Advertisement
baseball Edit

Gamecocks pick up another pitcher in 2017 class

Also see: Expectations for quarterbacks

South Carolina baseball picked up another piece for its 2017 class Wednesday when pitcher Josh Church committed via Twitter.

The righty from Ashley Ridge High School (Summerville, S.C.) was a back-to-back PerfectGame Honorable Mention in 2015 and 2016.

"Carolina was always a dream school for me to play baseball," he said over direct message. "Carolina has an outstanding reputation and the coaching staff there is incredible. Outside of baseball, the reason I chose Carolina was the great psychology program they have. I want to major in psychology and Carolina seemed like a perfect fit for all my needs."

***Subscribe to GamecockCentral.com with a premium membership***

Church was first noticed after the Palmetto Games Aug. 13-14 at Founders Park, and garnered attention from the South Carolina coaching staff. He also had an offer from the Citadel. The senior visited campus last Saturday and committed to the Gamecocks four days after.

The visit, he said, was "amazing" and he liked having his family with him to tour the facilities.

"The recruitment process was very smooth and stress free," he said. "I didn't feel any pressure to make a decision right away."

The 6-foot-2, 180 pounder had a 0.00 ERA last season in seven innings pitched while also striking out 11 batters. PerfectGame.org ranks Church the No. 30 overall 2017 prospect in the state the ninth right-handed pitcher in South Carolina.

With his commitment, South Carolina’s 2017 class now includes eight players ranked in Perfect Game’s top 30 prospects in the state. Carmen Mlodzinski (No. 2), Blake Jeter (No. 4), Mason Streater (No. 7), Jordan Holladay (No. 8), Jack Stamler (No. 9), Logan Chapman (No. 12) are also ranked that high.

Church becomes the fourteenth add to the 2017 and the seventh pitcher. He’s the third righty, joining Mlodzinksi, Chapman and Shane Roberts.

"I'm thrilled to be on campus and to play with all of them!!" he said. "They have either been my teammate or on the opposing team and it's great to finally have them all as my teammates."

Advertisement