Five Former Spartans Finish Strong Seasons in Professional Ranks
9/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Spartanburg, S.C. – Five former USC Upstate baseball Spartans continue to enjoy success following their careers at Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park, as Matt Branham, Scott DeCecco, Brandon Lee, Gaither Bumgardner and Brody Greer all recently completed seasons in professional baseball.
Branham, a pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization, spent most of the season pitching for the AA San Antonio Missions of the Texas League. Branham turned in a 4-2 record and a 2.61 earned run average in 31.0 innings of work in helping the Missions win the Texas League Championship, marking the fifth time the Missions have won the league since 2002.
Branham reached AAA during the month of June and earned a start for the Tucson Padres. Overall, he finished the season with a combined 5-5 record and a 4.88 earned run average in 72.0 innings on the hill. He struck out 67 hitters and limited opposing hitters to a .265 batting average.
DeCecco played the majority of the season with the Clinton Lumberjacks, the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. He finished the year with a team-leading nine wins and ranked third on the team with 77 strikeouts in helping the team clinch a Midwest League playoff berth. Along the way, DeCecco turned in one of his best outings of the season when he limited the Kane County Cougars to just one run on six hits in 8.0 innings en route to an 11-1 win. DeCecco also played some of the season with High Desert Mavericks (Class-A Advanced) of the California League.
Lee spent the majority of the year pitching for the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League, one of the Rookie League teams within the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Lee went 1-1 with a 2.91 earned run average over 12 games and 21.1 innings on the mound. Lee recorded 16 strikeouts and limited hitters to a .293 batting average in helping the Cardinals finish the season with a 36-31 record. His victory came after working five innings of relief while scattering four hits and recording three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work against the Greenville Astros.
A member of the New York Mets minor league system, Bumgardner posted a 2-2 record to go along with a 4.68 earned run average pitching for the Gulf Coast League Mets. He ranked second on the team with three saves to go along with one hold and a 1.52 WHIP. Bumgardner picked up a victory over the Gulf Coast League Cardinals after recording five strikeouts in two innings on the hill.
Greer ended his season with a 1-0 record and a 1.64 earned run average pitching for the Arizona League Diamondbacks. In just 11.0 innings of mound duty, Greer picked up 11 strikeouts, two holds, and a victory over the Arizona League Reds. In that win, Greer put together his best performance of the year by striking out four in 3.0 innings of work.
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