South Carolina was down a few pitchers in the fall—including their two frontline arms in Will Sanders and Julian Bosnic—but that didn’t stop Justin Parker from seeing the progress he wanted to from this group.

With a handful of arms not throwing in fall scrimmages, Parker got to see some of the Gamecocks’ young arms on the mound and thought the entire group made progress now entering the preseason.

“I don’t expect us to be a finished product on February whatever when we start. I expect this group to continue to grow and develop throughout the winter and spring and ultimately be at our best down the stretch,” Parker told GamecockCentral.

“That was a table set and I thought the foundation for that was set in the fall. All the things we worked on and I spent time with I saw significant understanding of and application of in those things.”

Parker came into a unique situation, coming into the fall in his first season with the Gamecocks with arms he hadn’t recruited and didn’t know where they were in their throwing programs.

He spent a lot of time, he said, teaching and trying to go over some of the core principles of how he manages a staff and thought the pitchers made headway there.

“They’re coachable, good leadership. There’s no one voice stronger than any others but there’s a collection of six or seven upperclassmen that really do a nice job of commanding the room with the younger guys,” he said. “That, to me, is what culture is. It’s not just everyone enjoying being around each other but it’s truly an environment where you like going to work with and you can learn from each other.”

The Gamecocks also got to see what a few of their transfers and young arms could do—Aidan Hunter, Cade Austin, two-way player Michael Braswell, James Hicks, Noah Hall before he was shut down, Michael Esposito—and see how they pair with a handful of returners.

What he liked about the group as a whole was a maturity about them regardless of age.

“I think this staff, one, there’s a lot of experience. Even a lot of the transfers are mature. I think there’s a lot of adults, a lot of maturity and a lot of experience. It’s a tough group, a competitive group, a really hard-working group,” Parker said. “That was the thing that stuck out to me first and foremost. They’re very attentive and a learning group. They wanted the information.”

The Gamecocks begin small group work soon and will start scrimmages later in January as the final gear up before the season begins.

Parker knows this staff won’t be a finished product by any means on opening day against UNC Greensboro but likes where they are right now from an information standpoint and now it’s about applying it.

“The first part is learning of it and the last part is the application. We’re still somewhere in between as a group. I harped on that quite a bit this fall in understanding that let this adversity drive your growth, drive your development and your process,” Parker said. “We’re hoping those guys come out of this thing and do all take the next step and become the best version of themselves they’ve been.”

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