BUNDY COLUMN: Eight is enough for 9-under team

Notes from a cluttered desktop …

Hang around baseball long enough and you’ll see something you’ve never seen before.

The Carolina Twins, a 9-and-under travel baseball team based out of Indian Land, reminded me of that last weekend.

At Howard Park in West Columbia, the Twins went undefeated to win the Back to School Madness tournament, and they did so very short-handed.

Missing players due to football, the Twins played with just eight players in three of their four games, including a 3-2 semifinal win over the Lexington Thundercats — the No. 1-ranked 9U team in South Carolina — on Sunday morning.

The Thundercats, one of several highly-ranked teams in the eight-team field, entered the game unbeaten and outscoring opponents by an average of 14-4.

The Twins, who played with two outfielders and took an automatic out in the ninth spot of the batting order, pulled off the upset in textbook fashion. They did it with strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting throughout the lineup.

The Twins’ championship is believed to be the first tournament in North Carolina or South Carolina ever won by a team playing so short-handed in any age group.

Dale Roberts, director of Atomic City Sports in Aiken, said, “I can’t remember a team winning a game with eight players much less a tournament.“

Jason Gross, the USSSA director for South Carolina, called the Twins’ championship “a tremendous feat.” And Don Mason, regional director for Nations Baseball in the two Carolinas, dubbed it “an outstanding effort of teamwork.”

Baseball is a very humbling game. While the Twins were fortunate to win last weekend, they might or might not win their next four games whether they have eight players in the dugout or 12.

The lesson here for players, though, is focus, listening to coaches, doing all the little things right and faith in each other can carry a team a long way even when facing overwhelming odds.

The Twins roster includes Ike Bierne, Adrian Bundy, Tino Delgado, Daniel Gueldner, Owen Harley, Christian Moody, Nick Petit, Alex Ramadanovich and Justin Taylor.

The Twins are coached by Pete Gueldner, Pete Ramadanovich, Charlie Harley and Mike Bierne.

A team photo can be found in Champions Corner on Page 3D of today’s sports section.

Florence native Heath Rollins has been selected to pitch for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.

Rollins, a right-hander who played at Winthrop College, was an 11th-round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2006 draft.

This week, Rollins was promoted to Triple-A Durham where he has a 6.00 ERA in two appearances. In three innings, he’s allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two.

Prior to Durham, Rollins made 28 appearances, including 22 starts, for Double-A Montgomery where he was 9-11 with a 3.83 ERA. In 134 innings, he gave up 147 hits, walked 33 and struck out 83.

The Arizona Fall League, which runs from Oct. 13-Nov. 21, is a six-team league consisting of prospects from all 30 major league teams.

Rollins will be joined on the Desert Dogs’ pitching staff by hard-throwing right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 overall pick of this summer’s draft by the Washington Nationals.

On average, roughly half of all players who play in the Arizona Fall League see time in the major leagues the next season.

Florence native Mark McMillen won the 49th North Carolina Amateur Championship golf tournament at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C. in June.
McMillen finished the four-day event at 10-under par for a three-shot victory.

A sophomore on the N.C. State golf team, McMillen moved to Smithfield, N.C., as a child. He’s the son of Mark and Lisa McMillen, and the grandson of James and Jeanette Parker of Florence.

Mark Sr. attended Francis Marion and is a former assistant golf pro at Florence Country Club.

Florence’s Ronnie McFadden garnered a second-place finish in weightlifting at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games held in Spokane, Wash., in July.
In the Class I/X Open Division, McFadden lifted 270 pounds. Diego Suazo’s lift of 280 pounds took first.

McFadden’s lift of 270 pounds was eighth best out of 61 competitors overall regardless of classification.

Former Francis Marion guard Brittany Young led the Charleston Splash to a 5-5 record in the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League this summer.

Young, a native of Moncks Corner, averaged 17.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 steals per game, all of which were team-highs.

Former Francis Marion center Jontell Johnson was the Splash’s second-leading scorer at 13.8 points per game. The James Island native was also the Splash’s top rebounder at 10.4 boards per game.