Former Greenbrier trio post 'pitcher' perfect in the Peach Belt
I was recently going through some Peach Belt Conference pitching stats and realized that several area products are enjoying terrific seasons. A trio of former Greenbrier standouts rank among the leaders in several statistical categories.
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As of Thursday, that trio had a combined record of 13-0 on the mound. Keep in mind, the Peach Belt is considered the finest NCAA D-II baseball conference in the nation.
Below is a look at how the 2007 season has gone for that former Wolfpack trio.
Scott Wandless
USC Aiken
Wandless leads the Peach Belt with a perfect 5-0 record in just six starts. He is also second in the conference with 46 strikeouts in just 35 innings of work. He leads the PBC with 14 strikeouts with batters looking and is second in the conference holding opponents to a .180 batting average. He also sports a solid 3.57 ERA. Wandless and the Pacers are 17-6, tied for first in the PBC at 8-1 and ranked No. 11 in the nation.
Michael Newman
Georgia College and State University
First of all, Newman is coming off an astonishing sophomore season (11-2, 1.78 ERA, 8 saves, 41 appearances). This season he is 4-0 with two saves in 12 appearances. He leads the PBC with an incredible ERA of 0.70 and has 21 strikeouts and just five walks all season. Georgia College and State is currently 21-5 overall, 8-1 in the Peach Belt (tied for first) and ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Ben Dukes
Augusta State University
Dukes has been a pleasant surprise for Skip Fite this season. He has a perfect 4-0 record in just five starts. He also boasts a very respectable 3.47 ERA and has helped lead ASU to a 17-6 record and a No. 19 ranking in the nation.
These performances are even more impressive when you consider that the players are competing in a conference that boasts five of the top 24 baseball teams in the U.S. Keeping up this pace will be tough, but these three don't seem ready to let up.
Plenty of county products are having solid offensive seasons on the college diamond as well. I will have an update on some of the best next week.