It hasn’t taken long for Kary Booher of the Springfield News-leader (Mo.) to capture the essence of Seth Maness as a pitcher.

“Watching Seth Maness pitch these days is like sipping iced tea on a front porch swing,” Booher wrote after the Pinecrest and East Carolina star’s most recent start for the Springfield Cardinals. “It’s nice and easy, with no cares in the world.

“The Springfield Cardinals’ right-hander was his same steady self Friday night as he — how many times is this now? — basically played catch with battery mate Travis Tartamella, firing seven scoreless innings to beat the San Antonio Missions 6-2 before 5,678 at Hammons Field.”

The 11th round draft choice of the St. Louis Cardinals last June is is 2-0 in three starts for the Class AA Texas League team. In 21.2 innings since being promoted from the Cards’ Palm Beach (Fla.) club two weeks ago, he has allowed only two earned runs.

Maness was 3-1 at Palm Beach. Shortly after leaving for Springfield, he learned he had been selected to play in the Florida State League All-Star Game. His combined stats for this season include a 5-1 record and an ERA of 1.73. In 120.2 innings covering his two pro seasons, he has struck out 85 batters and walked only eight while compiling a record of 7-2.

“Knock on wood,” Maness told Booher. “Hopefully I can keep it up. But it’s a pleasure to be here and a great environment to play in.

“It’s been quite a blur, to be honest. Just quite a ride. I’ve seen a lot of places, faced a lot of guys. Luckily I’ve just grinded it out.”

Maness got early run support against San Antonia. His two-out single through the left side of the infield capped a five-run bottom of the first inning. It was his first hit since his senior year at Pinecrest in 2007.

The efficiency of his efforts on the mound have already been appreciated by his Cardinal teammates.

“But the story tonight was Seth Maness,” third baseman Jermaine Curtis said. “As a defensive player, you just love his tempo. He’s quick. And he believes in his pitches.”

Maness has pitched six or more innings in all 11 of his starts this season.

The discipline that is required for success in sports often also translates to academics as in the case of local athletes Amanda D’Ostroph and Josh Haley.

Earlier this spring, D’Ostroph, a Union Pines graduate and a junior at Charleston Southern, was named 2012 Big South Conference Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year. More recently she earned a spot on the Capital One/CoSIDA All-District IV Team for the second year in a row as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

The junior biology major with a 4.0 GPA ranked 10th in the Big South with a scoring average of 77.24 through the regular season. She finished the season with a 20th-place finish in the Big South women’s golf tournament.

Haley, a Pinecrest graduate, and a star on the UNC Pembroke baseball team for four years, was among 33 players named to the 2012 Capital One Division II Academic All-American Baseball Team also selected by the CoSIDA. He and teammate Eitan Munoz are the first CoSIDA All-Americans in the history of the baseball program at Pembroke.

Haley has a 3.5 GPA as an exercise and sports science major. He was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association All-Southeast Region Team for the second time after leading the Braves with a .391 batting average.

Former Pinecrest teammates Bailey Rush, Joey Vecchione and Andrew MacDonald crossed paths during their college baseball seasons.

MacDonald, a junior at Elon, pitched middle relief in an 18-5 win over The Citadel on May 17. Rush, a freshman at The Citadel, played third base. He didn’t face the left-hander in any of his at bats, but knocked in one of the Bulldog runs. MacDonald finished the season with a 5-3 record.

Vecchione batted .264 as a freshman at the University of Richmond, starting 16 games mostly in the outfield. Rush started at shortstop and drew three walks when the Bulldogs defeated the Spiders 10-7 back in February.

Joe Herbert, another former teammate of the Patriot trio, went 5-1 on the mound for Winston-Salem State this season. The sophomore right-hander’s only loss came in a Division II NCAA Atlantic Regional elimination game against Kutztown State.

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