Former Pinecrest teammates James Baldwin III and Seth Maness have gotten off to impressive starts with their professional baseball teams, which began their seasons last week.

Baldwin, the fourth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010, batted over .300 in the second half of his rookie season with the Arizona League Dodgers, finishing with an average of .274. He has picked right up from where he left off with his new team, the Ogden (Utah) Raptors of the Pioneer League (advanced rookie), hitting safely in each of his first four games.

In Wednesday’s contest, against Idaho Falls, the left-handed batting centerfielder drove in two runs with a single to center in the third inning.

In the seventh he tripled down the right field line, driving in a run that put the Raptors in front 6-5. He finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs, in a game the Raptors (2-2) lost 7-6 in 10 innings.

Baldwin’s stat line for the first four games included six hits in 17 plate appearances (.353 average), four runs scored, six RBIs and a stolen base.

Ogden is about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City and is the home of Weber State University. The view of the mountains beyond the centerfield fence at Lindquist Field is considered one of the most scenic in the game of baseball. The Raptors are managed by former Major League catcher Damon Berryhill.

Maness, a right-handed pitcher, was drafted in the 11th round by the St. Louis Cardinals three weeks ago.

After going 38-11 in his career at East Carolina, he made his professional debut with the Batavia (N.Y.) Muckdogs of the Class A New York Penn League on Sunday.

Coming on in the fourth inning of a game the Muckdogs lost 6-4 to Auburn, Maness allowed one hit in two scoreless innings of relief. On Wednesday, he pitched two perfect frames in a 4-3 loss to Mahoning Valley. Overall, he retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced as a professional. Batavia went into the weekend with a record of 3-4.

Contact Charlie Bergmann at cbergmann@nc.rr.com.