C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
Was on vacation for a few days, but some eventful things happened along the way over the last roughly seven days.
--Josiah Sightler made a huge decision to spurn the MLB and the Reds that drafted him in the 12th round and come to school. He and the Reds were in a lot of communication throughout the process but ultimately couldn't come to a decision on terms and about three weeks ago started to lean significantly on coming to school.
Now that he's committed and in the fold, he'll likely factor in at either one of the corner outfield spots or at first base. Originally committed as a lefty pitcher, he'll have opportunities to come out and pitch but will see the majority of his action in the field. That'll be his main focus. With him in the fold, my newest projected lineup (with two options at each spot) looks like this:
C: Berryhill/Clarke
1B: Sightler/Cullen
2B: Olson/Campbell
3B: Streater/Neville
SS: Callil/Neville
LF: Campbell/Eyster
CF: Hopkins/Allen
RF: Eyster/Olson
DH: Hogan/Cullen
--This week produced three different baseball commitments: 2020 two-sport athlete Brandon Fields and 2021 catcher Cole Messina and 2019 LHP RJ Dantin.
--Fields is one of the better football and baseball products from Florida and has been on campus as recently as March. He came down for a visit for the Florida series and spent time with the baseball and football programs.
The first part was spent with Mark Kingston and Mike Current for the Friday night game and then spent Saturday with Will Muschamp and Bobby Bentley before ending with the baseball program. He was blown away by the technology in place at South Carolina's baseball facility.
He's also a three-star running back that has an offer from the staff. He's been busy with baseball this summer and hasn't visited with the coaching staff. He chose South Carolina over a few big schools like Miami, Florida and Vanderbilt for baseball.
He has some ties to the program already. He works down in the Orlando area with Carlos Cortes's father, who's an incredibly respected hitting coach in Florida. He and Cortes are really good friends off the field as well and had dinner together during his visit.
--Messina—who plays for Summerville, a program that produced TJ Hopkins, Sawyer Bridges and now signee Daniel Lloyd—isn't rated yet by PerfectGame, but he's one of the fastest up-and-comers in the state. He's the top rated catcher in the class and has developed into a solid option behind the plate with a really good power bat. I've only seen him play once but he could develop into one of the biggest pieces in the class. The staff has been out to visit him as well and watch him play during his high school season.
--Not sure on a whole lot on Dantin but I know he's teammates with Jax Cash at Spartanburg. I'll see what else I can find out.
--The staff continues to be high on 2021 RHP Ethan Salak out of St. James High School. Salak was teammates with Jacob English, who's now on campus as part of the 2018 class. Mike Current's been recruiting him and Salak is high on South Carolina. He's going to take his time with his recruitment and slow roll it. Heading into his sophomore year, he's already up to 88 mph on his fastball. The staff's been out to see him over the summer to see him pitch.
--The Palmetto Games, the state's premier showcase, is August 11-12 and will feature a bunch of commits and targets. They are:
Commits
2019
Dawson Taylor, LHP
RJ Dantin, LHP
Will McGregor, LHP
Jax Cash, C
2020
Josh Griggs, RHP
Cade Austin, RHP
Jalen Vasquez, MIF
Landon Lucas, INF/P
David Cromer, OF
2021
Cole Messina, C
Targets
Ethan Salak, RHP
Tristan Smith, LHP
Ashton Smith, LHP
Brody Hopkins, OF
Dylan Brewer, OF
TJ White, OF
--Josiah Sightler made a huge decision to spurn the MLB and the Reds that drafted him in the 12th round and come to school. He and the Reds were in a lot of communication throughout the process but ultimately couldn't come to a decision on terms and about three weeks ago started to lean significantly on coming to school.
Now that he's committed and in the fold, he'll likely factor in at either one of the corner outfield spots or at first base. Originally committed as a lefty pitcher, he'll have opportunities to come out and pitch but will see the majority of his action in the field. That'll be his main focus. With him in the fold, my newest projected lineup (with two options at each spot) looks like this:
C: Berryhill/Clarke
1B: Sightler/Cullen
2B: Olson/Campbell
3B: Streater/Neville
SS: Callil/Neville
LF: Campbell/Eyster
CF: Hopkins/Allen
RF: Eyster/Olson
DH: Hogan/Cullen
--This week produced three different baseball commitments: 2020 two-sport athlete Brandon Fields and 2021 catcher Cole Messina and 2019 LHP RJ Dantin.
--Fields is one of the better football and baseball products from Florida and has been on campus as recently as March. He came down for a visit for the Florida series and spent time with the baseball and football programs.
The first part was spent with Mark Kingston and Mike Current for the Friday night game and then spent Saturday with Will Muschamp and Bobby Bentley before ending with the baseball program. He was blown away by the technology in place at South Carolina's baseball facility.
He's also a three-star running back that has an offer from the staff. He's been busy with baseball this summer and hasn't visited with the coaching staff. He chose South Carolina over a few big schools like Miami, Florida and Vanderbilt for baseball.
He has some ties to the program already. He works down in the Orlando area with Carlos Cortes's father, who's an incredibly respected hitting coach in Florida. He and Cortes are really good friends off the field as well and had dinner together during his visit.
--Messina—who plays for Summerville, a program that produced TJ Hopkins, Sawyer Bridges and now signee Daniel Lloyd—isn't rated yet by PerfectGame, but he's one of the fastest up-and-comers in the state. He's the top rated catcher in the class and has developed into a solid option behind the plate with a really good power bat. I've only seen him play once but he could develop into one of the biggest pieces in the class. The staff has been out to visit him as well and watch him play during his high school season.
--Not sure on a whole lot on Dantin but I know he's teammates with Jax Cash at Spartanburg. I'll see what else I can find out.
--The staff continues to be high on 2021 RHP Ethan Salak out of St. James High School. Salak was teammates with Jacob English, who's now on campus as part of the 2018 class. Mike Current's been recruiting him and Salak is high on South Carolina. He's going to take his time with his recruitment and slow roll it. Heading into his sophomore year, he's already up to 88 mph on his fastball. The staff's been out to see him over the summer to see him pitch.
--The Palmetto Games, the state's premier showcase, is August 11-12 and will feature a bunch of commits and targets. They are:
Commits
2019
Dawson Taylor, LHP
RJ Dantin, LHP
Will McGregor, LHP
Jax Cash, C
2020
Josh Griggs, RHP
Cade Austin, RHP
Jalen Vasquez, MIF
Landon Lucas, INF/P
David Cromer, OF
2021
Cole Messina, C
Targets
Ethan Salak, RHP
Tristan Smith, LHP
Ashton Smith, LHP
Brody Hopkins, OF
Dylan Brewer, OF
TJ White, OF
