Swansea pitcher commits to Gamecocks

Swansea’s Josiah Sightler got an early birthday present Saturday.

Sightler, who will turn 16 on Monday, made a verbal commitment to play baseball at South Carolina. The sophomore pitcher made his commitment while taking in a Gamecocks scrimmage over the weekend.

“I’m really pumped,” Sightler said. “South Carolina has such a great baseball program and it is 30 minutes away. So, it was pretty much a no-brainer.”

Sightler, who is 6-foot-3 and 183 pounds, went 4-1 last season with a 2.10 ERA as a both a starter and reliever. Sightler’s fastball topped out at 91 mph during a travel ball tournament this summer.

Sightler is third Gamecocks commitment for the Class of 2018, joining Charlie Welch of Northside Christian in Florida and Northwestern’s John Gilreath.

He is the second player from the Midlands to commit to USC. Dutch Fork’s T.J. Shook (Class of 2016) committed over the summer.