Impact Baseball Futures Game

It was an outstanding event. High Point College has an outstanding new stadium and the field was in great condition. Batting practice was a blast to say the least. Wow!!!! The game was outstanding as well. It was alot of fun and I hope that this is an annual event. It was great to meet Braves and several other posters here as well including Dawgswood and many others. Im sure Impact will do a write up on the game. It was awesome to see so many outstanding HS players on one field at the same time. There were a ton of college coaches in attendance. It was alot of fun.

 

Hate I couldn't make it over there today. I really want to see Nick McBride pitch but I guess I'll have to wait for the season to start.

HPU is a first class place. They have really made that campus into a show piece.

 

Old Guys 10 Young Guys 7

It was great meeting you Coach May! Four homeruns in the first 3 innings got the game off to an amazing start, but the '08's had a little too much for the young guys after it was over. Unbelievable attendance by coaches and scouts. When you can attract the head coach of UNC and NC St to an event and they are there from the warmups thru batting practice and to the completion of the game you have an event that will become a tradition.

By the way, the '09s tried to steal one base early in the game and even though it was a 75mph curveball Jeff threw a seed to second nailing the runner by 10ft. Needless to say no one tested him again!

 

I thought I saw Coach Fox from UNC there

Amazing event, props to Impact Baseball. I hope this event is here to stay

 

Boxscore

Heres a link to the boxscore

http://www.impactbaseball.com/news_detail.asp?NewsID=308

 

The Event of the Year

Andy has out done himself......Great venue and hosts at High Point University. Excellent and fun coaches letting the kids do their thing. A sharp looking 4 man umpiring crew. A who's who of baseball people in the stands (including our very own Braves). What a fantastic stage for these outstanding ball players and it can all be seen tonight on the web at www.whigtv.com starting at 8:30 pm. Congrats to all the players for being selected to the first ever North Carolina "Futures Game" ...I can hardly wait for next years game.

 

Shout out..

and kudo to HPU Class of 84!!!

 

2008 against 2009

Wow...was that some impressive batting practice by the 2009 graduates. I believe more balls went over the fence than stayed in the ball field. Richie Shaffer almost hit the lights in Left field. You are talking about a 350' fence and then the pole is probably 40 to 50' in the air....that was impressive. But Wil Myers was just as impressive....hitting them over the CF fence at 400' with plenty of carry and over the score board. Before the game started I told my son to be careful to those two batters. He did okay, only giving up a double to Myers in the 8th but came back to strike him out to end the game. Discussion between catcher and my son before the last pitch of the game....Catcher-Are you sure you want to throw the FB?.....Michael -Yes. Catcher - Are you sure you don't want to throw the cutter? Michael - No, I'm throwing the FB. Catcher - Okay! Early in the game....Myers saw two FB and both went over the wall. My son was lucky that the ball was low in the zone, anything up would have been placed over the wall. Whoever plays Myers and Shaffer this spring....two words, BE CAREFUL or the ball will leave the park!
After, watching the batting practice, I was saying well the 09's will win this game with their exposive power but with the 08's they put the ball in play; timely hitting proved to be the decising factor.
Yes, it was good to see all the college coaches and recruiting coordinators. ECU head coach was there to watch his four players that have committed to his team. UNC-W had their pitching coach and recruiting coordinator to watch their recruit and probably try to pick up future committs. UNC head coach was their to watch his five committed recruits. NC state coach their to watch Maynard and Western Carolina was their to scout. Not sure about UNC-C but they had three recruits playing. I didn't see USC coaches but they missed a performances by their future player, Wil Myers. I guess they will have to watch it on the internet tonight or buy the video. The video will probably be a good one to buy. I plan to purchase one.
Even though, this is my son's last year of high school, I really hope that Andy Partin continues to put on this game every year. This was very special ending to a long season....spring, summer and Fall. Andy Partin and Stretchlon has done an excellent job....keep up the good work. Hopefully, this will get players in NC to start working harder so we will be consider the #1 state for producing baseball players.
Oh yeah, there were a few pro scouts on hand and everyone of them stayed until the last pitch was thrown....this was unbelievably!

Oh yes, I almost forgot....HPU has an outstanding facility. Very top notch, professional. I'm sure any kid would love to play at this field! Congrats to any kid committing to this college, you should enjoy the atmosphere!

 

The Future Game is here to stay. What a terrific event. As others have said, High Point U has created a beautiful stadium and a matching field. One can see quickly the investment the school has made in the program.

Upon arriving to the field, one couldn't help notice all of the colleges’ head coach in attendance. I believe every D1 School in this state was there, as well as some pro guys. As I was sighting my surroundings, I was checking off the priorities of my visit.

Concession stand- check
Restroom- check
Stretchlon- check
The players- check
Andy Partin- check

OK, I was ready for the game. I had an opportunity to talk with Stretchy before the game. What a great guy! I wish more people realized what he gives back to the game. Today, instead of Stretchy organizing a tournament or umpiring the games, he branded his other hat. That as a silver hair, Hollywood looking celebrity TV announcer...and what a great job he did. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to check out the game tonight at 8:30 www.whigtv.com. You will get to see Stretchy blow up Andy Partin into a TV star and personality.

The Game

In a game that is usually dominated by pitching, the hitters were the one’s on display. It’s not to imply that the pitching was not good, but everyone could tell that the layoff between ending fall games and this showcase, there was a little rust in most of the pitchers, especially in finding their locations.

Wil Myers had a heck of a game. The first two at bats the right-handed batter went yard. I know Coach Tanner at USC was smiling from ear to ear. The 08’s were clearly a bigger, stronger team with Jeff May, Pratt Maynard, Corey Thompson, Jacob Golliday and co. leading the way. But Cam Cockman seemed to always set the table. He started the game for the 08’s with a sharp single trying to serve notice that they were not going to let the “young’uns” get too full of themselves after a Wil Myers HR.

I thought all of the players had shown, at different times, why they were selected to this game, but there were some that used this game to standout. Not to take anything away from Myers performance because it was impressive, but I felt Chaz Frank was equally impressive in this game. He reminds me a lot of Addison Johnson. A small lefty, that carries a huge stick (Chaz went yard also).

I sat with a pro scout and he pointed out to me Corey Thompson. He felt and I agreed that Corey might have had the best hitting approach at the plate. Great balance, outstanding hands and allows his bat to stay in the zone longer.

Levi Michael and Brian Goodwin are big time players. Give me Jeff May and those two guys up the middle and we will win a lot of games.

There was only one thing that thoroughly disappointed me in this game. The pitchers are some of the best in the region. I expected them to challenge all of the batters..to come right after them. But when Jeff May came to bat, they pitched the same way pitchers had all year against him. He never saw a strike.

Again, many pitchers were shutting down for the year and were not at their best, but I would like to mention Sean Pope. I love this kid: Throws hard, is effortless in his release and his ball can explode on your hands quickly. And SuperWright, I couldn't believe how big your son is! And what great stuff. His first FB clocked in at 89. He showed why ECU was salivating.

Like I said, all players, at times, showed why they are special. Every pitcher had out pitches and all of them were extremely competitive. There were some great plays in the field…none better than Justin Roland’s over the shoulder grab in short right field.

Overall, what a great success for Andy Partin in creating this event and how well organized it was. This is a “can’t miss” game for me the rest of my life. Even if it means Tracy Partin has to escort me in my wheelchair.

Great job Andy, Impact Baseball and all of the volunteers and players that participated. A job well done!!!!

 

By the way, it was great to finally meet Coach27. He's exactly what you expect; knowledgeable, movie star handsome (even with his wimpy ear muffs) and a beautiful wife (who he failed to introduce to me. Probably heard my reputation).

In all seriousness, it was my pleasure, Kenny.