Curtain call: Area baseball stars prep for final bow on diamond

In a matter of months, weeks or even days, some of the best baseball players the Grand Strand has to offer will have no choice but to take their athletic pursuits even more serious than they already do.

This weekend, however, they can simply enjoy what they’ve already accomplished.

The 10 area standouts selected for the North-South All-Star games Friday and Saturday at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach have all signed with colleges in one form or another. Six will be playing in the NCAA Division I baseball; two more are headed to NCAA Division II schools, with another going the JUCO route. And the last of the group will be playing college football.

So, with the clock having all but expired on their time as high-school student-athletes, there’s something to be said for living in the moment.

“It’s exciting to see the big transition to college,” said Myrtle Beach’s Michael Calamari, who will be heading to Dartmouth after playing in this weekend’s games. “Everything in Myrtle Beach is going to change once I get to get to college. High school academics is not exactly hard for most people. … I’m not the most nostalgic person. I wasn’t emotional at graduation or anything. But in seventh grade, I was playing JV. Now that I’m here, it went in the blink of an eye.”

For Calamari and the other selections, North-South will go even faster.

Players began arriving on Thursday, with only meetings, dinner and a bowling outing planned. Batting practice and bullpen sessions are planned for Friday afternoon in advance of the day’s two games.

The South’s AAAA/A all-stars face the North’s AAAA/A team at 7 p.m., with each of the AAA/AA squads doing the same. The winners and loser of those two games will then play Saturday morning.

Two Grand Strand players – Conway’s Reid Hardwick (Winthrop) and Carolina Forest’s Patrick Orlando (North Greenville) – will be suiting up for the Class AAAA/A South squad. Six will be playing for the Class AAA/AA South team. They are Aynor’s Caleb Nobles (Florence-Darlington Tech), St. James’ Liam Bloom (Coppin State) and Grayson Stoneking (Presbyterian), Waccamaw’s Levi Almond (Erskine), Calamari and Loris’ Desmond Dozier – who has signed to play football at Johnson C. Smith.

Waccamaw’s Carter Fox (Presbyterian) and Carolina Forest’s Ryan Gold (Coastal Carolina) were also selected to play this weekend before scheduling conflicts forced them to withdraw.

For all of them, barring weather delays, the large share of their high-school careers will have officially come to a close by early afternoon Saturday.

“I’m trying something before I take that next step to the big level and go off to college,” Bloom said. “This will be the last high school environment I’m around. I’ve played around the local guys for the last four years.”

Still, for the locals who have already signed and the high number of other North-South participants who have done the same, the all-star games are a balancing act between the two highest levels of amateur ball.

“I’m ready to go play some college baseball. I think I’m ready to go and have a new chapter, play college instead of high school, play some better competition,” Hardwick said. “I’m trying to soak up every moment I can playing high school. But I’ve got to get ready to move on.”

Not before this weekend’s games, however.

Waccamaw’s Jeff Gregory, who was selected as the head coach for the South’s AAA/AA team, said while the process of choosing his players wasn’t easy from the pool of candidates statewide, he wants North-South to be anything but stressful.

He intends to get every position player multiple at-bats and allow his pitchers a few innings on the mound.

“That’s the approach I’m looking at,” Gregory said. “I want them to enjoy it. Most of these guys, they have an opportunity to go play college ball. We aren’t going to practice three or four hours. We’re going to go out there and play it like an all-star game. We’re going to let them get some swings and show off their arms.”

Soon, the meaning of those same actions will be magnified for the college-bound locals taking their respective high-school victory laps.

“It’s more relationships than actually playing,” Calamari said. “Nobody really cares how many hits you get in an all-star game. To be named to a statewide all-star game, it means more than just playing in an all-star game. But you get to play baseball. If I could choose anything to do right now, it would be to go play baseball.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Curtain call: Area baseball stars prep for final bow on diamond."