HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

The monniker “best South Carolina preseason tournament” has been tagged to the Naturchem Invitational.

Over the past 4 years, the tournament has featured future state champions like A.C. Flora and Dorman and several teams who either won their respective District tournaments or even Upper or Lower State finals.

Last year saw 9 of the 12 participating teams win district titles.

Tournament champion Airport finished as Class 4A state runner-up, while runner-up River Bluff lost to Dorman in the Class 5A final.

“We felt really good about our club,” said Eagles’ head coach Tim Perry about winning last year’s Naturchem Invitational. “I think, if anything that came out of it, it was probably confidence. We really had a lot of confidence going into our region schedule because we knew we had just beaten 4 really good 5A teams and so, going out and playing with confidence is huge.”

All three teams are back, as well as newcomers Camden and Mauldin High Schools for the 4-day tournament.

It begins Thursday with 3 games each at both River Bluff and Lexington high schools.

On Saturday, The Swamp is the site of the Base Running Competition and Home Run Derby starting at 7 p.m.

As part of the Home Run Derby, organizers have pledged $10 for every home run hit by the 12 participants with 3 corporations agreeing to match the total.

Proceeds will go towards St. Baldrick’s Pediatric Cancer Foundation, a national organization focused on conquering childhood cancer. Visit https://www.stbaldricks.org/for more information.

The championship game is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Lexington High School. The schedule is available at www.naturcheminvitational.com .

Baseball tournaments also start Thursday at White Knoll and Gilbert high schools.

The Red Bank Invitational will feature teams from South Aiken and Newberry competing against the Timberwolves.

The Sandlapper Shootout in Gilbert has the host team facing Chesnee, Ben Lippen, J.F. Byrnes and Rock Hill and is the 1st of 2 tournaments scheduled in Gilbert.