And they also cringed every time they saw the other enter the batter’s box. They know too well what the other can do.

But in between their final prep season and their first year at two major college programs known as Carolina, the two have teamed up in Huntersville American Legion Post 321’s middle infield, forming a vacuum for ground balls and a defensive foundation for the back-to-back Area IV Eastern Division champions.

Players who are bound for the diamonds at Chapel Hill or Columbia are rare to begin with, but especially on the same roster.

“To have them both is a big deal,” says Huntersville coach Trevin Smith. “Their play on the field speaks for itself. They’re not your real vocal guys. I think their actions speak louder than words.”

Hopewell’s Russell and Mallard Creek’s Hill have known each other since they were 8 years old. They have played against each other a lot over the years and together some on travel and showcase teams, too. But they have enjoyed working the bag at second together this season. Chemistry hasn’t been an issue.

“From day one, we’ve been good to go,” says Russell.

Hill, who hit .455 as a senior, plays second and hits second in the Post 321 lineup, while Russell plays shortstop and hits third, where he has hit nine home runs this summer. Both have posted at least one hit in every game, and they each had triples in Tuesday’s 21-8 win against the Mint Hill Marines, which clinched the division title.

Both played shortstop in high school, and Smith thought of alternating them at short this summer, but projected that all involved would benefit if they played the same position consistently. He asked Hill to play second, and says the two have been dynamic together.

Russell has been impressed by Hill’s “Derek Jeter” plays, when he has gone to his right to snag a ball and thrown across his body to first with his momentum taking him toward second. Hill says Russell is strong at handling the slow rollers that force fielders to charge and make snap throws.

They’ve turned quite a few 6-4-3 double plays and even managed to surprise themselves a little in a game last weekend. A sharply hit liner one-hopped to Russell, who knelt to backhand it. He stopped the ball and turned to flip it to Hill covering second, and in one motion, Hill fired to first baseman Jared Fortune for the second out.

“I don’t think the ball ever touched Mikal’s glove,” says Russell. “It was bang-bang.”

Hill committed to defending national champion South Carolina as a sophomore and was the first Charlotte-area player in the class of 2011 to commit to a major school. Russell’s recruitment unfolded much differently after he broke multiple bones in his leg in the first game of his junior season. It wasn’t until North Carolina’s coaches saw him in a showcase event in Florida last fall that he earned his Carolina blue uniform. He was the Tar Heels’ final recruit in the 2011 class.

This week, they’ve had a vested interest in the College World Series as both Carolinas qualifiedfor the eight-team event in Omaha. While they haven’t talked much trash about their college programs, seeing their teams in the CWS and thinking about the possibility of making such trips over the next few years has given them a dose of their new reality. College baseball, for them, is just around the corner.

“It gets me more excited to go there,” says Hill.

New tradition?

Because Huntersville, 18-0 entering Friday’s game at Pineville, has been so dominant throughout the regular season, Tuesday’s title-clinching win came with little celebration among the Post 321players. No other Eastern team has fewer than four losses as the regular season enters its final days, and Huntersville is already shifting its focus to the Area IV playoffs, where last year it lost to perennial power Cherryville in the second round.

The winner of the lengthy Area IV playoffs will qualify for state competition, which could eventually lead to regional and, finally, national playoffs.

This year’s division title is different, says Smith, who jokingly referred to winning the championship as a new tradition in Huntersville. Last year, the team focused on winning the division because the Huntersville area had not won any title since 1946.

But now, the hope for Post 321 is that it’s a stepping stone to something else.

“We’re going to keep rolling,” says Smith.

First baseman Fortune has been on a tear recently. The former SouthLake Christian star hit three home runs in Sunday’s 14-6 win over Lincoln County. Former Hopewell player Hunter Conley hit two home runs against Denver — on his birthday, no less — and added one more Tuesday. Adam Venditti, of Belmont-Abbey College, had two homers Tuesday.

The Area IV playoff seeding meeting is Sunday in Hickory, and the postseason begins next week.