They could have been kids again.  Some, like Garris Gonce, probably wish they still were. A 30-year-old pulling a hamstring running from second to third could use the conditioning and flexibility of days gone by, when he roamed the outfield of Sarge Frye Field for the South Carolina Gamecocks eight years ago.

But Thursday’s exhibition between the Florence RedWolves and the USC alumni team was mostly about fun – for the players and for the large number of fans who showed up to watch Florence’s 10-4 win.

“I had fun,” said Derick Urquhart, the South Florence grad who played at USC from 1995-98. “I didn’t strike out and I didn’t pull a hamstring, so it was a successful night. The three hits I got are just a plus.”

And there were still some kid moments for the older guys, like when Florence’s Tripp Kelly muscled Matt Long’s pitch out of the yard to left field in the first inning for a two-run homer. Kelly also struck out twice.

“At least I got a hit, right?” Kelly said, laughing. “That was a standard game for me, wasn’t it? One-for-four, a home run and two strikeouts. I’ll take it.”

Florence avenged last year’s loss to the Gamecock alums and claimed the trophy that goes to the winner of the game.

The RedWolves answered Kelly’s homer by scoring three times in the bottom of the first off Steven Bondurant, who was a member of coach Ray Tanner’s first team to advance to the College World Series in 2002.

Herman Petzold led off with a double and scored on John Frost’s RBI single to left. Stephen Carmon stole third and scored on Gonce’s throwing error and Frost came home on Ryan Durrence’s RBI groundout.

The RedWolves added two in the third and two more in the fourth on Ethan Santora’s two-run homer to left.

“I remember last year, the front office was not happy with us for losing,” Petzold said. “(GM) Jamie (Young) wants that trophy more than anyone out there. We had to go out there and make him happy. We won’t have to hear from him tomorrow.”

Many of the same players will take part in another exhibition against the Columbia Blowfish on Saturday in Columbia.

Kelly said Trey Dyson, who played first base and designated hitter Thursday, came up with the idea last year that the team should play Columbia. Young and RedWolves owner Kevin Barth asked Kelly if he could get some players to come to Florence for a game, as well.

“I do the best I can do to get them to come down here and play,” said Kelly, who played high school ball at West Florence. “But they don’t mind. I think anybody can play a couple of games. We don’t get to play but two games a year. At least that’s all I play. So it’s fun to come and just play baseball.”

“It’s a great way to keep everybody involved with the USC baseball program,” Urquhart said. “When you’re done playing, you still feel a part of the program. I think that’s why coach Tanner started having an alumni game a couple of years ago. It’s fun.

“Some of these guys we don’t see other than some of these games just because of the distance, and this is a good way to get some guys back together.”