Why committing to USC baseball was a ‘no-brainer’ for this rising JUCO pitcher
Brock Johnson technically never played high school baseball, but next spring he’ll be suiting up for the Gamecocks.
Admittedly, the word technically is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Johnson played baseball during his time in high school.
He just didn’t play high school baseball.
Johnson is a native of Powell, Wyoming, a place where the average temperature generally hovers near freezing temperatures during the first few months of the year. That, coupled with regular snowfall, doesn’t exactly scream baseball weather.
The Wyoming High School Activities Association doesn’t even sponsor baseball and only recently added softball as a sanctioned sport in 2021. The phenomenon isn’t unique to Wyoming. It’s relatively normal for states in that area of the U.S., though it may seem odd compared to how prevalent baseball is in the Southeast.
As a result, if you want to play baseball you typically have to take the American Legion route, which is exactly what Johnson did. But even then, it can still be hard to get noticed by colleges. If you want to do that you should probably play travel ball, too. But that doesn’t guarantee a shot at playing Division I baseball.
In Johnson’s case, it took all that and a stint at the junior college level to finally get his shot. And now he’s set to play SEC baseball with South Carolina in 2027.
“That in itself is just crazy,” Johnson told The State. “If you would have told me two, three years ago that was the case, I probably wouldn’t believe you. ... I think I’m more excited about it than anything. I wouldn’t say I’m nervous at all.”
Johnson found success playing Legion ball at home and traveled with a team out of Montana. At his final travel ball tournament in Arizona, the coaching staff at Central Arizona College took notice of his pitching.
“I didn’t even take a visit,” Johnson said. “I literally said yes, just through conversations with the coaches. It was kind of a gut feeling.”
Success in JUCO
Johnson made 17 appearances in his first season at the JUCO level with Central Arizona in 2025. He started 12 games and posted a 7-5 record in 63.2 innings of work. Johnson totaled 71 strikeouts in the 2025 season and had a 4.10 ERA.
The right-hander continued to improve and made a big jump in 2026. Johnson was among his conference’s leaders in several statistical categories. Some of that success was due, in part, to not being recruited by a few schools he was hoping to hear from leading into the season, Johnson said.
“I was kind of bummed, but not much I could do about it,” Johnson said. “... I was like, ‘I’m just gonna work as hard as I can over the winter, come back in the spring throwin’ some fuel and go out there and start punching dudes out.’”
He finished with an 8-2 record in 16 starts for the Vaqueros this spring. Johnson was No. 4 in the conference with a 2.96 ERA and No. 6 with 91 strikeouts on the season.
Johnson was named to the All-ACCAC First Team for his efforts and helped Central Arizona win an NJCAA regional championship win in May.
Johnson credited the experience he got in his first year with Central Arizona to helping set a strong foundation for his second season.
“I think my mental game got better as well,” Johnson said. “Just bearing down in tough situations, just being me, just pitching to the best of my ability. I think my velocity ticked up just a little bit, and then I think my stamina was also a lot better this second year. I think my stuff was just overall better.”
A shot at Divison-I
As Johnson stacked up his success in the spring, more teams took notice. One of those teams was Coastal Carolina, at the time led by Kevin Schnall. Johnson wound up committing to the Chanticleers and Schnall in March.
But come June, Schnall had been hired as the next head coach at South Carolina and he and his staff were packing their things and relocating to Columbia.
That left Johnson and other Coastal recruits in limbo for a bit.
Eventually, Coastal-turned-USC pitching coach Matt Williams called and told Johnson the Gamecocks wanted him to come with them. On June 12, Johnson flipped his commitment from Coastal Carolina to South Carolina.
Johnson said his decision to commit to South Carolina was “no-brainer,” citing the experience and history of success Schnall and Williams have.
“You look at what Kevin’s done in his career at Coastal, that in itself could draw people in,” Johnson said. “... They’re good people, and they know their stuff more than anybody I’ve ever met. Those two things combined, it’s pretty sweet.”
Johnson knows South Carolina baseball is coming off a rough stretch in the last few years. But he already takes pride in being a Gamecock and wants to be part of the reason they can get back on the winning path.
“ I can’t wait to be a part of it,” Johnson said. “I think there is a lot of pride there. Like, all right, this is the team, each one of us plays a part, let’s go freaking make a run. ... I think we’re gonna turn some heads. I don’t think any of us are here just to go play. No, I think we’re here to turn stuff around. That’s for sure.”
