Throughout the summer of 2020 many players across North Carolina did not play their expected schedule.   This is on the back of a spring season that was cancelled very early on for high school players.  As August rolled around, it became clear that individual sessions through high school teams, and the fall season, would continue to be impacted by COVID-19.  These issues brought some solutions as the sport of baseball, and the people involved, continued to work to impact the growth of young players.

The Old North State League was one group that stepped up to see if it could help players.  Coming off a successful 1^st summer of their Collegiate League, the ONSL setup a high school fall league.  The leagues features players representing teams from area high schools, for the most part.  The league is meant to be a developmental platform, giving players reps Mondays through Thursday beginning in September and running through mid-August.

 

Week 3 – ONSL Fall League

Each week, PBR will recap games and player performances based on games PBR was able to attend, as well as information from box scores and live stream feeds.  The week 3 schedule featured 8 scheduled games.  Below we recap a couple of games from the week.

 

Week 3 Scout Blog >> CLICK HERE
*Highlights player performances with notes, stats, and a scouting evaluation.

 

Tuesday September 22, 2020  -- Swepsonville Park

Hillsborough Hogs – 9         ONSL Futures – 5

The Hillsborough Hogs jumped out early and cruised to a big win over the ONSL Futures.  The Hogs scored 6 in the first, capitalizing on 6 walks and an error.  In the 3^rd, the Hogs pushed the lead to 9-0 before allowing the Futures to close the gap to the final of 9-5.

At the plate, Will Walker (2021, CINF, Orange HS), pace the Hogs with 2 hits and 2 RBI.  On the bump, the Hogs split the 6 innings with 2 arms, each going three innings.  Pierson Kenney gave up 3 unearned runs over his 3 innings for the win.  Jaren Sikes (2021, OF, Orange HS) earned the save with 3 innings.

The Futures did have a bright spot on the bump where Aiden Johnson worked 2 innings, coming in during the 1^st.  Johnson punched 3 and gave up 1 hit, but did not allow a run.  Evan Collins had 2 hits, and an RBI, for the Futures.

 

Hillsborough Hogs Notes:

Pierson Kenney – Win, 3IP, 3H, 3R, 0ER, 2BB, 3K
Jaren Sikes – Save, 3IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 1K
Jackson Berini – 1-1, 1R, 3 BB
Will Walker – 2-3, 1R, 2RBI
Will Crabtree – 1-3, 1R
Codey Snipes – 1-1, 1R, 1RBI

ONSL Futures Notes:

Owen Bynum – Loss, 0IP, 1H, 6R, 5ER, 5BB, 0K
Aiden Johnson – 2IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 3K
Aiden Herman – 1-2, 2B, 1R
Aiden Allred – 1-2, 1R
Evan Collins – 2-3, 1RBI

 

Wednesday September 23, 2020 – Swepsonville Park

ONSL Futures – 10                Hillsborough Hogs – 6

The ONSL Futures avenged a loss from earlier in the week with a big comeback over the Hillsborough Hogs.  Down 6-0 after two innings, the Futures would score 4 in the 3rd, 1 in the 4^th, 3 in the 5^th and 1 each in the 6^th and 7^th innings to capture the 10-6 win.

Claybourne Cole (3B, Lee County HS, 2021) earned the win, working the final 4 innings in a scoreless fashion, striking out 7, allowing only 1 walk, giving his teammate a chance to claw back into the game. 

The comeback began in the 3^rd with a leadoff double from Matt Keller (LHP, Fuquay-Varina HS, 2023).  A 1 out single from Garrett Arnold would plate Keller.  With 2 outs, an error extended the inning for back to back doubles from Aiden Allred and Cole, helping his own cause. 

In the 5^th, after two quick outs, the Futures would see doubles from Allred and Cole again, followed by a Mason Lynch (OF, Rockingham County HS, 2022) triple and Jacob Utter (C, Fuquay-Varina HS, 2022) single, giving the Futures the lead for good.

Connor Funk (C, Orange HS, 2022) led the charge for the Hogs, with 2 hits, including a double, and 3 RBI.  Jackson Berini (SS, Orange HS, 2023) added 2 hits, 2 runs and an RBI as well. 

 

ONSL Futures Notes:

Matt Keller – ND, 2IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 1BB, 1K
Claybourne Cole – Win, 4IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 7K
Aiden Allred – 2-4, 2 2B, 2R
Claybourne Cole – 2-3, 2 2B, 2R, 3RBI
Mason Lynch – 1-3, 3B, 2R, 1RBI
Matt Keller – 1-3, 1R, 1RBI
Evan Collins – 1-2, 1R, 1RBI

Hillsborough Hogs Notes:

Marco Valezquez – ND, 3IP, 5H, 4R, 1ER, 0BB, 2K
Jon Jon Smith – Loss, 2IP, 4H, 5R, 4ER, 1BB, 0K
Conner Funk – 1IP, 0H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 2K
Jackson Berini – 2-3, 2R, 1RBI
Bryce Clark – 1-2, 2R
Conner Funk – 2-3, 2B, 1R, 3RBI
Will Walker – 1-3, 2RBI