SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL

South Carolina’s 2020 class is near completion, which means the staff can focus a lot on the next two or three classes.

They have, and picked up a big piece in that the other week in 2021 right-handed pitcher Elijah Jones, who’s a top 500 prospect in the 2021 class.

“He’s been a varsity player since he was a freshman,” his high school coach Brent Moseley said. “He also plays first for us, but pitching wise he’s exceptional. He was my number one as a tenth grader last year and we went 29-6. Y’all are going to be very pleased.”

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Jones committed in late September after receiving attention from the Gamecock coaching staff the last few months.

He plays in the field but he’ll be a pitcher at the next level, and has the potential to be a good one.

Moseley, who’s coached Jones for the last few years at Starrs Mill (Ga.), says he has the ability to get into the mid-90s on his fastball before he even gets to South Carolina and once he gets on campus can compete for big innings.

“I believe he’ll be a weekend starter,” he said. “I don’t know where that falls but I believe before he leaves here he’ll touch 94 or 95. He’s getting stronger and we lift all the time. There are some mechanic things that can help him, especially once coach (Skylar) Meade gets to him. I think he’ll be a mid-90s guy possibly before he leaves us.”

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Right now, PerfectGame has Jones as the No. 260 right-handed pitcher in the 2021 class and the No. 67 overall prospect out of Georgia. His fastball’s been clocked at 89 mph this summer, which is in the 97 percentile for the 2021 class.

It’s his delivery Moseley enjoys so much and is one of the reasons he thinks Jones could add velocity easily.

“He pitches off a fastball. Last year he would touch 88 (mph) last year and probably pitched around 85 or 86. He’s really fluid,” he said. “It’s really easy. It looks like he’s pitching with no effort. Now he’s up sitting 89 to 90 and the same thing. He’s not a max effort guy. It looks like he just flips it and it explodes.”

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Jones is the ninth commitment in the 2021 class and the second right-hander, joining Caleb Gampe.

The players in that class still have two years before they get on campus, which gives them a little more time in high school to continue their development.

Moseley said it might be difficult for Jones to improve more than he has so far in his career, but did mention the next step for his game is to begin overwhelming the better opponents he faces.

“It’s hard to improve on what he’s been doing,” he said. “I think just really be able to dominate the top five or six teams we play in the playoffs, which I think is going to happen. As a sophomore, he still really pitched well but I think the next two years be able (to do that). HE can improve on location to be able to pitch inside when he throws as hard as he does. If he can run stuff inside and control that inside corner, then people are really going to have a hard time.”