Florence Post 1 coach Derick Urquhart fully expected his No. 1 starter, Jordan Lyles, to be taken in last week’s MLB draft.
What no one expected was that he would go as high as he did. The former Hartsville standout was taken 38th overall by the Houston Astros and immediately seized the opportunity to live out his dream of playing in the big leagues.
“We knew he was going to get drafted, but we didn’t know he was going in the first round,” Urquhart said of Lyles. “All of the scouts I talked to said he was probably going to go in between the eighth and 10th rounds. If that was the case, we expected him to head to USC in the fall.
“It was a great thing for him. (Lyles’ first-round selection) surprised us, and it probably surprised him as well.”
Lyles’ departure and injuries forced Urquhart to look to closer Patrick Mincey to make a spot start for Post 1 against League III powerhouse Sumter Tuesday night.
Lyles’ former Hartsville teammate pitched well for three innings before giving up the first of two home runs to Sumter’s Matt Price en route to the 10-1 loss.
Urquhart said not to expect Mincey to become the future ace of Florence’s pitching staff.
“We’re going to go with other options,” he said. “Patrick was an emergency starter to eat up some innings for us. He’s going to stay in the bullpen and be our closer just as he was for Spartanburg Methodist this year.”
Ohio team runs through League II gauntlet
The teams of League II will get to face a team from Ohio this week.
An American Legion team from Statesville, Ohio has already faced Conway and Lake City and will face Murrells Inlet and Georgetown later this week.
Lake City blasted Statesville 15-2 Wednesday night, and Post 73 coach Joey Weatherford feels his offense is finally coming around.
“Our bats are off to a slow start, but they’re coming around,” he said. “Our pitching has done well, and our defense has gotten a lot better.”
Not afraid of the road
As the only Pee Dee area team in beach-dominated League II, Post 73 has had to take some longer road trips than teams in other leagues.
Weatherford, however, said his team isn’t afraid of the trips to Georgetown, Murrells Inlet and Conway but wishes another local team were in the division.
“The travel’s a little bit of a pain, but it’s not bad,” he said. “We need another Pee Dee team in the league. Every team in League II is pretty good, however, and we like being here.”
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