Wade, other local players in action
Jul. 7—When the Sandhills region's baseball team in the State Games ended its run with a silver medal after weather denied them a chance at gold, the summer season didn't end for Lee County head coach Jevon Wade, who was one of the assistant coaches for that team.
Baseball is a year-round thing for Wade and for hundreds of local players of middle- and high-school age, and Wade is an integral part of the C35 organization, founded by former MLB pitcher Rob Wooten. This year, Wade's assignment is as head coach of C35's 2024 National team, which includes three of his Yellow Jacket players and will be competing this weekend in the 16U version of the WWBA Coastal Summer Championship.
A number of area teams are in this event. Yesterday, the Herald covered the Cobras Elite 16U team, which includes two players from Southern Lee and Grace Christian and which also will be playing in High Point this weekend. C35 National and the Cobras will be in different pools and are not guaranteed to meet each other, but if they do meet in championship play, it will be a showdown of some of the area's best talent.
There are 19 players on the C35 roster, including Walker McDuffie, BJ Brown and Thomas Frazer of Lee County; Grayson Hudgins, JC Woolard and Addison Russell of Pinecrest; Camron Seagraves of Richmond; and Bryant Kimbrell of Scotland. Four of these players also teamed up with Wade at the State Games.
The team is a 15-16 team and actually began play last fall, posting a 4-2-1 record in two tournaments sponsored by Perfect Game USA last September. C35 National competes in tournaments sponsored by different organizations, including Perfect Game and also Prep Baseball Report (PBR).
In late June, C35 National took part in the PBR 16U National Championship, a tournament in Emerson, Ga. that invited the top 144 teams in the age classification to compete. The six-day tournament saw C35 post a 4-2 record, winning four of its first five games before getting knocked out in a late rally by the Top Tier Americans 16U on June 28.
The day before, McDuffie had pitched a complete-game three-hitter to lead his team to a 3-2 victory over the Titans Texas Rangers.
C35 National was back in action over the July 4 weekend for another PBR event and won three out of four games. After a 3-2 loss to 5-Star Atlantic on Friday, the team won its final three games of the event handily, downing the Carolina Cubs American 10-5, the NC Admirals 7-1, and then destroying the Dirtbags Sluggers 16-0 with a no-hitter.
Brown, who hits third in the lineup for C35 in most games, had two triples in the win over the Admirals, a contest where McDuffie again went the distance and struck out 12.
They have an 8-4-1 record in Perfect Game tournaments this summer, which is what this weekend's event is. C35 National is one of the teams assigned to Pool H of the tournament, and begins play Friday at 11:15 a.m. at Truist Point Stadium against the HCYP Raiders White. After playing that game, they will ride up to Winston-Salem and play at RJ Reynolds High School at 4:40 p.m. against the GBC Prepstars 2024. They will be back at Truist Point on Saturday to face 5 Star Carolina at 2:45 p.m. Who they might face after that will depend on the results of those three games.
In their last PG tournament, played June 10-12 right after the State Games, C35 National tied for first place in pool play in the 16U PG Coastal Invitational in Boiling Springs. However, they lost to the Charlotte Rays 2024 in the playoffs.
