Sometimes when prep standouts leave our fields and go on to bigger stages, they drift to the backburner in favor of the current crop of stars. But two of the best to ever pass through Anderson County are back in the news.

Former T.L. Hanna golfer Phillip Mollica and former Wren center fielder Jason Place have reminded their fans of their prep exploits, except now they’re doing it on the next level.

Mollica, a former Anderson Independent-Mail Golfer of the Year, finished tied for fourth two weeks ago in the Sunnehanna Amateur in Johnstown, Pa. Then last week, he became the first two-time winner of the 68-year-old Monroe Amateur in Pittsford, N.Y. (he also won in 2006).

“I felt a lot more relaxed, playing in the last group, but I guess that just comes with experience,” Mollica told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. “It’s pretty different than 2006, because (then) I had some nerves coming down the back stretch.”

Mollica, a rising senior at Clemson, shot 67-71-70-66 to win by six shots and is now ranked No. 56 in the Golfweek World Amateur rankings.

To those who have followed Mollica’s career, this isn’t much of a surprise. In a star-studded prep career, Mollica was named Mr. Golf by the S.C. High School League, and was the runnerup in the state tournament in ’04 and ’05.

A year after playing in the spotlight of then-West End Field with the Greenville Drive, Place has turned things around with the high-Class A Lancaster (Calif.) Jethawks. Place struggled with strikeouts last season — his first full season stint in pro ball — and had the pressure of playing nightly in front of family and friends.

He hit .214 in Greenville, and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of three to one.

“I don’t want to put down my hometown,” Place told The Boston Globe. “It was awesome to play there. I had one of the best times of my life last year. But it’s putting unneeded pressures on yourself. You get a lot of fans coming out specifically to see you. I found I pressed a lot last year. ‘I’ve got to get a hit. I’ve got to get a hit.’ Sometimes it was pretty embarrassing ‘cause I had mostly failure last year.”

Pressure is something that Place has dealt with since high school, but could only escalate as he moves through the Red Sox farm system. Drafted No. 27 overall two years ago, Place is expected to play in Fenway Park in 2011. But until recently, he hadn’t found the consistency he had with the Golden Hurricanes when he hit .544, and batted leadoff to avoid intentional walks. But during a recent 10-game stretch, Place hit .317 with the Jethawks to raise his average to .239.

“For the first time in a long time,” Place said, “I’m taking the same swing on every pitch. I really feel like I have a chance to hit every pitch that’s thrown in the strike zone.”