SouthEast Regionals

Brooks and the Anderson All-Star team did a great job representing the state of South Carolina in the South East Regional 14U Tournament.  The team scored 55 runs in 4 games and had some great play from the entire team.  The team fell short by losing one game, by one run, in extra innings.  This put the team in a tie breaker which was decided by runs allowed and knocked the team out of the tournament.  Brooks ended the tournament with a game he will never forget.  He gave up no runs in two innings to close the final game, played perfectly in the feild, and hit two homeruns.  The team won 12-2 in 4 innings. 

State Championships

Last night the 14U Anderson YMCA Junior League Baseball Team won the State Championship in Easley SC.  The team had a great tournament with some great hitting, pitching, and Fielding from all the players.  I would say there were more highlights than I can share in one entry.
In the championship game Brooks started the game on the mound and moved to third as Blake Holliday came on in relief.  Brooks was 2 for 3 and had a clutch sacrifice bunt in the 5th to get a runner over and eventually he was scored by the next batter.  Most of the Anderson teams games have been blowouts this year but the team from Blue Ridge SC came to play last night.  Blue Ridge was up 3-2 in the 7th and had the Anderson team down to its last strike with a runner on 3rd.  A hit tied the game and brought Brooks to the plate with 2 outs and a runner on first.  With 2 strikes Brooks hit a double into the right center field gap ending the game and winning the state championship.  Great tournament and looking forward to the South Eastern Regionals in a few weeks.

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2012 Seneca Bobcats Season

Brooks had another outstanding season with the Seneca Bobcats where he participated on both the JV and Varsity Bobcats.  The teams had a good season with the Varsity finishing 19-5 and the JV team finishing at 7-7.  The Varsity team also won 2nd place in their region, made the playoffs, and played 3 games in the District 1 playoffs.

Brooks contributed the most to the JV team this season but did receive his first Varsity letter for his contributions to the team.  He was awarded the JV teams offensive MVP award for not only his bat but more importantly his leadership and attitude.  Brooks has had a batting average of over .500 for each of the past two seasons and will definitely be missed by the Seneca team next year.  Brooks started at short stop for most of the season but also pitched several games and had to move in behind the plate for a couple of games as well.

 

Bluffton Bobcats Baseball

Brooks will be making a move at the end of the summer to Bluffton SC and will be looking for new places to play.  Even though he will be at a new school he will still be a Bobcat.  But instead of a Seneca Bobcat it will be a Bluffton Bobcat.  He will be a Sophomore at  Bluffton High School and looks forward to helping the program there in any way that he can and hopes to make an immediate difference in the program. Bluffton seems to be a great place to live and a great place for baseball.  The Bobcats will be moving up to 4A for the upcoming season which will bring a new group of challenges and it will be exciting to see how the Bobcats will stack up to some tough low country opponents.

Anderson Alley Cats Summer 2012

Brooks has been added to the roster of the Anderson Alley Cats for the 2012 travel baseball season.  The team is composed of an elite group of players from Upstate SC that are eligible to play 14U during the season but will most likely play up in most tournaments.  The team is composed of 8th and 9th grade Varsity and JV players from Seneca, Walhalla, West Side, and BHP.  This team is also going to be playing in a YMCA league through the summer and hope to compete all the way to the State level of that league.

The team competed in their first tournament of the season on this past weekend.  Although missing key players who are still in the South Carolina High School League play offs with BHP, the team won both of its games handily on Saturday and put themselves in the 1st seed in the gold division going into Sunday.  Some bad luck and a few mishaps put the team out of the championship on Sunday morning but all in all the team had a great weekend and started making relationships and building a team moral for the season.  The Alley Cats are sure to have a very successful season.

Brooks had a good day on Saturday even after committing an error at second base after making a diving stop, but his best day was to come.  Brooks started the game on Sunday morning against a team from Easley South Carolina. He pitched a near perfect game through 5, giving up no hits, only 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts.  He started the 6th by giving up a questionable hit to the right side that took a bad hop on the second basemen and then walking a batter.  Brooks was taken off the mound and moved to short stop where he would finish the game and the  next game as well with 6 put outs and no errors.  His batting and pitching stats for the weekend are listed below.

Pitching: 5 IP, 7 K, 2BB, 1H
Batting: 6-12, .500 BA, 1-2B, 5-1B, 1 BB, -RBI

Seneca High School Baseball 2012

As a 9th grader Brooks played both JV and Varsity Baseball for the Seneca Bobcat baseball team in 2012.  He started as short stop on the JV team and also pitched in 3 games during the season and also caught 2 games.  During the 20 games of the JV season and tournaments Brooks managed to only strike out 1 time and was in the lead off spot or hit second for most of the season.  This was a great season for Brooks and his game was definitely taken to a new level.  Brooks played back up to Kyle Edwards and Brandon Anderson at middle infield on the Seneca Varsity team.  Both will continue their careers at the college level next season (Kyle @ Winthrop University and Brandon @ Emmanuel).  Playing behind those guys has helped Brooks both with skill, confidence, and leadership skills.

2011 13U Dixie Boys World Series

In 2011 Brooks had the opportunity to play on the 13U Dixie Boys World Series Team that was played in Seneca SC.  The team was composed of an All-Star team from Oconee County.  Brooks started right field were he had several put outs from throwing runners out on the bases and fly ball put outs.  This was a great experience and ball team and made the upstate proud for their performance.

2011 C-Team Seneca Bobcats

In 2011, as an 8th grader, Brooks played on the 2011 Seneca Bobcats C-Team which is the middle school team that is associated with the Seneca High School Baseball program.  Brooks started short stop for all games of the 2011 season unless he was on the mound and compiled just 2 errors in 10+ games.  He also complied a batting average of an astounding .708 with only 2 strike outs over the entire season.  For his performance on and off the field, Brooks received a well deserved team MVP award for the season.

Brooks Recreation Career

Brooks has played on Seneca Recreation All-star teams since he was 7 years old.  At 7, Brooks made the 10U All-star team as an Alternate and was moved up to the team due to a players inability to participate.  He went on to earn a starting position on the 10U All-star team in the next 3 consecutive years.  He then went on to start on the 12U All-team as an 11 and 12 year old.  At 12, the Seneca All-star team played in the 12U Ozone State Tournament hosted by Seneca.  Brooks was the starting catcher, batted 2nd, and pitched in that tournament.

Brooks compiled an impressive career over the years at the Seneca Recreation including multiple home runs and 2 no hitters on the mound. He owes much of his talent to the great facilities at Seneca Recreation and the departments dedication to youth sports and developing young athletes both on and off the field.

Southern Force

For several years Brooks had the opportunity to play on the Southern Force travel baseball team based out of Liberty SC.  The team was composed of a great group of players from all over the upstate and had much success on the diamond.  The team moved as high as 6th on the national rankings for 11U baseball and won more tournaments than they lost.  Brooks played as a utility player on this team.  He played every position on the field at some point and had a great time.  Most of the guys from this team are already making a great impact on high school teams all over the upstate and they are currently 8th and 9th graders.