From my palatial estate in Fairview Park - After two rainouts were sandwiched around an impressive victory over a solid Mayfield club on Wednesday evening at Baldwin Wallace University (see the corner's game story from Thursday morning), Coach Brad Ganor's Varsity Baseball Wildcats will take their 1-0 record into next week's prestigious Southeastern Baseball Classic in Hartsville, South Carolina.
Saint Ignatius will begin its tournament play in The Palmetto State on Tuesday with a 4:15 PM first pitch versus the Latta High School Vikings from South Carolina.
In 2015, Latta rallied from a three-run deficit with a five-run sixth inning and went on to a 6-4 victory over the Lewisville Lions in a winner-take-all-game at the best-of-three Class A state championship series.
It marked the Vikings' first state baseball championship since 1966, as they joined Latta's girls softball team in becoming the first school since Gaffney in 2009 to win baseball and softball South Carolina state titles in the same season.
Among the Latta players to keep an eye on are Dylan Brewer, who swings a run-producing bat, and Noah Henderson, a savvy pitcher with a knack for keeping hitters off balance.
The game this corner has circled is Wednesday's 1:45 PM matchup with the Panthers from Paul VI Catholic High School (Fairfax, Virginia).
Paul VI, whose motto is "Grow in Grace and Wisdom," competes in one of the strongest high school baseball conferences in the mid-Atlantic region, the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC).
The baseball program at Paul VI became a nationally recognized power after compiling a record of 121-32 from 2004 through 2008. Every year since 2000, the WCAC has produced at least one nationally ranked baseball team.
Five-time state champion Paul VI will enter the Southeastern Baseball Classic with a record of 9-1.
The Panthers outscored their first nine opponents this season by a combined score of 54-15. That included four shutouts and three other games in which they limited the opponent to one run. The Panthers entered this week ranked sixth in The Washington Post's D.C. Area/Virgina Top 10 poll, third in the Nova Baseball Magazine Top 10 and seventh in the @PBR Virginia/D.C. Power 25.
By the way, Paul VI's first setback this season occurred last evening (Thursday), a 4-3, walk-off loss at St. John's. St. John's is the Washington Post's second-ranked team.
Saint Ignatius will take on Sumter High School at 11 AM on Thursday and Friday is a To Be Determined situation.
The pride of Mccray's Mill Road in Sumter, South Carolina, the Fighting Gamecocks of Sumter High School have played well in their region, going 5-1, but were 5-7 overall earlier this week.
Similar to Saint Ignatius, the Fighting Gamecocks have some promising young players, including outfielder/pitcher Jacob Holladay, outfielder Jackson Hoshour and versatile freshman infielder/pitcher Victor Brown.
DOWN MEMORY LANE: One of the highlights from this corner's first and only previous coverage of the Southeastern Baseball Classic in 2010 was seeing former Wildcats outstanding outfielder Kevin Hopkins receive one of the SBC's prestigious Scholarship Awards.
Have a Blessed Good Friday and a wonderful Easter Sunday and we will see you at the home of Coker College, "a Miracle on Carolina Avenue," The Vista and "The Screen on the Green."