South Carolina baseball received a commitment on Sunday from Cole Greer (Berkeley High School in Moncks Corner). This could be a big deal for the program, not just because of what Greer can provide as a right-handed pitcher who has improved significantly over the years, but also because of what his commitment could be symbolizing within the program’s direction.
South Carolina baseball was at its best when in-state pitching talent stayed home to play for the Gamecocks.
The 2010-2012 run of three straight national championship appearances (and two College World Series trophies) saw a South Carolina baseball roster loaded with talent from the Palmetto State, especially when one focused on the pitching staff.
Michael Roth (Riverside High School in Greenville), Blake Cooper (Edisto High School in Cordova), Jordan Montgomery (Sumter High School), Matt Price (Sumter High School), John Taylor (Wilson High School in Florence), Colby Holmes (Conway High School), Patrick Sullivan (AC Flora High School in Columbia), Adam Westmoreland (Brookland-Cayce High School), Forrest Koumas (Lugoff-Elgin High School), and Steven Neff (Lancaster High School) all were South Carolina kids who were major pitching contributors in those years.
The Gamecocks have gotten away from this model in recent years. The 2023 USC pitching staff only had Matthew Becker (Chapin High School) and Chris Veach (Chapin High School) as major contributors from in-state. Roman Kimball, though from out of state, pitched at P27 Academy in Lexington before going to Notre Dame and then transferring to USC and sitting out with injury.
This trend could be changing, however. With in-state recruiting aficionados on the coaching staff like Mark Kingston and Matt Williams, playing for the Gamecocks could become the popular thing to do once again for in-state talent.
In the 2023 recruiting class, the Gamecocks are bringing in four pitchers from the state with Jake McCoy (Catawba Ridge High School in Fort Mill), Reese Marcum (Lexington High School), K. Xavier Pelzer (Legion Collegiate Academy in Rock Hill), and Grant Loggins (AC Flora High School in Columbia) all signing with Carolina.
The 2024 class, in addition to Greer, is also adding Carson Messina (Summerville High School), Brady Jones (Gaffney High School), Cade Pilgrim (Clover High School), and Peyton Rogers (West Florence High School).
The 2025 class, though still a little further away, has three in-state pitcher commitments. David Cromer, Jr. (Lexington High School), Teddy Garner (JL Mann High School in Simpsonville), and Daniel Parker (P27 Academy in Lexington) are all early pledges to South Carolina baseball.
Greer is a right-handed pitching prospect who has a 90-mph fastball and two breaking balls (a curveball and a slider) that can fall off the table when they are working well. He has also proven the ability to perform in big moments, throwing a complete game shutout to beat Lexington High School in the state championship.