BLYTHEWOOD – The S.C. Diamond Invitational, Blythewood High School’s 10-team, five-day baseball tournament, kicked off with four games Tuesday and is in full swing heading down the weekend stretch.
In its fifth year, the Invitational continues to draw some of the top teams in the state at the Class 3A and Class 4A level. This year’s tourney features 4A’s top-ranked Summerville High School, along with Belton-Honea Path High School, tops in 3A. Other ranked teams include Greenville Senior High Academy (fourth in 4A), Wren High School (fifth in 3A), River Bluff High School (eighth in 4A) and the hometown Bengals (seventh in 4A).
Also joining the competition this year are Wren, Lexington, Socastee and Mauldin high schools, all out of the 4A ranks.
As in years past, this year’s tourney features a plethora of baseball talent destined to play at the collegiate level. Players bound for the University of S.C., Clemson, The Citadel, the College of Charleston, Furman University, USC-Lancaster, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Newberry College and Spartanburg Methodist College all grace the field at this year’s Diamond Invitational.
The Invitational opened with a pair of games Tuesday, featuring Blythewood and Lexington in the nightcap, followed by four games Wednesday. Thursday (April 2), action gets rolling at 9:30 a.m. with Summerville and Belton-Honea Path opening a day of five games. Blythewood will once again hold down the final slot of the day, facing Greenville at approximately 7:30. Friday will also see five games as the final standings begin to shake out. The evening will also feature a home run derby and base-running competition at 6:30. Games begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, leading up to the tournament championship game at 6 p.m. A full schedule of games is below.
All games will be played at Blythewood High School. Fans can get a tournament pass for $25, while individual day tickets are $7.
Live broadcasts of the Friday and Saturday games, hosted by Lucas Vance along with the editor of the Independent Voice newspaper, James Denton, can be found on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/bhathletics. Broadcasts may also be found at: http://www.makeavoice.com/shoutcast/tuneinlinks.php?file=m3u&host=69.4.225.73&port=8000
Schedule
April 1
Noon: Mauldin vs. Socastee
2:30 p.m.: Greenville vs. Wren
5 p.m.: Belton-Honea Path vs. White Knoll
7:30 p.m.: Blythewood vs. River Bluff
April 2
9:30 a.m.: Summerville vs. Belton-Honea Path
Noon: Mauldin vs. Lexington
2:30 p.m.: Wren vs. River Bluff
5 p.m.: Socastee vs. White Knoll
7:30 p.m.: Greenville vs. Blythewood
April 3
8:30 a.m. Belton-Honea Path vs. Mauldin
Noon: Socastee vs. Summerville
1:30 p.m.: River Bluff vs. Greenville
4 p.m.: Wren vs. Lexington
6:30 p.m.: Home Run Derby & Base-Running Competition
7:30 p.m.: 10 vs. 9
April 4
10 a.m.: 8 vs. 7
1 p.m.: 6 vs. 5
3:30 p.m.: 4 vs. 3
6 p.m.: Championship Game.
