Two former Greenbrier High School pitching stars are off to a hot start in their collegiate seasons this year.
After earning All-Southeastern Conference freshman team honors last year for the University of South Carolina, former Greenbrier High School star Nolan Belcher was moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen by Gamecocks head coach Ray Tanner.
The move was done to help the team's bullpen, which lacked left-handers.
With the start Belcher is off to, a spot back in the weekend rotation could be in his near future. After two terrific bullpen stints, Belcher got a mid-week start versus Presbyterian last week.
The former Wolfpack standout went five shutout innings, allowing one hit and walking one batter. He piled up seven strikeouts as he earned the win in a 15-0 Carolina victory.
In seven innings of work this year, Belcher has yet to yield a run. He also has amassed 11 strikeouts while allowing only two walks and two hits. In all, he has faced 23 batters and struck out 11 -- not too shabby. Belcher and the Gamecocks lost two of three this past weekend to Clemson to drop to 6-4 on the season.
Belcher's former Greenbrier pitching mate Brandon Cumpton is off to a great start as well. The talented junior right-hander improved his record to 3-0 in three starts this season for Georgia Tech as the Yellow Jackets beat Rutgers 19-5 on Saturday. Cumpton worked five innings, striking out two and allowing four earned runs.
Cumpton leads Georgia Tech with three victories. In all, he has worked 17 innings, allowing six earned runs. He has walked five batters and struck out eight.
The Jackets are 10-1 on the season and ranked No. 4 in the country.
They travel to Macon today for a matchup with Mercer, before opening their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule versus Wake Forest this weekend.
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