The Laurens Academy varsity baseball team has had much success in the past three years, including three consecutive SC Independent School Association Class A State Championships. The Crusaders are expected to extend their success in the 2010 season as they are the preseason number one ranked team in SCISA, regardless of classification.

Two LA players have also garnered preseason honors as Ryland Culbertson has been named the number one pitcher in SCISA and Alex Satterfield has been named the top prospect and front-runner for Player of the Year.

The Crusaders only lost two players to graduation last year and Head Coach Travis Casey said his team is going to be ready for the coming season. “We’re excited and we’ve been working very hard,” he said.

LA is expected to have a great deal of depth in pitchers this season.  Leading the way will be Culbertson, and Satterfield.  The arms of Culberson and Satterfield were outstanding in the 2009 postseason and they expect even better results this season after spending the offseason playing with their respective teams, the Upstate Mavericks and the Carolina Cyclones. 

They will be joined at the top of the rotation by Brandon Martin, who also played with the Carolina Cyclones last summer.  Rounding out the pitching rotation will be Sam Giddens, Joshua Caviness and J.E. Satterfield, all members of the Upstate Mavericks.

The Crusader infield will show different looks depending on the pitcher.  The middle infield will consist of combinations of Satterfield, Christian Greene and Michael Knight.  J.E Satterfield and Taylor Sims will take up position at third base and Culbertson and Caviness will share time at first. Griffin Shell and Jacob Greene are expected to hold down the catching duties.

LA will begin the season this weekend as they travel to Charleston to face Northwood Academy and First Baptist Charleston.