American Legion baseball is in full swing. Rock Hill Post 34 will step outside of its league schedule to host Tuscaloosa (Ala.) as 7 p.m. today at Rock Hill High School. Tuscaloosa, also Post 34, and Rock Hill played in the 2003 Southeast Regional. The Alabama team is on a week-long trip playing games in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee before returning home.
League V is heading into its final full week and the standings, as of Wednesday, were tightening. Clover Post 38 was in first followed by Rock Hill and Fort Mill Post 43.
Three of Fort Mill's four losses have come against Clover. The two teams meet for the final time on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Clover.
Fort Mill plays a doubleheader at Rock Hill at 6 p.m. on Thursday to end the regular season. Simultaneously, Clover will host Chester in a double dip. The games will likely decide who makes the playoffs which begin July 5.
KNIGHTS NOTES -- Charlotte opens a six-game homestand at 7:15 p.m. today. They take on the Buffalo Bisons for four games and finish up with two contests with the Norfolk Tides. Buffalo, the New York Mets top farm team, has added P Ramon Ortiz to the roster. Ortiz won 15 games for the 2002 world champion L.A. Angels. The Bisons also have Valentino Pascucci who hit three home runs on June 18.
Charlotte catcher Tyler Flowers is third in the International League with 15 home runs. His last homer came on Tuesday in Syracuse, it was an inside-the-park dinger.
WINTHROP PLAYERS -- Former Winthrop right-hander Chris Leroux was placed on the Florida Marlins' 15-day disabled list on May 19 with a right elbow strain. The rookie reliever appeared in 14 games for the Marlins and had a 6.60 ERA. He had struck out 17 in 15 innings.
Leroux was assigned to the Class A Jupiter Hammerheads on June 14 and made two rehab appearances before being optioned to Triple-A New Orleans. The reliever allowed four runs off two hits and three walks in a third of an inning on June 19 at Memphis. He has been shut down for 4-6 weeks according to Zephyrs' radio broadcaster Tim Grubbs.
Former Eagles' shortstop Kevin Nolan has been used at first base, third base, right field and designated hitter so far for Class A Lansing (Mich.) in the Midwest League to start his first full season. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays following the 2009 season.
He struggled at short-season Auburn (N.Y.) hitting .191 in 48 games last summer and according to Lansing Lugnuts radio broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, Nolan wasn't supposed to be in Lansing. But he hit so well in spring training that he forced the Jays to give him a shot.
Nolan was hitting in the middle of the Lugnuts lineup to start the year before cooling off. He was placed on disabled list on May 9 and was hitting .153. He is hitting .393 (11-28) in the month of June.
Catcher John Murrian was part of the same draft class as Nolan. He spent more than a month on the Lakeland (Fla.) Flying Tigers' disabled list. He was activated on June 17.
First baseman Eddie Tisdale is in his second season with the Independent Lake Erie Crushers. He is hitting .314 with 12 doubles through the teams' first 31 games.
COLLEGE SUMMER LEAGUES -- Two players of local interest are playing well in the Southern Collegiate Summer League (SCBL). Former Great Falls standout Gaither Bumgardner is playing for the Spartanburg Blue Eagles. He is hitting .326 and is 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA in four relief appearances. Winthrop redshirt-freshman pitcher Daniel Hyatt is off to a 4-0 start for the Statesville Owls. In six games he has a 1.93 ERA and opponents are hitting just .157 against him.
In the Coastal Plains League (CPL) Fort Mill's Charlie McCready, a left-handed pitcher for Charleston Southern, is 2-1 for the Edenton Steamers. He has nine strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings and has allowed three unearned runs to date. Chas Crane picked up where he left off for Winthrop. He is among the Top 10 in hitting (.324) for the Peninsula Pilots. He also has two homers and 19 RBI in 20 games.
Winthrop's Eric Ruth is playing in the New England Baseball League for the Sanford Mainers. In eight appearances he has two saves and 12 strikeouts in eight innings.
SURGERY -- Stewart Curry, a pitcher for Presbyterian and a former Rock Hill High standout, had surgery recently to repair a torn labrum. He appeared in 12 games and made one start for the Blue Hose in his freshman year in 2009. He took a redshirt this season. Curry said his recovery time is expected to take four-to-six months.
