The Naturchem Invitational is THE top preseason baseball tournament in South Carolina.

The joint effort of director Jeff Parsons and head coaches Mark Bonnette of River Bluff and Brian Hucks of Lexington, the event has drawn the Palmetto State’s top players and teams and annually has produced a state champion.

2016 - Belton-Honea Path

2017 - A.C. Flora (won tournament)

2018 - Dorman & Airport (won tournament & state runner-up)

2019 - Dutch Fork

“It’s hands down, in my opinion, one of the best tournaments in the Southeast,” Airport head coach Tim Perry said. “It’s definitely 1 of the best preseason tournaments because an eventual state champion is going to come out of it. We’re excited to be part of the field. For Bonnette and Hucks, the Naturchem Invitational is great preparation for the rigors of competing in Region 5-5A. Argubly 1 of the state’s top baseball regions, it has produced the last 3 Lower State champions and this year’s defending titleholder Dutch Fork.

“You understand you’re playing great teams,” Bonnette said. “You understand that you come here and it’s going to get you ready for not only your region play, which for us is an amazing gauntlet, but it gets you ready for the playoffs.”

“A lot of times, if you don’t play good teams, you can win games but not learn anything about your team and get away with some things that you probably shouldn’t have won with,” Hucks said. “So we know at this event, if we don’t pitch well, if we don’t have good defense, if we don’t situationally hit, we’re not going to win baseball games. If we don’t do it now, we’re not going to do that in our region.”

Lexington and River Bluff kicked off the tournament Wednesday with home games against Camden and Lugoff-Elgin, respectively. Each participant will play at least 3 games.

Saturday at 7 pm, the annual Home Run Derby will take place at River Bluff. Defending champion Alex Urban of the Gators will defend his title. Proceeds will go towards the Saint Baldrick’s Foundation for pediatric cancer research.

Games will be streamed at www.rbhsgatorsgameday.com. Visit www.naturcheminvitational.org for schedules and click Instagram, Twitter (#naturchembaseball) and Facebook links to follow.