Saiko hopes for another championship

Graham Saiko is thrilled to be joining a college baseball program with a championship history. As he prepares to begin his USC career, the junior college transfer brings a championship pedigree of his own.

Saiko helped lead the Columbia Blowfish to their first Coastal Plain League championship with series victories against Wilmington, Edenton and Fayetteville.

A 6-foot, 185-pound infielder, Saiko put together a solid season in the summer collegiate league at Capital City Stadium. After batting .407 with three homers and seven RBIs in the seven playoff games, of which the Blowfish won six, the third baseman finished the season as the team leader in several categories with a .306 batting average, 40 runs, seven homers, 31 RBIs and 21 stolen bases.

He’s ready to make the transition to Carolina Stadium.

“I don’t know how you turn down an opportunity to come play for a program like South Carolina,” Saiko said. “You look at their back-to-back national championships, their prestige, and their baseball field. You’re not going to see any better baseball facilities in the country. The coaches are all great people. The city of Columbia is awesome.”

By spending the summer in Columbia — and rooming with current USC third baseman LB Dantzler — he got acclimated to the area. The Newburgh, Ind., native began his college career at Oklahoma State but transferred after playing sparingly over two seasons.

He got a fresh start last season at Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College, where he batted .342 with one homer, 43 RBIs and 20 stolen bases as the team’s everyday shortstop.

“They helped me a lot as an infielder and gave me an opportunity to play some of the best junior college baseball in the state of Florida,” Saiko said.

USC’s new head coach Chad Holbrook, then the team’s recruiting coordinator, watched Saiko during a JUCO showcase event last fall and liked what he saw. An offer to play for the Gamecocks followed in the spring.

As a tune-up for joining the USC program, he landed for the summer with a Blowfish team coached by Brian Buscher, the former major leaguer who starred for the Gamecocks in 2002-03 and served as a student assistant coach in 2011. Buscher, who’s expected to rejoin the USC staff as the volunteer assistant coach, watched as Saiko established himself as a fixture in the Blowfish lineup.

“He’s got pretty good hands and a pretty good arm,” Buscher said. “At the plate, he has a very good approach. He can hit for power, he has a very good idea of the (strike) zone, and he can hit balls to both sides of the field. He doesn’t let a pitcher and an umpire change his approach. He sticks with it. It has worked very well for him this summer.”

Buscher, a former third baseman, said Saiko has the arm to play shortstop at the collegiate level but adds that he still needs work on balls hit to his right.

With Dantzler returning at third base and Joey Pankake back at shortstop, it’s not certain where Saiko best fits. There’s a possibility that Danztler could move to first and Pankake could be called on to pitch at relief, which would open up time at short.

Saiko also could battle returnee Chase Vergason and freshman Max Schrock at second base. He doesn’t care where he plays as long as he gets a chance to win a job.

“That gives you more opportunities to get on the field. Honestly, at a program like South Carolina, anywhere I can get on the field and play, I’d be willing to do anything,” Saiko said. “Naturally, I’m more of an up-the-middle kind of guy, shortstop or second baseman. That’s where I’ve played most of my life. I’ve played third here this summer for the first time, and it’s been a little bit different. But it’s good to learn to play all the positions.”

Saiko, who credited Buscher for helping him become a better all-around infielder, said he knows the competition can be intense in fall practice as the roster is whittled to 35 players.

“You have to go out and produce in the fall. The coaches are going to play the best players no matter who it is, whether you’re a JUCO (player) or a freshman,” he said. “Coach Holbrook is going to play the best nine guys, and I’m going to try to win a job wherever I can.”

Even though he will not get the opportunity to play for the legendary Ray Tanner, who moved into the athletics director’s job, Saiko likes that the man who recruited him is now the head coach.

“Coach Holbrook’s going to do a great job,” he said.

Just like Saiko did for the Blowfish.

“I’ve had a pretty good summer. I’m pretty happy.”

This story was originally published August 15, 2012 at 12:00 AM.