South Carolina baseball coach Mark Kingston and his staff of recruiting gurus have added a lot of new faces to the program’s future classes this offseason. Players from the classes of 2024, 2025, and 2026 have made commitments to the Gamecocks over the past several months.
Seemingly the biggest point of emphasis for USC has been adding left-handed arms to the pitching staff. The Gamecocks only return one experienced lefty (Matthew Becker) for the 2024 season, but the dearth of southpaws will not be the reality moving forward.
Last week, Carolina added two junior college pitchers to the fold, and this week, a new name can be added to the growing stable of future left-handed pitchers in Columbia. On Monday, class of 2025 pitcher Cameron Appenzeller announced his commitment to the Gamecocks.
Super excited to announce that I’ll be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of South Carolina! Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way.@GamecockBasebll @PBRIllinois @Gtitansbaseball @GbaDevelopment @MaxPitchingLab pic.twitter.com/Ot8S9cw80V
— Cameron Appenzeller (@CamAppenzeller) October 16, 2023
The 6’5″ Appenzeller is very thin, but he is very projectable as a prospect. With a lot of strength still to be added to his frame, Appenzeller already throws in the mid-high 80s as a new high school junior. It is very realistic that the Illinois native will add several miles per hour to his fastball. He also throws a heavy curveball that features a lot of downward break.
Appenzeller is not quite as highly ranked as some of the other South Carolina baseball commitments, but a strong showing this summer and fall in travel baseball could see him receive a bump in the rankings. He also spends some time playing first base and corner outfield and has a swing that could develop some power as he gets stronger.
Appenzeller is the 10th commitment to the South Carolina baseball program in the ’25 cycle. He is the third left-handed pitcher in the class, joining Lexington native Brandon Cromer and Virginia Beach product Patrick Dudley. He is also the first pledge not from the southeast as every other commitment in the class is from South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, or Florida.