Former Fort Mill standout gets another chance, this time with Detroit

By Earl Gault - The Herald

Former Fort Mill High School athlete Charlie Lisk gets another opportunity in affiliated professional baseball after signing a contract with the Detroit Tigers organization.

A right-handed hitting catcher, Lisk was signed after batting .313 with 12 doubles, 24 homers and 64 RBIs for the Gateway Grizzlies of the independent Frontier League this past season. He ended the year second in the league in homers and fourth in slugging percentage at .583.

The 25-year-old Lisk was selected to the Frontier League All-Star team for the second consecutive season.

Lisk was the Chicago White Sox's 24th-round pick in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft out of Fort Mill. He was headed to South Carolina on a scholarship before deciding to sign with the White Sox.

Lisk spent five seasons in the White Sox organization before being released in 2006. He has also played in the Florida Marlins and San Diego Padres organizations plus a couple of other stops with independent league teams.

• CUMBERLAND: Senior guard Thomas Douglas, who played at Rock Hill, has helped the Bulldogs get off to a 4-1 start.

A 5-11 guard, Douglas is averaging 15.4 points and scored a season-high 26 in last Friday's 94-92 victory over Bluefield.

Douglas is shooting 48.2 percent from the floor and 45 percent on 3-point attempts. He was a first-team All-TranSouth Conference selection last season, averaging 15.9 points.

Douglas is in his third and final season at the Lebanon, Tenn., school after transferring from Cleveland State Community College.

• GEORGIA TECH: Former Northwestern runner Mary Kate DuBard was the Yellow Jackets' top finisher in the Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C.

DuBard, a freshman, led the Jackets women in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 21:42, finishing 31st.

The team finished 11th as Florida State won the team championship.

The Jackets compete in the NCAA South Region Championships on Saturday in Knoxville.

• SOUTH CAROLINA: Sarah Cline, a defensive specialist on the Gamecocks' volleyball team, was recently named to a spot on ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-District III first team.

Cline, a former Northwestern standout, earned the honor for the second consecutive year. She is the first Gamecock to earn two academic all-district honors since Shani Abshier in 1996-1997.

Cline, a junior, is sixth in the SEC in digs at 3.89 per contest. South Carolina is second in the conference in digs at 15.28.

The Gamecocks, 19-6 and 10-5 in the SEC, visit Kentucky on Friday at 7 p.m.

• VALDOSTA STATE: Blazers defensive tackle Bryant Thorpe, a former Chester standout, is headed to postseason play for the second time in two seasons.

Thorpe, a 6-1, 258-pound sophomore, and the Blazers open defense of their NCAA Division II national championship on Saturday when they entertain Carson-Newman in Valdosta, Ga., at 1 p.m. The Blazers are the No. 2 seed in Super Region Two and C-N's Eagles are No. 6.

Thorpe has played in five games for the Blazers, who are 8-2 and 6-2 in Gulf South Conference play. He has six tackles, seven assists and one quarterback hurry.

• WEST POINT: Former Fort Mill standout Ashleigh Sheets is a member of the history-making Army women's soccer team.

Sheets, a freshman midfielder-forward, has helped the Black Knights earn their first NCAA tournament berth. The Black Knights, 12-5-3 and 4-1-2 in the Patriot League, visit No. 16-ranked Virginia (13-4-3) on Friday at 5 p.m. in a first-round tournament game. Virginia is the No. 2 in the 16-team UCLA Region.

Sheets has played in 19 of 20 games, starting 18. She has one goal, four assists and six points.

The Black Knights are ranked sixth in the NSCAA/adidas Northeast Regional and made it to the NCAA tournament after winning the Patriot League tournament.

Army upset top-seeded and two-time defending league champion Navy, 1-0, in double overtime last Sunday.