius has consistently said that good rebounding teams win games, and Carolina has had plenty of opportunities to rebound while holding opponents to .360 percent shooting, second best in conference. Sliskovic, Olga Gritsaeva and Ilona Burgrova will need to be more physical and aggressive in the post for Carolina to succeed. The second key to the game will fall in the category of turnovers, as the Gamecocks are big underdogs in this department. Carolina is the only conference team averaging more than 20 turnovers a game as well as a negative turnover margin. On the other side of the spectrum, Arkansas leads the league with 15.33 steals per game. If all follows current trends, the Gamecocks will be in over their heads. The game is set for 3 p.m. The next home game will come next Thursday against No. 8 Tennessee at 7 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu • *'• : : > GAMECOCK CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE: Every week, Jonathan The Gamecock's readers and Hillyard staff test their sports knowledge Sports with game predictions. :^lt0 (6-4) Tennessee at 14 Louisville Louisville 3 Wake Forest at 20 Cincinatti Cincinatti Clemson at VirginiaClemson Davidson at FurmanFurman UNCG at CitadelCitadel LSU at 8 KentuckyKentucky Auburn at ArkansasArkansas 22 Alabama at Mississippi Alabama Vanderbilt at GeorgiaVanderbilt USC at Mississippi State USC 70-68 Stephen Alex Miquel Fastenau Riley Jacobs Asst. Sports Staff Staff editor Writer Writer (3-7) (7-3) (6-4) Louisville Louisville Tennessee WakeCincinatti Wake Virginia Virginia Virginia Davidson Davidson Davidson UNCG UNCG UNCgT Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas Alabama Alabama Alabama Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Miss. St. USC USC 60-55 68-62 70-64 Jake Paul Broom Edwards Special Reader of guest the week (7-3) (6-4) Louisville Tennessee Wake Wake Virginia Virginia Furman Furman UNCG UNCG Kentucky Kentucky Arkansas Arkansas Alabama Alabama Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Miss. St. USC 70-64 65-63 WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-MAIL SELECTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK’S GAMES TO GAMECOCKSPORTS@GWM.SC.EDU. LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: Alex Riley and the special guest jumped off to a quick lead with 7-3 weeks, one better than Miquel Jacobs and Jonathan Hillyard. BE A LEADER AMONG LEADERS ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Every Soldier in the U.S. Army learns how to become a leader - AN ARMY OF ONE. With your bachelor’s degree, you can become an Army Officer and be a leader among leaders. In Officer Candidate School (OCS), you’ll learn management and leadership techniques. Apply now. Openings are limited. > > Call Sgt 1st Class Greene at 777-4812 to find out about college loan repayment and more Army benefits. 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