South Carolina Baseball: Multiple Gamecocks receive postseason honors
By Kevin Miller
![SEC commissioner Greg Sankey signed a contract extension to keep him as the head of the league through 2028. Syndication/Tuscaloosa News. Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fa207913d2846b63a19184aadf50a16a1d4dce7607a07f9ced7b33e0d161c916d.jpg "SEC commissioner Greg Sankey signed a contract extension to keep him as the head of the league through 2028. Syndication/Tuscaloosa News. Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]")
The last month of South Carolina baseball has put a damper on what was a tremendous season through the first 40 games. The Gamecocks are 4-11 over their last 15 contests, including losing four straight SEC series and two mid-week games. However, thanks to a tremendous start to the season, the YardCocks still have a solid resume that has them “on the bubble” of being a regional host. The SEC Tournament could go a long way in deciding the backend of the top-16 as Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama are all somewhat on the regional host bubble.
Even with the recent disappointments, the South Carolina baseball team has had a strong statistical season up to this point, and because of that, several Gamecocks have made their way to award lists and postseason honors. Ethan Petry won multiple SEC Freshman of the Week awards, Noah Hall (now injured) won two SEC Pitcher of the Week trophies, and Gavin Casas found his way (along with Petry) onto the mid-season Golden Spikes Award watch list.
On Monday, the SEC office announced the 2023 SEC Baseball regular season awards.
As expected, no Gamecocks were awarded the major awards of Conference Player of the Year, Conference Pitcher of the Year, or Conference Freshman of the Year. Ethan Petry was in the running for Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, but as his team slumped, so did he. LSU’s Dylan Crews and Georgia’s Charlie Condon (a redshirt freshman) took home the hardware for SEC Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year, respectively.
LSU’s Paul Skenes won the SEC Pitcher of the Year award, Alabama’s Andrew Pinckney and Georgia’s Ben Anderson split the SEC Scholar-Athlete award, and Arkansas head coach Dave van Horn was voted the SEC Coach of the Year.
Two Gamecocks were selected as first-team All-SEC performers for the 2023 season. Outfielder Ethan Petry and catcher Cole Messina were chosen as the best of the best at their positions this year. Petry was also placed on the Freshman All-SEC team, as well. There were no South Carolina baseball representatives on the second-team All-SEC squad or on the All-Defensive team. No other Gamecocks saw their names on any of the conference’s award lists.
It is worth noting that second baseman Will McGillis, shortstop Braylen Wimmer, first baseman Gavin Casas, and starting pitcher Noah Hall were all on pace to make at least one All-SEC team before each missing time with injuries. Center fielder Evan Stone belongs on the All-Defensive team but started fewer games and played less innings than all four outfielders selected, so that may have been held against him.
The Gamecocks are scheduled to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the first round of the SEC Tournament at 10:30 on Tuesday on the SECNetwork.