DON'T PAY THE RANSOM; I ESCAPED

OK, so I wasn't kidnapped; I just haven't provided updates for the last couple of weeks because of work commitments, a mini-vacation, preparation for a medical procedure (I aced it) and laziness. I'll try to do better. It's update time ... and away we go.

Commitments/signings
Tony Crumpton of Tigernet.com reports Marietta (Ga.) IF Michael Chavis has signed with Clemson.
Chavis
Tigernet also reports RHP Cody Hardage of Johns Creek (Ga.) High has committed to the Tigers.
Hardage

The Greenville News reports three Blue Ridge players have signed: P-OF John Mason Reynolds and P Robert Westenreider have signed with Newberry, while IF Alex Williams has signed with Spartanburg Methodist.
Tigers

John Whittle of TheBigSpur.com reports C Chris Cullen of Cumming, Ga., has committed for the Gamecocks' 2015 class.
Cullen
Whittle also reports 12 players have signed with the Gamecocks for enrollment in 2014. They include RHP Dylan Rodgers of Spartanburg Methodist, IF Clark Scolamiero of Greenville, SS Madison Stokes of Flora and SS Jared Williams of Gilbert.
Signees

TheDiamondProspects.com recently reported the following commitments:
* West Ashley 1B Taylor Oden has selected USC Lancaster.
Oden
* Silver Bluff IF Dalton Smith has decided to play for  USC Sumter.
Smith
* Darlington IF/OF Henry Davis plans to play for Appalachian State.
Davis
* Pickens RHP/OF Mason Covey has chosen Anderson University.
Covey
* Marlboro County RHP Connor Pate intends to play for Coastal Carolina.
Pate
* Loris RHP Tanner Chock announced plans to play for Presbyterian.
Chock
* Belton-Honea Path RHP/IF Jake Crawford wants to continue his career at Furman.
Crawford
* Latta RHP Travis Power has committed to USC Sumter.
Power
* Newberry received a commitment from Strom Thurmond IF Jacob Bass.
Bass
* Nation Ford RHP Cole Avery has selected North Greenville.
Avery
* Wilson Hall OF Kemper Patton has chosen Wingate.
Patton
* Hanna IF Tyler Miller has decided to play for hometown Anderson.
Miller
* Spartanburg OF Banks Wise has signed with Wingate.
Wise
* Georgetown C Seth Wall has selected Spartanburg Methodist.
Wall
* Darlington SS/RHP Ke'Shaun Samuel decided on Spartanburg Methodist.
Samuel

PerfectGame.org compiles commitment database
PerfectGame.org has a searchable database of commitments for the 2014-15 freshman class. The site does not differentiate between those who have committed and those who have signed during the current period ending this week.
PG commitments

ACC Tournament passes on sale
The ACC is selling full-tournament passes for its 2014 baseball championship, set for May 20-25 in Greensboro, N.C.
ACC

Rockies add Parker
The Colorado Rockies have added former Clemson two-sport star Kyle Parker to their 40-man roster.
Parker

Lemonis shares honor
Former The Citadel player Chris Lemonis and Roger Williams, both of Louisville, share the American Baseball Coaches Association's assistant coach of the year award. They work for Dan McDonnell, Lemonis' former teammate at The Citadel.
Cardinals

Tigers honored
Benedict College received six team or individual honors recently during ceremonies at a Tigers' home football game. Most notably, Coach Selwyn Young's team was recognized for leading the nation in stolen bases per game for the fifth consecutive season.
Tigers

Buccaneers announce schedule, improvements
Eighteen games against state schools are part of Charleston Southern's 2014 baseball schedule. This is the first full season that the Buccaneers will have lights for their home games. Times for 2014 games have yet to be announced. At a recent fundraising golf tournament, school officials announced plans to build a 3,000-square-foot baseball facilities building.
CSU story
CSU schedule
Golf/facilities

Claflin posts schedule
Claflin has posted its 2014 schedule. The Panthers have 11 games scheduled against other state teams.
Panthers

Delatorre honored
For the second consecutive year USC Beaufort pitcher Junior Delatorre has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship from American Legion Posts 9 and 207 of Beaufort.
Delatorre

Warriors get involved
Several in-state baseball teams are involved with various charitable work or interaction with youngsters. Southern Wesleyan players recently read to students at Six Mile Elementary School.
Warriors

Lancers' Gold team wins
The Gold team prevailed in the Blue/Gold Fall World Series to cap USC Lancaster practices.
USCL

Carte honored
Former Winthrop outfielder Daniel Carte has been inducted into the Cape Cod League Hall of Fame. Carte currently serves as a volunteer assistant coach at West Virginia.
Carte

Things get hairy in Rock Hill
Winthrop's baseball team is participating in No-Shave November as a fundraiser for cancer research.
Not-bald Eagles

NEWS DIGEST, NOVEMBER 5

NCAA goes to flat-seam baseball
The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee has voted to use a flat-seam baseball beginning with the 2015 championship. The change from a raised-seam baseball is expected to boost offense and help offset the impact of the BBCOR bat standards introduced a couple of years ago. The bat standard was designed to reduce the speed of the ball leaving the bat - with the intention of improving player safety - but had the by-product of balls not traveling as far and decreasing offense.
NCAA

Clemson alters N.C. State series
Clemson's home series against N.C. State has been pushed back a day to April 5-7 (Friday-Monday), likely because of TV plans

Furman reveals schedule
Six games at Fluor Field in downtown Greenville are part of Furman's 2014 schedule announced Tuesday. The Paladins have games against Clemson, USC and USC Upstate at Fluor Field. The other three downtown appearances are against Norfolk State, Xavier and Toledo in the First Pitch Invitational.
Paladins

Powell honored
Furman volunteer assistant coach Landon Powell has been named Volunteer Coach of the Year by USA baseball. Powell, a member of three College World Series teams at USC and a former Major League catcher, joined Furman's staff earlier this year. He worked with the U-14 National Team over the summer.
Powell

2009 Gamecocks rise in retro-rankings
Baseball America took a look back at its 2009 recruiting class rankings and gave the University of South Carolina the No. 3 overall rankings in the in-hindsight evaluations. USC's class was not in the newspaper's top 25 at the time, but several of the recruits played key roles in the Gamecocks' 2010 and 2011 national championships. Clemson's class was retroactively upgraded from 20th to 18th.
Hindsight

Camo (Purple) Tigers win
The Camo (Purple) team won two of three games in Clemson's Orange & Purple Fall World Series held over the weekend, based on Tweets from the @CUTigerBaseball account. The school has not posted stories on the games.

PC Garnet wins
The Garnet team beat the Royal team, two games to one, in Presbyterian's fall World Series.
PC

Witherspoon featured
Baseball America recently posted a feature on former Spartanburg Methodist standout Travis Witherspoon. Witherspoon recently was picked up by the Seattle Mariners organization from the Los Angeles Angels.
Witherspoon

Sand Sharks picked fifth
USC Beaufort was picked to finish fifth in The Sun Conference in 2014 in a recent vote of league coaches. Embry-Riddle was picked to win the NAIA league.
Sun

Recruiting
TheDiamondProspects.com reported the following player commitments:
* Carolina Forest C Robert Jolly has chosen Clemson.
Jolly
* Spartanburg Methodist 1B Collin Stegall picked South Carolina. He's from Lexington High School.
Stegall
* Dorman OF Ike Thalassinos selected Spartanburg Methodist.
Thalassinos
* Greenwood Christian RHP Noah Hinzman has decided to play for Erskine.
Hinzman

NEWS DIGEST, OCTOBER 29

I've been busy being over the last few days, so here's some catching up

Clemsons sets Orange & Purple Series
Clemson has scheduled its Orange & Purple Fall World Series for this weekend, with two of the three games set for Fluor Field in Greenville. The Greenville games are at 5 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, with the series finale set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson.
Tigers

USC completes fall work
Here's video and a transcript of coach Chad Holbrook's comments about the Gamecocks' fall workouts.
Holbrook

Here are recaps of USC's three games of the Garnet-Black Fall World Series

Garnet-Black Game 1

Garnet-Black Game 2

Garnet-Black Game 3

Maroon wins CofC series
The Maroon beat the Gold all three games of College of Charleston's Fall World Series over the weekend.
Cougars

Newberry holds series
The Scarlet and Gray teams split then first four games of Newberry's Fall World Series. The decisive game was scheduled for last weekend.
Newberry

Anderson reveals schedule
Anderson has posted its 2014 schedule. The Trojans have 17 games against other state teams.
Trojans

Crusaders post schedule
North Greenville has posted its 2014 schedule. The Crusaders have 13 games against other state schools.
NGU

Limestone begins facilities work
Limestone recently held groundbreaking to signify the beginning of work on facilities improvements. Included in the project are upgrades to Bob Prevatte Field, hold of the Saints' baseball program.
Saints

Recruiting
TheDiamondProspects.com reports Ridge View OF Chris Moody has committed to play for Erskine.
Moody

CLEMSON ANNOUNCES 2014 SCHEDULE

Clemson University on Friday announced its 2014 baseball schedule. The Tigers will play the NCAA Division I limit of 56 games, include 33 at renovated Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

In addition, coach Jack Leggett's Tigers will play three games at Fluor Field in Greenville: against USC March 1 as the Saturday game in the three-game weekend rivalry series; against Furman May 13 and against Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) May 4.

Clemson also has home games against state rivals Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian and Winthrop and a home-and-home series with Georgia.

The Tigers have 30 ACC games, including home series with Florida State, Miami and N.C. State and road series at new members Notre Dame and Pittsburgh.
Tigers

NEWS DIGEST, OCT. 22

Tigers No. 16 in recruiting rankings
Clemson landed at No. 16 in Baseball America's recruiting rankings for incoming classes. The newspaper had listed its top 12 classes - with South Carolina at No. 3 - last week. Winthrop and Coastal Carolina were listed among other prominent recruiting classes.
Recruiting

Clemson

USC sets Garnet/Black rosters
 South Carolina has announced the rosters for its three-game Garnet/Black Fall World Series Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Columbia.
Roster

Recruiting
2015 RHP Nick Neidert of Peachtree Ridge High in Lawrence, Ga., announced on Twitter last week that he had committed to play for South Carolina. Here's a story from John Whittle of TheBigSpur.com
Neidert

TheDiamondProspects.com reported the following commitments:
* Chapman OF James Deal has decided to play for Limestone.
Deal
* Hilton Head RHP Andrew Dill has opted to play for Anderson.
Dill
*Stratford junior RHP Jamison Mobbs has revealed his intentions to play for Clemson.
Mobbs

NEWS DIGEST, OCT. 21

English, Remillard cited
USC outfielder Tanner English was named the best athlete and the third-fastest runner in PerfectGame.org's ratings for the Cape Cod (summer) League. He also was judged to have the best arm among outfielders. Coastal Carolina's Will Remillard was named the best defensive catcher and also judged to have the best arm among catchers.
Cape

Eagles win exhibition
Winthrop defeated College LaFleche, 13-6, in an exhibition game over the weekend in Rock Hill.
Winthrop

Newberry sets fall series
Newberry College will begin its five-game Scarlet & Gray Fall World Series Tuesday. Games continue through Saturday.
Wolves

USC caps fall work
South Carolina will hold its Garnet & Black Fall World Series Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Carolina Stadium.
Gamecocks

Recruiting
TheDiamondProspects.com reports the following commitments:
* Spartanburg Methodist INF Matt White, a Summerville native, has decided to play at Charleston Southern.
White
* Riverside RHP John Piper has announced intentions to play for USC Lancaster.
Piper
* USC Sumter SS/RHP Trevor Bradley plans to play for Francis Marion. He is from White Knoll High School in Lexington.
Bradley

CLEMSON CRUISES TO EXHIBITION WIN

Clemson rolled past College LaFleche of Canada, 22-2, in an exhibition baseball game at Fluor Field in Greenville Thursday night.

Steve Wilkerson had three of Clemson's 17 hits. Tigers pitchers took a no-hitter into the ninth inning.

Tigers

NEWS DIGEST, OCT. 16

Schedules piling up
* The Citadel has announced its 2014 baseball schedule. In addition to Southern Conference home series with Furman and Wofford, the Bulldogs play a split three-game series with former SoCon for College of Charleston, have home-and-home series with Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, USC and Winthrop and have a home game against USC Upstate.
Bulldogs
* Lander has posted its 2014 schedule. The Bearcats play 17 games against other state teams.
Bearcats
* Newberry has published its 2014 schedule online. The Wolves have 15 games against other state teams.
Wolves
* Southern Wesleyan has posted its 2014 schedule. The Warriors are working toward a transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. They have four games against other state teams next season.
SWU
* Spartanburg Methodist has posted the spring portion of its schedule. The Pioneers got to the NJCAA World Series in 2014.
Pioneers
* USC Aiken has revealed its 2014 schedule.
Pacers
* Also posting its schedule online was USC Lancaster
Lancers

Crusaders open Fall Series
North Greenville began its Fall World Series Wednesday in Tigerville. Other games are set for 6:15 p.m. Thursday and  2:45 p.m. Friday
NGU

Claflin holds Scout Day
Claflin University held its Scout Day last Friday at Mirmow Field in Orangeburg. More than a dozen pro scouts were on hand to evaluate Panthers players.
Claflin

Tigers play exhibition in Greenville on Thursday
Clemson will plan an exhibition game against College Lafleche of Canada at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Fluor Field in Greenville. The teams will play 10 innings.

Owings No. 8
Gilbert native Chris Owings, a SS in the Diamondbacks system, was ranked the No. 8 prospect in the AAA Pacific Coast League by Baseball America. He played at Reno.
PCL

Mincey No. 15
Hartsville native Patrick Mincey is No. 15 on Baseball America's rankings of the top prospects in independent professional leagues in 2013. Mincey, an RHP, played at Spartanburg Methodist College and Francis Marion. He played at Grand Prairie in the American Association in 2013.
Independents

Mincey also was named to the publication's all-independent leagues team. He had a 5-1 record, a 1.01 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 50 innings.
All-Independents

Gray Military has fall games
Gray Military Academy, a new program in Columbia, has a Saturday game against USC's club team at Heathwood Hall and a Sunday game at Lander.

More schedule news
* Virginia Tech's 2014 schedule includes a March 7-9 ACC series at Clemson.
Hokies
* North Carolina's 2014 schedule begins with a three-game home series against College of Charleston and has single home games against Coastal Carolina and Winthrop. The Tar Heels do not play Clemson in the regular season.
UNC-CH
* Miami's 2014 schedule includes an April 25-27 ACC series at Clemson.
Canes

McCullough profiled
CollegeBaseballInsider.com has a Q&A session with Brian McCullough, the new head coach of Big South Conference member Longwood.
Longwood

HOLMES, PANKAKE AMONG TOP PROSPECTS FOR '14 DRAFT

Baseball America rates Conway High RHP Grant Holmes the No. 24 prospect for the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft. Holmes has committed to play for Florida

USC IF/RHP Joey Pankake, an Easley native, is ranked No. 48.

Carlos Rodon of N.C. State is the No. 1 prospect.

Touki Toussaint, a RHP/OF from Coral Springs, Fla., who has been recruited by Clemson, is the  No. 8 player on the list. Michael Chavis, an IF/OF from Marietta, Ga., and a Clemson commitment, is No. 42 on the list.

BA draft prospects