North-South All-Star notebook: Carolina Forest’s Orlando savors role as starter in final prep game

Patrick Orlando’s pitching role was switched up prior to this season.

The Carolina Forest senior was moved to the team’s closer position, and he picked up three saves and four wins while striking out 46 hitters in 39 innings for the Lower State finalist Panthers.

On Saturday, he briefly got to return to his role as a starter.

The hurler started for the Class AAAA/A South all stars and threw three innings of no-hit ball before reaching the cap for pitchers in the games.

“I came in doing what I’ve been doing all season – I let them hit the ball,” Orlando said. “I was working really good with my fastball and my change-up was on.”

His all-star team fell 8-6 to the Class AAA/AA North squad on Saturday in the de facto North-South title game at the Ripken Experience, but all of the opposing action came after Orlando left the mound.

Facing some of the top hitters in the state, he surrendered one walk and only one other batter reached base, courtesy of an error.

It was a refreshing three innings in some of his last action before he heads off to NCAA Division II North Greenville. There, the two-time Class AAAA All-State selection is expected to be on the mound plenty, although the capacity has yet to be decided.

“I would rather be a starter, but it was the best thing for [Carolina Forest during the season]. When I started, our defense was a lot weaker. I’m not saying it was bad, but it wasn’t as good. If we had a chance to win, I was in to close.”

It was the opposite in his final high school game, and he was able to make the most of it.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS

Aynor’s Caleb Nobles was one of four players selected for MVP honors after the North-South games wrapped up Saturday.

The Blue Jackets standout went 4-for-6 with a home run, two runs scored, an RBI and a walk in two games for the Class AAA/AA South team.

Greenville’s Carson Spiers earned MVP honors for the Class AAAA/A North team (which defeated the AAA/AA South team 6-1 in the consolation game Saturday). After helping his team to an 8-6 win in the title game, North Central’s Tyler Bowers was named the Class AAA/AA North MVP, while Latta’s Eric McGirt rounded out the list for the Class AAAA/A South.

MYRTLE BEACH’S LAST RIDE?

The N.C.-S.C. Select All-Star series was moved out of the area this year.

That could seem like a minimal change by the end of next month.

The S.C. Baseball Coaches Association and state Athletic Coaches Association will be discussing and then voting on three significant moves that will affect baseball’s all-star games for years to come.

The Select game may be dissolved altogether; the North-South game is likely headed to the Columbia area; and the date of that later series could be pushed up a few weeks each year to be played immediately following the state championship games in the soon-to-be five classifications.

At least some of the reasoning for each of the the possible changes can be attributed to one glaring fact each summer. Between the high-end players getting drafted, a need for others to be on college campuses sooner or wanting to take advantage of their last summer before leaving for college, too many players are withdrawing from the games.

It requires players from the North-South games to be bumped up last minute to fill spots in the Select series, which includes 16 players from South Carolina each year.

The SCBCA believes a more centralized location in Columbia could limit the travel time for many of the players, and coupled with an earlier date, could help the selection process run much more smoothly.

If approved, it will effectively end a 15-year run for the series being played in Myrtle Beach, the last six of which have taken place at the Ripken Experience. This year’s games were the 32nd overall installment of North-South.

This story was originally published June 11, 2016 at 2:57 PM with the headline "North-South All-Star notebook: Carolina Forest’s Orlando savors role as starter in final prep game."