Could South Carolina Have Two Prep Baseball Players Both Go In The First Round? (Highly Likely)

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher



Moncks Corner—Two high school baseball programs, located 8 miles apart in the state of South Carolina, who are also region rivals in Class AAA, are expected to have their star senior players drafted in the first round of the July major league baseball draft, and if this happens it would be a first time in recent memory that two high school players, in the same region, went in the first round of the draft.

Have we got your attention? What does this verify about the high- level prep baseball talent within the Palmetto state?

First and foremost, we always pause to give a special thank you to Mark Grainger and the fine folks at Modern Turf in Irmo and Rembert for their sponsorship of this monthly recruiting feature page.

The two players who have an excellent chance of making prep baseball history in the Palmetto State are Southside Christian LHP Carson Boleman (6-4, 210) and Christ Church SS/3B Bo Lowrance (6-5,200).

Last month we ran a feature story on Boleman and in recent games he has continued to mow down batters at the rate of 17 to 18 strikeouts a game. In the Sabres 6-0 win over Chapman on May, 16 Boleman pitched all seven innings with 15 strikeouts, and he allowed just one hit.

There have been new developments that have come to the attention of the HSSR. We wanted to give some coverage to Lorance, a shortstop from Christ Church who is also projected as a first- round draft pick. We recently had 30-minute conversation with Lowrance, and we are very impressed with him, just like we are Boleman.

The ever popular and highly respected web site “The Athletic” released a first- round mock draft on May 14 that will certainly get the attention of those who follow the draft in the state of South Carolina.

Keith Law is a respected follower of baseball who compiled a list of potential mock first round draft picks for The Athletic web site that was published on May, 14. In no way do we always agree at HSSR with what any scout might say or report, about any professional prospect from the state of South Carolina. However, because our business has been covering high school sports in South Carolina, for the past 40 years, we will present our own opinions as well. On Law’s list Boleman drops to number 29 in the first round, (we strongly disagree with his evaluation) while Lawrence elevates to the number 20 pick of the first round and we are certainly excited to now find out the state could have two first round draft picks this year.

We still maintain that Boleman will be a top 10 pick in the first round, and we are delighted that Lowrance is moving into the first round with the highly respected Law, and other scouts.

This is what Mr. Law wrote about Boleman for The Athletic: “Bolemon was a little slow to ramp up this spring, so he’s no longer the top high school lefty on my board, but he’s still close and should get paid like a first rounder. He’s up to 96 with a four-pitch mix, with the velocity a tick lower this spring, and he gets good depth on his breaking pitches from a three-quarters slot. He already had an internal brace procedure when he was about 15. He’s committed to Wake Forest.”

Boleman is in no way injured, and the internal brace procedure has only had a positive impact on his performance, not a negative one. He is perfectly healthy according to his high school coach Scott Freeman. After his outstanding pitching performance on the big stage with Team USA last summer, he left that international competition considered the best pitching prospect, in either high school or college for the 2026 major league draft, which takes place this July. Nothing he has shown in recent mound duty, with his high school, suggests any downturn at all.

Perhaps on the advice of an advisory agent, and we do not know this for sure, Boleman (and his loving family) decided to rest his arm for most of the regular high school season, and he had not pitched but 10.1 innings this season at the time this reporter interviewed him in early April. He does play on a team with two other talented pitchers.

We hope that scouts, major league teams, and even baseball writers, do not hold his lack of time on the mound, earlier in the season, against him. On April,30 versus AAAAA River Bluff, Boleman pitched all seven innings, with 18 strikeouts, and only one walk in his team’s 1-0 win. Boleman has now pitched 30 innings this season with 68 strikeouts, an ERA of 0.23 and he has walked just seven of the 107 batters he has faced.

Boleman and Lowrance should both be invited to a traditional Top 60 to 80 high school and college skills camp, reserved for top 2026 prospects, with live games, held a few weeks before the draft down at a site in Florida. The HSSR predicts that both Boleman and Lawrence will leave that comparison skills camp as solid first round draft prospects.

Now let’s talk about Bo Lawrence, first through the eyes of his high school coach Brian Simpson.

“I came to Christ Church three seasons ago from JL Mann, and Bo was already a solid player in the program,” said Coach Simpson. “He really came on strong, with the scouts last summer, as a player on a highly respected elite travel team out of Charlotte.

“Bo has tremendous range as a short stop, and I have been amazed at some of balls he is able to get to,” said Coach Simpson. “The scouts love the fact he has equal dexterity from both the right and left side. He is 6-4, 200 pounds and runs a 6.6 sixty which is awesome for a kid his size.”

Lowrance is currently batting .433 with 39 RBI’s, including 12 home runs and three triples. He has a .624 on base percentage with a slugging percentage of 1.119. His fielding percentage is .922.

Lowrance had been committed to Virginia, but when their head coach (Corey Muscara) left to take over the program at Duke last summer, Lawrence flipped to Duke.

Shawn P. Kernahan is a baseball writer for Three Quarter Slot. This was Kernahan’s scouting report on Lowrance recently: “The offensive foundation is already in place, with a left-handed swing that shows balance, control, and an advanced sense of the zone. Lowrance uses his length effectively, creating leverage without sacrificing barrel accuracy. Most of the present damage comes to the opposite field, but there’s a growing understanding of how to turn on pitches when counts and locations allow. Swing decisions are a strength, and the hit tool gives him a stable floor even as the power is still coming.

Kernahan also wrote in talking about Lowrance: “Physical projection does a lot of the future work here. Strength gains should unlock considerably more pull-side impact, with raw power pointing toward a potential carrying tool as the body matures. Defensively, third base is the cleanest long-term fit, where the arm, hands, and body control line up, though continued physical growth could eventually test his mobility and push him to another corner. The profile leans more on projection than present production, but the combination of approach, barrel control, and physical upside give him a wide runway and a chance to develop into a true bat-driven corner piece.

Lowrance joined a national elite travel team out of Charlotte last summer, known at that time as the Charlotte Baseball Academy but it has since changed its name to the CBA Orioles Scout Team.

This elite team played in well scouted tournaments in Georgia, Florida, Jupiter, Florida and Cary, NC.

“It’s a pretty special situation to be in right now as a baseball player,” said Lowrance. “This time a year ago I did not think I would be in this position. I am humbled to be in consideration to be selected in the first round of the baseball draft. It would be a dream come true for sure.”

Lowrance said that 15 major league clubs have invited him in for personal workouts at their facility prior to the draft. He also said that he has yet to discuss sign ability with any major league team and he says going to Virginia and playing college baseball is still on the table. He said that he will address the issue of sign ability with any club interested in him in the very near future.

Lowrance is truly gifted to be 200 pounds with a 6.6 time in the sixty. His range at shortstop is off the charts and he can move left or right with same dexterity.

“I work out three days a week with my personal trainer, Glen Hunt, and we work on agility drills all the time,” said Lowrance. “We do a lot of side-to-side drills to improve foot work also. Carson has the same trainer I have.” 

Lowrance says that when he is on the field, on defense, he usually cheats over two feet against right-handed batters, and if they are left-handed, he moves to his left a couple steps. “I study batters and my goal is to get a good jump towards the ball and have good reflexes in making a play on the ball and having a strong delivery to first,” he said.

As a hitter, Lorance talks about his strengths.” I am able to hit a baseball to all fields, from down the line to both power alleys,’ said Lowrance. “Of the 12 home runs I have hit this high school season, half of them are backside.

“I trust my swing,” said Lowrance. “I feel like I am a good two-strike hitter and I tend to open my zone some with two strikes. I try not to change my mechanics much.”

When this year’s draft begins on July 11 in Philadelphia, Lowrance was aksked how he felt he might react to having his named called out in the first round. “It would be one of those states of shock moments in my life for sure,” he said. “But within three days I hope I am on a plane reporting to the club that drafted me. I am ready to get to work.

“I am ready to embrace the process of continued development and playing professional baseball has been my dream for a long time,” he said. “Honestly, I am not going to change at all if being drafted in the first round makes me a millionaire. I am just going to tuck it away, show my love and appreciation to my family for their support, and focus on being the best baseball player I can be.”

Lowrance said off the field he loves to fish and hunt. “I really like to catch large mouth bass,” he said. “I love to hunt deer. I even like to collect sharks teeth.”

Lowrance has had one significant sit-down meal with a scout. “We had a serious conversation over dinner about my goals in the game of baseball and it was a very educational meeting,” said Lowrance. “I enjoyed the experience very much.”

Lowrance said that he and Carson are good friends. “I don’t get to face many truly outstanding left-handed pitchers in high school, but I consider him the best left-handed pitcher I’ve faced so far,” said Lowrance. “If there is something I am still working to improve upon it would be doing a better job in the box when facing left-handed pitchers.”

All baseball fans in the Palmetto State should be proud of the fact that two teenage boys who play high school baseball at schools 8 miles apart are in Greenville and are highly likely to experience life changing moments within 30 minutes of each other on the night of July 11.

Also, the HSSR would like to extend a shout-out to James Island shortstop Tai Marchand who was recently named the Player of the Year in SC from all classifications by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association.

Marchand, an Ole Miss signee, is currently batting .513 with 40 RBI’s and 13 home runs. His high school team is heavily favored to defend the Div. I AAAAA state title he helped them win a year ago.

Marchand is projected as a late second round, to early third round draft pick, but it only takes one club to push him into the first round along with Boleman and Lowrance.

All three of these young men are special athletes and first class off the field also.