BE baseball legends to star in alumni game

The stars will align on March 22 at Bishop England High School’s Father Kelly Field.

 

Baseball stars, that is.

 

Some of the former players who made Bishop England one of the most successful programs in Palmetto State history will gather to reminisce and play in the first Bishop England Alumni Baseball Game.

 

The event is the brainchild of Matt Hamlin, who played on the 2011 state championship team and is a member of the BE Class of 2012.

 

The alumni showcase could become an annual or biannual event, depending on how this year’s game goes.

 

BE owns 10 state championships, second only to Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School, which has 15.

 

Eight of the 10 state crowns were won after Bishop England moved from its downtown campus on Calhoun Street to Daniel Island. Prior to the move, the Bishops had no true home base to practice or play “home” games.

 

Drew Meyer, who has committed to play in the game, led the Bishops to back-to-back state titles in 1997 and 1998. He went on to play for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks and was a first-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers.

 

Meyer hasn’t played in a professional baseball game since 2013, but he still spends time on the diamond as the coach of a 13-U team called the Charleston Blue Claws, a team that includes his 12-year-old son, Hudson. 

 

The younger Meyer throws left-handed and bats from the right side. Like his father, who once ran a 6.3 60-yard dash, Hudson has good speed as well.

 

Meyer said his time at BE paved the way for his collegiate and professional careers and later in the business world. He played for Dave Morrow, who passed away in the summer of 2007.

 

Morrow built the Bishops into a state power, winning two state crowns while building Father Kelly Field when the school moved to Daniel Island.

 

“I was really lucky to play for Dave Morrow,” said Meyer, who was the Bishops’ starting third baseman as an eighth grader. “He had a vision of winning, and anything else was unacceptable.”

 

Meyer isn’t the only former first-rounder scheduled to play. Reese Havens, who graduated in 2005, also played for USC and was a first-round pick of the New York Mets in 2008.

 

While Meyer and Havens might be the old-timers, there are recent stars scheduled to play including Will Bastian, who played for The Citadel, and Leo Albano.

 

Albano was an all-state athlete in three sports. He went on to play football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

 

“We have had some great teams and players come through here,” Bishop England baseball coach Mike Darnell said. “The best thing is that players come back after they graduate. We usually have a few alumni in the dugout at every home game – at least when the weather warms up.

 

“We are getting old enough to have former players show up with their wives and children now,” said Darnell, who has led the Bishops to seven state titles. “That is what it really is all about … the main reason we all became coaches. This is another opportunity for us to be around players who have turned into great husbands and fathers. That is what makes a proud program.”