The opening day is finally here. The South Carolina baseball team is preparing to open the 2021 season against Dayton in a series of three games at Founders Park. Senior Thomas Farr is set to catch the ball for Gamecocks, who ended the campaign shortened by Coronavirus with a record of 12-4 in 2020.
The Flyers are coming out of a 6-8 mark, but they have a pitcher ranked in the Top 150 in the MLB Draft and a third baseman who has been chosen as the pre-season’s Player of the Year by several publications. The team was also chosen third in the league and received four of the 13 votes for first place.
The Gamecocks, under the head coach of the fourth year Mark Kingston, has a senior veteran team that sees only one newcomer, a junior college transfer. This is what the schedule on Friday looks like for Gamecocks:
RF Brady Allen
3B Brennan Milone
DH Wes Clarke
1B David Mendham
LF Andrew Eyster
2B Jeff Heinrich
Ç Colin Burgess
CF Noah Myers
WL George Callil
FIFTH INNING: Farr absolutely dominated with his fastball. He didn’t have to show anything more often. K on another 95 mph heater to start the shift. That was a three-shot strikeout, then a two-shot shortstop pop-up. Very good AB by nine-hole Cleary, who makes his second walk. I bet he’s on the order tomorrow. Single jam shot from the right side put two in front with two down. Eyster makes a catch on the infield grass to end the shift. Farr in 71 shots. … Eyster hits almost exactly the same shot he took on his last shot, but it doesn’t hit the barrier. The right fielder should have done the reception, but it goes over his head and leaves the wall for him to triple. Heinrich falls into a field of earth. But Burgess takes the runner home from third place with a ball to the left. He’s on his feet. Myers hits 4-3 to finish the inning. Carolina leads 8-0.
INNING ROOM: A 95 mph fastball to clear hitter Brickman sends him back to the bench with Farr’s fourth K in the game. Cabrerra appears to the shallow left. Do five punchouts, the one also on a 95 mph FB. … Maybe the left defender can play a little defense. He attacks a ship sinking from Callil’s staff to capture it. Allen makes a speeding shot at the top of the zone to make 2-2, then returns a fast ball. He hits a double line drive to the left after a few more shots. Milone hits a 0-2 soft liner to the center, which is caught in the second out of the turn. Clarke goes from 0-2 to 3-2. Fastball down and away, for a seven-pitch walk. Mendham with another RBI opportunity. We’ll see what he learned in the first two strokes. If the first blow was evident, it was nothing. We’ll see. Four breaking balls and he caught himself in two outside the zone. It’s 2-2. Jump the fifth ball that breaks to the right side and the shortstop solves the game. Carolina leads 7-0.
THIRD INNING: Two shots, one out. The eight-hole hitter appears as short. Farr’s fastball is 94-95 mph this turn. He’s in about 85 pitches. Four-pitch walk for the nine-hole guy. An unexpected bloop falls at the bottom right of the center as dark clouds roll over Founders Park. Unfortunately, not sarcasm. Farr makes Tirotta spin a 94 mph fastball on the second start of the turn. Ball flying deep into the left field. Eyster drifts back and picks up right at the edge of the track. Not far from tied, but another zero on the scoreboard for Farr. … Brady Allen triples at the top of the field’s central left wall. He jumps through the midfielder and Allen reaches third base for a triple. Milone falls behind in the 0-2 count. Take a quick 1-2 ball just inside. Other. Then a ball breaking inside to walk. Two for Clarke. He moves on 2-1 on a fast ball. Fastball in errors, 3-1. Change in dirt. Bases loaded for David Mendham. He is losing 0-1 by pulling hard from a breaking ball. That’s what he did his first AB. Do it again. K. Eyster rises and falls behind quickly by 0-2. High breaking ball that Eyster goes to the other side, and he has some real strength while loading, loading and loading into the USC bullpen. That’s 7-0. Heinrich with a first single shot off the mound towards the center. Burgess kicks, and so does Myers. Gamecocks leads 7-0.
SECOND INNING: First pitch to Brickman, the four-hole hitter, and he hits a small security guard back onto the mound. One down. Cabrerra scores a 0-2 shot on the right side, and the game is perfect and no hitter is over. (source of sarcasm) No one warming up in the bullpen. Big mistake. (source / sarcasm) Total score for Blackwell, which gives a great type of 3-1 swing and swings through a fast ball. Lazy ball to the left ends the entry. … Colin Burgess hasn’t seen a first shot he doesn’t like yet. Appears to the left. Myers falls in attacks, and Callil counters. Easy inning for Wolfe. Carolina leads 3-0
FIRST TIME: Thomas Farr in the collision, and he is a flamethrower. Up to 97. Play nothing but fast balls for the first two hitters in the game and get a weak pop for a deep short and a weak ball for a short. Callil takes into account the first two eliminations of the season. First baseman swings with a quick first-throw ball. Farr with a 2-1 shift gets a swing and fails. Then, a 97 mph fastball dropped on Colin Burgess’s glove ends the inning. Farr looks as announced in the first round. … After making a foul on the first shot he sees, Allen removes three balls from the zone to go ahead in the 3-1 count. After dropping a pair of two-strike shots, he hits a fast ball inward for Ball 4. Milone makes a first shot to the left. The left field player should not be good defensively, as he is playing against the wall. Of course, maybe he is playing there because Gamecocks can get a long way. After a visit to the mound, Clarke jumps over a quick ball from the first pitch and hits it just above the center field wall. Clarke said he wanted to reach 70 RBIs this season. Good start with three here. Mendham fans on a broken ball for the first exit of the game. Eyster hits a rocket, but back to the pitcher who makes the move. Fortuitous. Fastball with some running makes Heinrich swing on the first shot, so an out of speed shot causes him to lose 0-2. Good racing game from the first baseman in dirty territory not far from the tarp. Carolina leads 3-0