C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
I sat down and talked with almost all of the 2017 class as they prepare to come to South Carolina or potentially forgo college to play professional baseball.
De-commits: Bryce Hulett and Blake Jeter are no longer part of this year's class. Hulett signed with the State College of Florida and said maybe one day he'll be back to Carolina. Jeter didn't go into detail but just said he wasn't committed anymore.
Here are the updates for seven of the commitments in this year's class (this is part one of three). And feel free to ask away with any questions you might have on this year's commitments and baseball program!
Elijah Bowers, Catcher
Bowers was one of the later additions to the 2017 class and is a guy who will compete for playing time behind Chris Cullen and John Jones next season. He said he hit .228 at Weddington High School in North Carolina.
This summer he plans to play for a collegiate summer league in the Carolinas to see “better pitching and just making sure I’m ready for South Carolina" when he get there.
He’ll enroll in August before the fall semester starts and said he’s ready to start working hard in hopes of seeing playing time early.
“That’s always the goal. I’m going to come in and compete and work hard every day,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens, but I’ll be ready for when my number is called.”
Noah Campbell, 2B/SS
Campbell is the No. 1 rated shortstop in North Carolina and the No. 86 overall prospect according to Perfect Game. He’s having a stellar senior season, he said, hitting around .485 with four home runs.
He said he plans on playing a little summer baseball to get some games in and that the draft isn’t a big concern of his, which is big for keeping South Carolina’s 2017 class intact.
He said it would “take a lot” for him to go pro and he’s probably going to end up in school. He said the goal is to enroll in summer classes starting on June 26 to get to campus.
Defensively he’s pretty solid and says he can help the team in a leadoff or No. 2 spot in the lineup because of his speed and his low strikeout numbers. He’s more of a middle infielder and said he wants to get better defensively this summer so he can compete for those spots in the fall and spring.
“This season I’ve been working on my approach at the plate, getting the pitch I like and not missing it,” he said. “Also, in hitter’s counts doing more damage than just trying to put the ball in play.”
Logan Chapman, RHP
He is a really highly touted prospect coming out of this year’s class and told me he is going to forgo the draft and enroll in school. It’s a big get for the Gamecocks, who are losing a lot of pitching next season.
Chapman said he wanted to mature and figure out his body before going pro and the promise of playing in Columbia was a big factor in choosing to enroll at South Carolina. He’ll enroll for the June 26 session of classes.
“My mechanics are solid right now but they’re not where I want them to be,” he said. “I need a lot of time to get stronger, gain some weight and show out. I think going to college was the better decision.”
Chapman was 5A Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year for Easley High School. He said he had 94 strikeouts, six away from his goal of 100. He’s also topping out on his fastball at 94-95 miles per hour and has his curveball in the upper 70s.
From talking to him, I can tell how excited he is about South Carolina. He joked he has a countdown on his clock until he gets to Columbia. He said he doesn’t even have that for when he graduates.
Josh Church, RHP
He’s one of the more interesting kids in this class. He’s a self-taught musician and plays the piano and is learning the guitar. He likes to write and hopes to major in something relating to music or creative writing in college.
On the mound, he’s sitting in the high 80s on his fastball and toped out at 91 miles per hour. He throws four primary pitches—four seam, two seam, changeup and curveball—and said he can work in a knuckleball from time to time.
He’s going to work with a team this summer before getting to campus to get a few innings under his belt and then come to South Carolina.
“I just want to continue to get stronger and just stay in shape so I’m ready to go when it’s time,” he said.
He said the coaching staff has stayed in contact with him and told him to be ready to throw early since the team is losing a few senior pitchers and potentially some juniors heading into the offseason.
“I knew they were going to lose some good guys and that motivates me,” he said.
Parker Coyne, RHP/SS
Coyne was part of the team that was just recently eliminated in the Final Four of the Georgia Class 7-A playoffs. While recruited as a pitcher, he played primarily in the field this season and hit about .450.
He said on the mound he’s hitting about 90-91 on his fastball and has developed a good changeup. One of his strongest pitches is his curveball. He said he’s excited to get to campus and learn from this coaching staff.
“I heard nothing but great things about Coach Meyers and heard what he had to say and I’m excited to learn from him and be with the other recruits,” Coyne said.
He’ll pitch in the Sunbelt League, a collegiate summer baseball program. He said he wants to learn how to pitch to college hitters and he hopes doing that will give him a head start heading into the fall.
“That’s the main part, building up muscle and playing in the summer will help me,” he said.
“That’ll give me an idea of what college players are made of and kind of how to approach that. that’ll give me an early advantage learning in the fall.”
Jordan Holladay, 1B/3B
Finished up his season with Sumter High School hitting a personal-best eight home runs and about .380. He said his on-base percentage was “out the roof” and he was on first at least once a game.
He’ll forgo the draft more than likely and enroll in summer classes this June. He’s a natural corner infielder, specifically third base, but has played in right and left field as well.
He’s already doing collegiate workouts and plans to workout with fellow commit and Sumter native McLendon Sears this summer before getting to campus with the hope of seeing playing time early.
"I’m going to do my best to earn a spot hopefully opening day but if not hopefully some games to get some of the nervousness out and some of the new feelings of college baseball instead of high school baseball.”
He said he plans on working on pitch selection and working the count this summer so that he cuts down on being overly aggressive at the plate.
“On one hand that’s helped me but on the other hand I get myself out, so pitch selection and knowing what to do with that.”
Ian Jenkins, OF
He hit over .400 this year after missing most of last year with a torn ACL. He said he’s 100 percent heading into college baseball and he’s really improved his pitch selection with more at-bats.
“I think I got 88 at-bats as opposed to the two I got last year due to injury,” he said. The live at-bats really helped me get a feel for what I like and dislike.”
He said he feels better than ever with his legs and even got a little faster in the outfield after rehabbing it. He’s staying in his legs more and hitting more off-speed pitches.
He said he’s “not really focused on the draft” right now and will play for the East Cobb Yankees this summer before enrolling at South Carolina. He said he’s excited to get to campus and start his college career.
“The few times I’ve gone up there, especially for games, the atmosphere is amazing. I really love the players and there’s really are no boring games,” he said. “The stadium’s always sold out. I’m just really looking forward to playing in front of that crowd.”
Part Two will be out tomorrow.
De-commits: Bryce Hulett and Blake Jeter are no longer part of this year's class. Hulett signed with the State College of Florida and said maybe one day he'll be back to Carolina. Jeter didn't go into detail but just said he wasn't committed anymore.
Here are the updates for seven of the commitments in this year's class (this is part one of three). And feel free to ask away with any questions you might have on this year's commitments and baseball program!
Elijah Bowers, Catcher
Bowers was one of the later additions to the 2017 class and is a guy who will compete for playing time behind Chris Cullen and John Jones next season. He said he hit .228 at Weddington High School in North Carolina.
This summer he plans to play for a collegiate summer league in the Carolinas to see “better pitching and just making sure I’m ready for South Carolina" when he get there.
He’ll enroll in August before the fall semester starts and said he’s ready to start working hard in hopes of seeing playing time early.
“That’s always the goal. I’m going to come in and compete and work hard every day,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens, but I’ll be ready for when my number is called.”
Noah Campbell, 2B/SS
Campbell is the No. 1 rated shortstop in North Carolina and the No. 86 overall prospect according to Perfect Game. He’s having a stellar senior season, he said, hitting around .485 with four home runs.
He said he plans on playing a little summer baseball to get some games in and that the draft isn’t a big concern of his, which is big for keeping South Carolina’s 2017 class intact.
He said it would “take a lot” for him to go pro and he’s probably going to end up in school. He said the goal is to enroll in summer classes starting on June 26 to get to campus.
Defensively he’s pretty solid and says he can help the team in a leadoff or No. 2 spot in the lineup because of his speed and his low strikeout numbers. He’s more of a middle infielder and said he wants to get better defensively this summer so he can compete for those spots in the fall and spring.
“This season I’ve been working on my approach at the plate, getting the pitch I like and not missing it,” he said. “Also, in hitter’s counts doing more damage than just trying to put the ball in play.”
Logan Chapman, RHP
He is a really highly touted prospect coming out of this year’s class and told me he is going to forgo the draft and enroll in school. It’s a big get for the Gamecocks, who are losing a lot of pitching next season.
Chapman said he wanted to mature and figure out his body before going pro and the promise of playing in Columbia was a big factor in choosing to enroll at South Carolina. He’ll enroll for the June 26 session of classes.
“My mechanics are solid right now but they’re not where I want them to be,” he said. “I need a lot of time to get stronger, gain some weight and show out. I think going to college was the better decision.”
Chapman was 5A Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year for Easley High School. He said he had 94 strikeouts, six away from his goal of 100. He’s also topping out on his fastball at 94-95 miles per hour and has his curveball in the upper 70s.
From talking to him, I can tell how excited he is about South Carolina. He joked he has a countdown on his clock until he gets to Columbia. He said he doesn’t even have that for when he graduates.
Josh Church, RHP
He’s one of the more interesting kids in this class. He’s a self-taught musician and plays the piano and is learning the guitar. He likes to write and hopes to major in something relating to music or creative writing in college.
On the mound, he’s sitting in the high 80s on his fastball and toped out at 91 miles per hour. He throws four primary pitches—four seam, two seam, changeup and curveball—and said he can work in a knuckleball from time to time.
He’s going to work with a team this summer before getting to campus to get a few innings under his belt and then come to South Carolina.
“I just want to continue to get stronger and just stay in shape so I’m ready to go when it’s time,” he said.
He said the coaching staff has stayed in contact with him and told him to be ready to throw early since the team is losing a few senior pitchers and potentially some juniors heading into the offseason.
“I knew they were going to lose some good guys and that motivates me,” he said.
Parker Coyne, RHP/SS
Coyne was part of the team that was just recently eliminated in the Final Four of the Georgia Class 7-A playoffs. While recruited as a pitcher, he played primarily in the field this season and hit about .450.
He said on the mound he’s hitting about 90-91 on his fastball and has developed a good changeup. One of his strongest pitches is his curveball. He said he’s excited to get to campus and learn from this coaching staff.
“I heard nothing but great things about Coach Meyers and heard what he had to say and I’m excited to learn from him and be with the other recruits,” Coyne said.
He’ll pitch in the Sunbelt League, a collegiate summer baseball program. He said he wants to learn how to pitch to college hitters and he hopes doing that will give him a head start heading into the fall.
“That’s the main part, building up muscle and playing in the summer will help me,” he said.
“That’ll give me an idea of what college players are made of and kind of how to approach that. that’ll give me an early advantage learning in the fall.”
Jordan Holladay, 1B/3B
Finished up his season with Sumter High School hitting a personal-best eight home runs and about .380. He said his on-base percentage was “out the roof” and he was on first at least once a game.
He’ll forgo the draft more than likely and enroll in summer classes this June. He’s a natural corner infielder, specifically third base, but has played in right and left field as well.
He’s already doing collegiate workouts and plans to workout with fellow commit and Sumter native McLendon Sears this summer before getting to campus with the hope of seeing playing time early.
"I’m going to do my best to earn a spot hopefully opening day but if not hopefully some games to get some of the nervousness out and some of the new feelings of college baseball instead of high school baseball.”
He said he plans on working on pitch selection and working the count this summer so that he cuts down on being overly aggressive at the plate.
“On one hand that’s helped me but on the other hand I get myself out, so pitch selection and knowing what to do with that.”
Ian Jenkins, OF
He hit over .400 this year after missing most of last year with a torn ACL. He said he’s 100 percent heading into college baseball and he’s really improved his pitch selection with more at-bats.
“I think I got 88 at-bats as opposed to the two I got last year due to injury,” he said. The live at-bats really helped me get a feel for what I like and dislike.”
He said he feels better than ever with his legs and even got a little faster in the outfield after rehabbing it. He’s staying in his legs more and hitting more off-speed pitches.
He said he’s “not really focused on the draft” right now and will play for the East Cobb Yankees this summer before enrolling at South Carolina. He said he’s excited to get to campus and start his college career.
“The few times I’ve gone up there, especially for games, the atmosphere is amazing. I really love the players and there’s really are no boring games,” he said. “The stadium’s always sold out. I’m just really looking forward to playing in front of that crowd.”
Part Two will be out tomorrow.
