Hartsville, South Carolina - As a spectacular sunset and temperatures in the high 70s hovered over atmosphere-rich Jimmy White Park on Monday night, Coach Brad Ganor's Saint Ignatius Wildcats officially began their fourth appearance in what is one of the premier high school baseball tournaments in the nation - The Southeastern Baseball Classic.
With the Saint Ignatius flag waving proudly next to the press box in Jimmy White Park, along with the flags of other schools throughout the nation who have previously competed in the storied SBC, Wildcats dynamic junior second baseman A.J. Gaich made his teammates and the Saint Ignatius faithful on hand very proud.
Flying out of the batter's box, around the bases and crossing home plate with a strong burst, A.J. won the base running competition with an effort of 14.36 seconds.
Before stepping in the batter's box to begin his diamond dust winning sprint, A.J. told the master of ceremonies, if you will, that his favorite baseball movie is "The Natural."
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone more natural than George "A.J." Gaich when it comes to clearing the base paths, fielding the ball or fueling an offense.
Wildcats Senior J.J. Conway and Coach Ganor took part in the Opening Ceremony's Home Run and Fungo Bat hitting competition, respectively.
J.J. got his cuts in and Coach Ganor, along with his SBC coaching contemporaries, found hitting the Fungo target in center field a tall order.
As for the Home Run champion, it was Jose Rivera of Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Maryland).
A powerfully built young man who is a major league prospect, Rivera, in the words of Saint Ignatius football and baseball mainstay Sean Wracher, was sending "A can of See Ya Later" flying all over Jimmy White Park.
Also swinging an authoritative bat during the Home Run competition was Dylan Brewer of Latta (S.C.) High School.
Speakng of Latta, the 9-3 Vikings will face Saint Ignatius (1-0) in Tuesday's opening round of the SBC. The first pitch will be 4:15 PM and taking the mound for the Wildcats will be gifted junior right-hander Andrew Mulhern.
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.
Saint Ignatius will tune-up for Latta with an 8 AM breakfast on Tuesday, followed by a practice at Coker College.
We will have a corner's report on the Wildcats-Vikings SBC encounter on Tuesday night.
Signing off from sunny and warm Hartsville. Yes, Jimmy White Park is truly a field of dreams.