Local baseball players to play at Cooperstown

A group of local travel baseball players from the Lowcountry are joining together to represent South Carolina in one of the most prestigious youth baseball events in the country.

Team South Carolina will participate in one of this summer’s Hall of Fame Invitational Tournaments at the birthplace of baseball — Cooperstown, N.Y.

The tournaments take place each week during the summer, and Team South Carolina will play the week of June 9-15.

The team is comprised of 12 players representing three separate travel ball teams in the area. Most of the team’s players currently play for the Carolina Prospects 12-U team, one of several summer travel teams based out of the Charleston Baseball Academy in Goose Creek.

Howie Thacker is the coach of the Carolina Prospects and says this baseball experience will be one that his players will never forget.

“It’s a great opportunity to play outstanding competition from all over the country and should really give our players a chance to see how they stack up,” says Thacker. “It will give them a sense of history and will allow them to have a better appreciation for the game of baseball. The educational experience is just as important as the baseball experience.”

In addition to playing as many as 10 games during its weeklong stay, the team will visit the baseball Hall of Fame and will attend a game played at legendary Doubleday Field, the birthplace of baseball.

Players are housed in Olympic style baseball villages with about 100 other teams from across the country.

The team will play together this weekend in Myrtle Beach at The Ripken Experience and will play one more tournament together before heading to New York.

Members of Team South Carolina include Trey Thacker, John Sendziak, Johnny Cook, AC Heaton, Dylan Harley, Cole Mitchum, Jacob Rose and Chase Patterson, all of the Carolina Prospects; Drew Yniesta, Jason Mims and Andrew Connelly of the Charleston Heat; and Charlton Commander of the SC Shockwave.

Assisting Thacker are Rusty Cook and Donald Jacobs.