SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL

South Carolina’s freshman class has officially arrived on campus this summer with eight freshmen either on campus or expected before school starts in August.

Before fall ball starts, GamecockCentral is profiling each freshman by talking to someone who knows them best in their high school coach.

We caught up catcher Colin Burgess's head coach at Tate's Creek (Ky.) Larry Poynter, who talked about Burgess's defensive ability, mentality and the potential for him to play early.

What’s Burgess’s game like?

LP: “He’s a dynamic player behind the plate. He’s got a sub-two pop time, very heady as far as how he handles the game. Offensively, he can spray the ball to different parts of the park and can hit for power when he needs to.”

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What makes him a good defensive catcher?

LP: “For us he started for four years, and as he’s moved on through his career, I’ve put more and more responsibility on him as far as calling pitches and defenses and giving him the leeway to change things as he sees might work better. That all happened in the four years of him maturing and learning what I was looking for. He does a good job communicating with pitchers. He knows when to get on them, when to calm them. As far as his ability and arm strength, it helps a pitcher when he knows he doesn’t have to throw it so fast because he has a guy that can throw a guy out.”

Is calling pitching something unique to just him?

LP: “It’s something generally working together for four years in his high school career. It wasn’t one of those things where I said, ‘You know what, call some pitches.’ it was something where I felt comfortable and I want to see how he would call it. we did it mostly through the first part of the year. Then at times I would throw my hands up but I’d point at him and say, ‘you got it.’ It was one of those where there was a trust factor knowing him for four years. by the time he got to be a senior, he was very comfortable with it. he knew even if he made a bad call he’d be OK. I learned from him how much he has developed his baseball IQ over his four years.”

How does he profile as a hitter?

LP: “Colin’s a kid at the high school level where we weren’t facing dominant arms every day. he took some swings here he probably won’t take at the next level. He’s a kid who can base hit you to death with singles and doubles but if he gets a good pitch and recognizes it early, can leave the park. I think he ended up with seven or nine homers this year with two or three walk-offs. The game’s on the line and this kid steps up and walks it off with a home run. He did it twice, and once in the playoffs. We were down three and he steps up and hits a grand slam to put us up a run. He thrives in those opportunities where he feels his back is against the wall, the team’s back is against the wall. That’s when he steps up in his biggest moments.”

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How was that mental edge help him at the college level?

LP: “I think with every guy that comes in to South Carolina, they have some swag. They’ve all been successful at the levels they’ve played at. Colin’s the same way in knowing he’s a good player; he’s got some swag to his game. I think he plays for a summer league organization out of Cincinnati and faces top-line pitching every single day so the transition won’t be as big for him. there’s still going to be some but I don’t think it’ll be as huge as it’ll be for some other guys. He doesn’t lack for confidence but he’s humble. He knows he still has work to do and he has to earn his place there. he’s going up against really talented players not only at South Carolina but in the SEC. he has a confidence to him where he thinks he’ll succeed.”

Can that confidence help him play early at South Carolina?

“I know in conversations with him, that’s his mindset. He wants to go in and make an impact right away. He doesn’t feel like he’s going to have to take a back seat to anyone. He’s going in to put his best foot forward. If he gets playing time his first year, great and if not he’ll get it next year."

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What's the next step in his game?

LP: “With Colin, a lot of it will be about getting stronger. He’s a kid who’s not very tall. It’s amazing how much leverage he can put on a baseball as short and stocky he is. As he gains maturity and gets in the weight room at South Carolina I think his game will take off even more, especially his power numbers as far as hitting the ball in the gaps.

"I think he can always get faster but he’s a catcher. He’s not going to burn up the bases. That’s something he can definitely work on. He’ll get used to working at the college level. It’s different at that level…it’s just getting comfortable working at that level.”