Dickie Noles, a former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, who now works for the organization, sat in the Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium press box as the Piedmont Boll Weevils began their Friday night game with Savannah.

“There are seven bonafide major league prospects starting for us tonight,” he said, adding that there are nine altogether. I used to come here and couldn’t name one.”

Pitchers Brett Myers, Ryan Madson and Adam Walker are three of them. In fact, Noles wouldn’t be surprised if Walker, who will be 24 May 28, isn’t in the bigs in a year or so.

“I think they’ll move him up and everything will click for him,” Noles said of the 6-7 lefty.

Madson is in the team’s Top 10 prospects and Myers is a No. 1 draft pick and 19-year old millionaire.

Noles also likes first baseman Nate Espy. He thinks third baseman Tom Batson has a future. He is hitting .420 since returning from an early-season injury. Russ Jacobson, the catcher, has impressed him.

Noles also sees three outfielders one day patrolling in Philly: Marlon Byrd, Jay Sitzman and Jorge Padilla.

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HOW ABOUT HICKORY? Right now, the Weevils don’t have time to think about big league dreams. They have the Hickory Crawdads to worry about.

Baseball America recently listed its top minor league teams and Hickory was fifth in all of baseball for Class A teams. Piedmont was not ranked, even though it led the Crawdads by three games going into Saturday.

Piedmont and Hickory have the best records in the SAL. But manager Greg Legg said the Weevils aren’t looking ahead to a four-game war with the ‘Dads — at Hickory May 30-32 and at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium June 1-2.

“But this is what you want — to fight for a championship,” Legg said. “It’s good to be in this atmosphere. Even if you don’t win it, every game means something and that’s good for development.”

It should be a heck of a series. The teams boast the top three hitters (J.R. House is batting .370, followed by Espy (.349) and Sitzman (.345). Espy and House are tied for the lead in homers (11). Combined, they lead six of the 11 offensive categories. The only category they don’t lead is in triples, and another Weevil leads that: Byrd with six.

The teams boast the two top pitching winners in Bobby Bradley (7-1) and Walker (6-1).

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TOO GOOD? It was a typical Walker outing last Thursday: seven innings, one run , six strikeouts and a five-hitter in a 5-1 victory.

Considering he thought he should’ve been in Reading at the start of the season, you have to ask the question: Is Walker too good for this level?

“I won’t say he’s too good for this league but I will say he could be doing the same thing in Clearwater,” Legg said. “He could easily be called up to Reading and they may test him later in the season there.”

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GOING UP? And speaking of going up, is it only a matter of time before Nate Espy, the fan favorite, will advance?

Legg said that currently, Bob Van Iten is in Clearwater and the Phillies want him playing every day, just as they do Espy.

“But if they need Nate, I’ll be more than happy to recommend him,” said Legg.

Espy admitted his 420-foot homer to dead center Thursday night was the longest of his career.

“In a roundabout way, Nate’s like Mark McGwire because he has such a good eye,” Legg said. “He makes you pitch to him and he can hurt you with one swing.”

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BY COMMITTEE: The Weevils have had some great relievers in the past: Kyle Kawabata, Brett Black and Cary Hiles, to name three.

This year? It’s a bullpen by committee.

Piedmont has 13 saves and six different players have them, led by Mark Outlaw and Justin Fry with four each. Matt Bailie picked up his second in a Friday night win. Elio Serrano, Franklin Perez and Chris Keelin have the others.

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AND BABY MAKES THREE: Piedmont’s head honcho Todd Parnell found out last week that wife Kelly is pregnant with their third child.

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INJURED LIST: It may have been the quickest reassignment ever. When Madson joined the Weevils, Keelin was the odd man out, being sent to Clearwater. One day later, he was back as pitcher Ken Westmoreland went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.

Eric Schreimann is still on the DL with a shoulder problem. Sitzman and Brian Hitchcox have hamstring aches and pains and Padilla has a hurt hand.

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THE SCHEDULE: Quick, get out to the stadium today. The Weevils’ 2:05 p.m. start against Savannah will be the last home game until June 1. .

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NOTES: The staff has allowed only 18 homers, the least in the SAL. ... Myers leads the SAL in walks with 28. ... The Weevils are 5-2 on Fridays. ... Espy and Byrd have combined for 46 extra base hits. Espy leads the league with 25. ... Asheville (22-18) leads the Southern Division ... Piedmont is 12th out of 14 teams in attendance with an average of 1,631.

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