With spring canceled and fall uncertain, Gamecocks going all in on summer baseball
Standing on the grass at Lexington County Baseball Stadium, Brady Allen can’t pretend to know the future and isn’t too hung up on the past.
The South Carolina baseball outfielder was supposed to be in Massachusetts right around now, playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League alongside a large contingent of his Gamecock teammates.
The coronavirus pandemic canceled that season, just like it brought an abrupt end to the Gamecocks’ 2020 spring season, and it may yet threaten fall practices for college programs.
In the meantime, Allen and fellow Gamecocks Wes Clarke, Brennan Milone, Brett Kerry, Andrew Peters and Will Sanders have gotten back on the field with the Lexington County Blowfish, as part of the Coastal Plain League. All told, 11 returners and three newcomers are in collegiate summer leagues across the country. And the opportunity to play real games again has been a boon.
“Who knows how much time we’re gonna have to practice (in the fall) and stuff like that, so just taking advantage of this and working on some things and getting used to it is a real big help,” Allen said.
Like Allen, Clarke said he’s trying not to worry too much about how the fall and spring seasons will look, though he does have some optimism.
“The only thing that we can control is, be as prepared as we can to play,” Clarke said. “Because they can always cancel it and we were prepared, but if it happens and we aren’t prepared, then that’s really bad.”
Both Clarke and Allen were off to impressive starts at USC in 2020, their sophomore campaigns — Clarke had eight home runs in 16 games, tops in the SEC, and a .714 slugging percentage. Allen was leading the team in batting average at .327.
“It is what it is. Everything happens for a reason,” Allen said of losing that hot start. “And I’m just really excited to come back to that team, because a lot of us are returning and we’re all hungry and ready for the season. It’s gonna be exciting.”
Now, he and the rest of South Carolina’s position players are more focused on getting back up to speed after more than three months away from the game.
“Pitchers are ahead of hitters when the season first starts, so it just takes some time,” Clarke said. “It’s different for everyone ... I’ve been hitting all right but definitely not where I should be, so I think I’m still just getting it back.”
Despite his assessment, Clarke is still hitting .412 in 11 games and pasted a massive two-run home run this past Saturday for his first long ball of the summer. While he was home after the season was canceled, he was able to get in a little bit of work with friends who play in college and the pros.
Meanwhile, Milone has shined after breaking into the Gamecock starting lineup as a freshman. With six home runs and 19 RBIs in 12 games, he’s drawn praise from D1Baseball.com editor Aaron Fitt.
“Literally, I don’t remember the last time that I went three or four months without playing baseball, so it’s definitely taken longer to get back in the swing of things,” Milone said. “But it’s getting very close.”
Allen has put up strong numbers as well; He’s 16-for-43 at the plate in 12 games, with four doubles, 12 RBIs and 15 walks. While he was home, his workouts including lifting buckets full of rocks — and trips to a friend’s house with a batting cage in the backyard to get some swings in.
Improvising has been the theme of the summer — the Coastal Plain League has limited travel because of the coronavirus, meaning the Blowfish can only face two other league opponents. So the schedule has been supplemented with other squads outside of the CPL, including the Lake Murray Purple Martins and the Bomb Island Bombers.
While the slate might not have the prestige and national notoriety that a summer on the Cape would provide, Allen said the experience has challenged and improved his game.
“The competition here is still unreal as I’ve heard up in Cape Cod,” Allen said. “I mean, there’s really good pitchers still here from Savannah and Macon and teams like this that pick up, so there’s still really good competition, so that’s good.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2020 at 5:15 AM.
