The Kingsmen: An update on Rock Hill’s 2022 Southern Collegiate Baseball League team

The first two weeks of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League have been completed, and the Kingsmen team from Rock Hill is sitting in third place.

Coach Joe Hudak’s team currently owns a record of 4-4 on the year as they get ready for the next week of play. The Lake Norman Copperheads sit atop the league with a 6-2 mark, with the Mooresville Spinners checking in at 6-3. After the Kingsmen comes the Concord Athletics with a 3-5 record. The Carolina Vipers complete the league with a record of 0-5.

The Kingsmen split their first four outings of the year and followed by winning two of their next three. They lost the opener 7-1 to Mooresville, but bounced back three days later for a 10-1 victory over the same team.

They dropped an 8-4 decision to Lake Norman in the next contest, but regrouped with a doubleheader sweep of Concord. The winning streak stretched to three games with a 6-5 victory over Lake Norman, but it came to a halt with an 11-5 loss to Mooresville.

After being rained out against Carolina this past Friday night, they were held without a hit in a 1-0 loss to Mooresville on Saturday night.

Hudak knows his team needs to improve going forward.

“We have not been very consistent on offense,” he said. “Defensively, we have done well, but we need to get better. Our pitching has been good, and it is getting better as we play more games.”

There have been some key contributions by the area players on this year’s roster.

In the second game of the year Chas DeBruhl of Kershaw started and picked up the win. He worked five shutout innings, allowed only one hit, and struck out 10. That evened the Kingsmen’s record at 1-1.

“We needed that lift,” Hudak said. “We did not want to go 0-2, and his performance on the mound was the key.”

When the fourth game rolled around the Kingsmen were coming off a loss, and needed a big lift. Matthieu Curtis of Tega Cay answered the call in the first game of the doubleheader. He pitched the first five innings to earn the win in the 15-5 decision to put the Kingmen back at the .500 mark. Curtis scattered six hits, allowed three runs, struck out six and walked only one.

“He gave us a very good outing, and we needed it,” said Hudak. “He just completed his high school career, and he has a tremendous future.”

DeBruhl turned in his second gem of the season in the next contest. He pitched five innings to earn the victory in a 3-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader. He was dominant in those five innings. He scattered three hits, allowed two runs, struck out 11 and walked only two.

“He was excellent that night when we needed another good effort on the mound,” said Hudak. ”That close win kept us on track.”

In the next game the Kingsmen trailed the Copperheads 5-2 after seven innings. Jordan Thurmond was summoned to the mound, and he gave the Kingsmen exactly what they needed. The Rock Hill native blanked the Copperheads in the eighth and ninth frames, and when the Kingsmen rallied for three in the ninth, it tied the score at 5-5.

Jordan finished his three inning stint with a perfect tenth frame, and the Kingmsen rallied for a run in that same inning for a 6-5 victory. Jordan did not allow a hit and struck out five.

“His performance over those three innings put us in position to come back and win,” said Hudak. “He is not full time for us. He pitches on an as needed basis.”

DeBruhl was solid in his third outing in this past Saturday night’s 1-0 loss. He started and went seven innings. He allowed only three hits and struck out six, but got no run support In three starts this season he has a record of 2-1. The former Andrew Jackson standout has pitched 17 innings and allowed only seven hits and three runs. He has struck out 27 and walked only five, while posting a sparkling ERA of 1.59.

“He has pitched better for us than we had anticipated,” added Hudak. “He did not get to pitch much at Francis Marion this past season, but he has done well and is gaining confidence with each outing.”

The Kingsmen play four games this week. They host Concord on Tuesday and take on Carolina at home on Wednesday. They hit the road for the next two games. They play Mooresville on Thursday and Lake Norman on Friday.

Hudak talked about the key going forward.

“This league is very competitive this year,” said the veteran coach. ”We need to keep working, and we need to be more consistent. We are getting some of our players back now, and that will help.”

Following this week of play, the Kinsgmen will take a break for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

Hudak says his players are ready for the trip.

“They have been looking forward to this trip since they got here,” he added. “Once they talked with some of the players who went last year, they became even more excited about going.”

After the mission trip, the Kingmen will return to league play on July 11 with a home game against Mooresville.