33rd Annual
March 2 – 5, 2023 at Mike Johnson Park
“Showcasing South Carolina’s Finest in High School Baseball”
2022 IP Classic Champions Blythewood Bengals
2022 MVP
Landon Penfield, Blythewood
2023 Academic Team
A.C. Flora – Chapman West
Berkeley – Mason Salisbury
Blythewood – Livingston Weisinger
Carolina Forest – Jackson McCoy
Clover – Kandan Zollo
Dutch Fork – Landon Kahl
Georgetown – Owen Powell
Greenwood – Reid Guy
The Academic Team if comprised of the junior or senior from each team with the overall highest GPA. These players will be recognized prior to their Friday game. The senior player with the highest GHP will be the recipient of a $500 Scholarship to be announce Friday as well..
Congratulations to these STUDENT-Athletes!
Upper State – Blythewood Bengals Region IV-AAAAA
Upper State – Clover Blue Eagles Region IV-AAAAA
Bottom, l to r: Austin Mitchell, Brandon Smith, Hunter Busque, Daniel Durham, Preston Politsch, Nico Bartolotti, Will Whitesides
Top, l to r: Lance Wilson, Ryan Stewart, Caleb Barnwell, River Joye, Blake Sanders, Sam Czyz, Corey Long, Kandan Zollo, Cody Higginbotham, Cooper Zohner, Cade Pawlish, Dion Brown, Cade Pilgrim
Top Row (Left to Right) - Harrison Collins, Macon Leppert, Luke Duncan, Carson Weathers, Livingston Weisinger, John Rollings, Johnny Collins, Landon Penfield Bottom Row (Left to Right) - Camden Watts, Eli Marsha, Sammy Franklin, Jackson Bottar, Ryan Watts, Alex Myers, Ben Blackwell, Xavier CuevasUpper State – Dutch Fork Silver Foxes Region V-AAAAA
Back(l-r): Landon Kahl, Connor McKee, Jake Rogers, Kevin Samonsky, Wilkes Dent, Tyler Hodges, Boone Miller
Middle(l-r): Cliff Hall, Ethan Offing, Paul Taylor, Aiden Blevins, Hunter Phipps
Front(l-r): Jerome Smalls Jr, Matthew Rollison, Brennan Ottone, Peyton Friend, Brady Yaroborough, LJ Solomon
Upper State – Greenwood Eagles Region II-AAAA
Front Row (Left to Right): Luke Godwin, John Ayden Helms, Bennett Erickson, Jayden Adams, Patrick Wood, Reid Guy, Ryan Stone
Back Row (Left to Right): Andrew Driver, Evan Avery, Caden Poore, Landen Still, TJ Aiken, Elijah Tiller, Matt Murray
Blythewood Bengals
Clover Blue Eagles
Dutch Fork Silver Foxes
Greenwood Eagles
A.C. Flora Falcons Berkeley Stags
Carolina Forest Panthers
Georgetown Bulldogs
Lower State – A.C. Flora Falcons Region IV-AAAA
BACK ROW, l to r: Cooper Revels. Carew Bates. Davis Rivers. McLean Arnette. Jack Moseley. Charles Flake. Chapman West. Rob Harrington. Grant Loggins. Mason Little. Andy Nickas
Bottom Row, l to r: Rence Best. Ryan Harrelson. Evan Smith. Tyler Hernandez. Eli Gettys. Zach Sneed. Hank Collins. Lincoln McCardle
Lower State – Berkeley Stags
Region VII -AAAAA
Top Row, l to r: Jackson Proctor, Cole Greer, Connor Barham, Hagan Gregory, Reed
Driggers, Gavin Driggers, Miller McGuire, Keith Stevens
Bottow, l to r: Brant Ford, Gavin Edens, Hudson Clark, Bodhi Leeson, Mason Salisbury, Mcrae Driggers, Ryan Richardson
Lower State – Carolina Forest Panthers
Region VI-AAAAA
Lower State – HOST Georgetown Bulldogs
Region VII-AAA
Bottom Row, l to r: Bo Moody, Thomas Crocker, Devan Harrelson, Preston Ard, Will Burbage
Middle Row, l to r: Gavin James, Chappell Miller, Chandler Adams, Braxton Cribb, Evan Lee, CP Davis, Luke Johnson, Clif Venters
Top Row, l to r: Matthew Mitchell, Miller Nash, Matt Martin, Stuart Bellune, Connor Dupuis, Owen Powell, Zack Krause
Bottom Row (left to right): Troy Miller, Bryson Butler, Tristan Henne, Jackson McCoy, Parker Reavis, Jackson Meyers Middle Row (left to right): Braeden Campman, Max Stefanchik, Brad Wohlers, Andrew Buffkin, Isaac Hand, Bobby Jones, Jordan Montez
Top Row (left to right): Hutson Rising, Brett Barker, Casey Soisson, Braden McWhorter, Josh Watson, Mason Davidson, Ayden Jasperson, Nolan Alexander, Andrew Rooney
Special Thanks to the
following for their contributions to the 2023 I.P. Classic
Georgetown Presbyterian Church and Mrs. Kelly Nash
Graham Funeral Home—Russ Graham
Cook Crew—Rodney Ward, Jason Ward, and all Carolina Sports, Inc.
Diamond Prospects
Hampton Inn
City of Georgetown and Mayor Carol Jayroe
Georgetown County School District
GHS Trainer Michaela Etheridge
The counter on the first base line was provided by Conway Fence, and the Polywood furniture can be found at Augustus & Carolina on Front Street in Georgetown.
Thanks to HTC for providing internet service and Wi-Fi to Mike Johnson Park for the 2023 season.
SCBCA Preseason Rankings (January 23, 2023)
I. P. Classic
@IPClassic
IP Classic
5A 4A 3A
1. Berkeley
2. Summerville
3. River Bluff
4. Fort Mill
5. Lexington
6. Clover
7. Blythewood 8. Carolina Forest
9. Boiling Springs T10. JL Mann/West Ashley
1. Eastside
2. AC Flora
3. Catawba Ridge
4. James Island
5. North Myrtle Beach
6. Laurens
7. Hartsville 8. Greenwood
9. South Florence T10. Lugoff-Elgin/North
Augusta
1. Chapman
2. Brookland-Cayce
3. Powdersville
4. Hanahan
5. Blue Ridge
6. Seneca
7. Gilbert
8. Aynor
9. Crescent
10. Clinton
HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL PAPER BASEBALL CLASSIC
The International Paper Baseball Classic was the brainchild of Georgetown High Baseball Coach, Mike Johnson, who wanted an opportunity to bring the top AAAA baseball teams of South Carolina for a pre-season tournament. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Georgetown and Stratford developed a friendly rivalry after meeting in several key region and post season contests. Stratford was coached by Freddie Jordan who went on to become the head baseball coach at the Citadel and is now retired. The idea for this tournament became reality when Coach Johnson mentioned to Coach Jordan about a preseason tournament to pit some of the top teams in South Carolina against one another, and Coach Jordan was very interested in the idea. Sponsorship was solicited from International Paper Company, one of Georgetown County’s major employers. International Paper Company graciously agreed to be the primary sponsor, and the first tournament was held in 1991 with Dr. Jim Owens serving as the Tournament Director. The first International Paper Baseball Classic started with only four teams, Georgetown, Irmo, Lancaster, and Stratford. The four teams played a round robin format with a total of six games with two being played on Friday night and four being played on Saturday. Lancaster featured the hard-throwing pro prospect, Pep Harris, who was later drafted in the sixth round by the Cleveland Indians. His tournament record of eighteen strikeouts in a single game has yet to be broken.
In 1992, the tournament grew to include six teams which began play on Thursday evening and continued through Sunday afternoon. In 1993, the field was expanded to include eight teams, and the cross bracket format began. By 1994, the tournament had gained a national reputation and was expanded to include two out-of-state teams. Because Georgetown dropped down to the AAA classification after the 1997 realignment by the South Carolina High School League, teams from the AAA and AA divisions began being included in the field of participants.
The year 1998 was a pivotal point in the International Paper Baseball Classic as a Board of Directors was appointed, and Dr. Jim Owens resigned as Tournament Director after the 1998 Tournament. Mr. Bob Perry was named chairman of the Board of Directors and served as director of the 1999 Classic. Because of so many great baseball programs in the state of South Carolina, the Board of Directors chose to go back to the basic premise upon which the tournament was founded, to showcase South Carolina’s finest in high school baseball, and returned to inviting South Carolina teams only. In 2000, Ms. Alicia Johnson became Tournament Director and is still serving in that capacity. After the 2003 tournament, when the I.P. Classic championship game pitted the AAA Riverside Warriors against the AAAA Summerville Green Wave, both of whom went on to win state championships in their respective classifications, the Board of Directors decided to experiment with four team AAA bracket and a four team AAAA bracket for the 2004 tournament. That remained the format through 2016 when the SCHSL realigned into five classifications. In 2014, the I.P. Classic was named one of the top ten high school baseball tournaments in the nation by MaxPreps.
Georgetown Baseball thanks International Paper for their primary sponsorship of the I.P. Classic for 33 years and for helping make it a signature event in high school baseball!
Photo by Martin Leung
