ROCKINGHAM — Richmond Senior’s Bradley Brown knows the Powerade State Games give him a good chance to showcase his skills to college scouts.
He hopes he’s not the only Raider to have a good outing in the competition.
Brown as well as Drew Butler and Jeremy Smith will represent Richmond on the Region 4 baseball team, while Hunter Parks will be the lone Raider on the Region 4 softball squad.
“I hope to get a lot of exposure up there with my teammates,” Brown said. “I hope they get to see me hitting good and having a good game defensively behind the plate.”
Richmond was the only school in the region to have the maximum number of players on the roster.
“That really says a lot about the program,” Brown said. “Most schools only had two on it.”
The trio was selected to the 20-man team after two tryouts with approximately 80 players. Butler thought it was tough trying to stand out from the crowd.
“We got there and they had us run the 60, then it was like a pro-style workout,” Butler said. “Everyone went to their position and it seemed like everyone went to shortstop. They started with the outfield and then hit us a couple of ground balls before we got a couple of swings.
“I thought I had a pretty good chance because I had a good time in the 60.”
Butler, who started the Richmond season at second base before moving to shortstop, added he expects to see time at both positions during the competition.
“I just want to have a good showing,” Butler said. “I want to show the scouts what I can do, maybe use my speed. I have a feeling we will all be moved around a lot because we have a lot of middle infielders.”
The Region 4 team will begin play at 1 p.m. Thursday at BB&T Park in Winston-Salem against the Region 6 squad. All teams will play three round-robin games before closing out the competition with the medal contests on Sunday.
Other Southeastern Conference schools represented are: Scotland — Hayden Buffkin and Will Adams; and Pinecrest — Austin Embler.
Unlike the Raider representatives in baseball, Parks won’t have many familiar faces surrounding her when the softball competition begins Monday. Colleen Chavis, from Purnell Swett, and Scotland’s Courtney Williams are the only other SEC players on the Region 4 team coached by the Fighting Scots’ Patrick Williams.
“When I got to our first practice, it was a weird because I didn’t really know anybody,” Parks said. “We got put with partners and Coach started talking to me how bad Richmond is because he’s from Scotland just to get me to open up.”
Parks isn’t sure how she will be used during the competition as either a pitcher or an outfielder. She said her main focus is to catch the eye of a college coach.
“I know they aren’t allowed to talk to me because I’m not a junior,” Parks said. “I hope I play well that they will remember me and want to see me again next year.”
The softball tournament for the Region 4 squad begins at 11 a.m. Monday against the Region 7 team at Forsyth Country Day School. The medal-round games are set for June 20.
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@heartlandpublications.com
Post a Comment
