Gamecock baseball inks 11 in November early signing day

Corey Stone waited his whole life for this moment. The top-ranked left hander in South Carolina flashed a smile and scribbled his signature onto the letter of intent.

The Mid-Carolina pitcher like the majority of South Carolina’s 2017 class, officially signed their National Letter of Intent during the NCAA’s early signing day.

“I’m just excited to make it official and know that all that hard work in life is paying off,” Stone said.

He joined fellow Gamecocks Jordan Holladay, Tyler Mettetal, Kyle Jacobsen, Logan Chapman, Shane Roberts, McLendon Sears, Noah Campbell, Jack Stamler, Josh Church, Cam Tringali and Ian Jenkins to sign during the early period.

That makes 10 of the 16 commitments officially inked. Bryce Hulett and Mason Streater will both sign in the spring, and Jenkins signed Wednesday but will have his ceremony in April.

It’s unclear if Carmen Mlodzinski signed, and Blake Jeter did not respond when asked if he signed.

The day was full of positive emotions with years of hard work coming to fruition as players inked Division-I baseball deals. Tringali, who plays at Cardinal Newman, said signing was an “absolute dream come true. It was pretty cool to be able to share it with all those people too.”

Most of the players signed in the early afternoon, while Mettetal waited until 5 p.m. EST and Shane Roberts signing after a fall playoff game Wednesday night.

Most of the 2017 class was in town Saturday for the Missouri game for official visits where a lot of them met for the first time, walked around campus and got to meet a Gamecock baseball legend.

Boston Red Sox centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was on hand and met the commitments.

“We just a time to come closer after not knowing each other really from being all over the country,” Stone said.

Commitments signing today and in the spring will arrive on campus in fall 2017 and will be eligible for the 2018 season.