Catch by Centerfielder for Burke Post 21

Did anyone see the catch from the Centerfielder for Burke County last night at the Burke/Gaston game? Heard some people talking about it, who was the player?

 

Catch

Yeah I saw it real well, it was CF Tori Connelly and it was amazing. Marcus Duckworth hit a deep fly to right center and Connelly went about 1/2 way over the fence fully extended to bring it back. It looked like he almost flipped over the fence he was extended so far.

Absolutely the best catch I have ever seen at this level.

 

I was at South Point last night and let me tell you about this catch.

The display of speed and vertical leap that Tori put on was unbelievable. That ball was not a pop up by any means it was on a pretty good line and Tori closed the distance into right center then exploded into the air extended over the wall and hauled it back. After he made the grab it was very Spiderman-esque as he landed on the wall. Momentum almost him over the wall but he sprung back over and trotted the ball back to the infield.

Both crowds cheered and the Brave that hit the ball tipped his helmet to him. Classy all around.

 

Down South

Hey Down South,

Agreed, the crowd and players were very classy from both sides last night especially after that catch. It was actually a well respected series from both sides all five games. Thanks for noticing two teams playing the game the right way.

 

Tell me about Tori Connelly. Where is he from? what school? All I have to say about what I have read about his catch is.....WOW!!!!!!

 

TC

Tori is a rising senior at Freedom. Hits leadoff and plays centerfield for the Patriots. Him and Austin Attaway are the best things going for a relatively weak program, but help would appear to be on the way as Freedom will be getting the LL world series crew soon--I think next year.

 

Thanks Bubba...I hope to see him play

 

Tori Conley graduated from Freedom High. He is going to continue his baseball career at Wilkes Community College. He is an outstanding baseball player but an even better person. He should do great things in the future and I don't mean only on the baseball field.

 

oops

Thought he had one year left--thanks for the correction. Good luck to him at WCC.

 

3 Things
1) I have followed this kid's(Conley) career since he was 10 years old. He is a real player. The tragedy here is that he is going to a community college to play next year. He is way better than that. He is a good student and a fine person and it is amazing that no one has looked/signed him. I heard about the catch he made in Legion but I have seen him make incredible plays for years.One that comes to mind is a "Mays-type" catch at Davie County this year.

2) Conley and Attaway were good players on last year's poor Freedom team but Zach Daw, a rising senior deserves a little more respect than he gets. The kid hit .346(2nd on the team) and led the team in hits, HRs, RBIs, Slugging%, and Fldg%. 3 of his HRs came in the late innings with the game tied and/or trailing. Twice his team was down to its final out. Against East Lincoln, down 3, hit a tying 3 run homer. Against Alexander Central , behind by 3 hit, a Grand Slam. Freedom went on to lose those games. He got the save and delivered the GW RBI against Davie County in the last game Davie lost until the playoffs. In a loss at Davie, once again he came to the plate with the team down to its last out, delivered an RBI hit to tie the game before his team fell in extra innings.
This summer he has played the showcase circuit for the Charlotte Heat alongside standout players Derik Bolick, Dustin Harrington and Ben Gibbs and his improvement has been astounding. He is 4-3 on the year with an ERA under 3. He has increased his MHP to mid 80's, has great movement, fields his position well and has good control. He has earned the respect of his teammates and has gotten some interest from some college(2 of which are ACC Scools) coaches this summer. He is 6'4", 220 and is a great student and good kid to boot.

3) Morganton AllStars- Unless a change happens at Freedom regarding their approach to present day high school baseball, this group will be no better than the current team.