Gamecocks 2023 baseball commitment Xavier Pelzer: It's 'always been my dream' to play at South Carolina

Gamecock-logoed items, autographed by Jackie Bradley Jr. and Scott Wingo after the national championship in 2011, are some of Pelzer’s prized possessions and soon Pelzer will take the same field those two former players played on a decade ago.

The 2023 left-handed pitcher committed to the Gamecocks in mid-July, ending a yearlong process culminating in him choosing the favorite team from his childhood.

“Honestly just the tradition. I’ve been a gamecock fan since I can remember,” Pelzer told GamecockCentral. “It’s honestly been in me… It’s always been my dream to go there.”

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The process started last year when South Carolina began to show interest and ramped up even more once the staff was able to go out on the road and watch him pitch this summer.

They offered him and he didn’t wait long to pull the trigger on committing, locking up his spot in the class the same day in what he called a “no brainer” decision.

“Being able to play in front of my family. That was the biggest thing for me in the recruitment process. Some of the other schools I looked at were too far, and I wanted my family to come watch me play. That was honestly the biggest thing,” he said.

“Coach Kingston, that was a big reason I committed too. He really made me comfortable and knowing he was going to lead me in the right direction. When I get there he’s going to develop me and develop me as a player and a person.”

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Pelzer—listed at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds—is already throwing in the mid-to-upper 80s on his fastball entering his junior year and has seen his off-speed pitches, a changeup and slider, develop over the last year as well.

PerfectGame considers him the fourth-best prospect in South Carolina for his class and the 326th-best nationally in 2023.

“When I’m on the mound I feel like I’m the best out there and I feel like they like my confidence,” he said. “Honestly, I throw strikes. That’s my main thing. I get people out. My velo is getting up there and I’m throwing harder, getting into the upper 80s now. Being able to throw strikes, that’s my game. I keep us in the game.”

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One of his lead recruiters, Skylar Meade, is not on staff anymore since taking the head coaching job at Troy this offseason.

Kingston has since brought on Justin Parker from Indiana and while Pelzer is still a few years away from playing for him and at Founders Park, he likes what Parker is bringing to Columbia.

“I’ve done my research and saw he got four guys drafted from Indiana. He has a good history of getting pitchers to the league, and that’s all I can ask for,” “I remember coach Kingston saying he was going to get the best and that’s what he did.”

The Goings Law Firm will serve as the official sponsor of our 2021 Football Coverage. The attorneys at the Goings Law Firm are proud South Carolinians and avid Gamecock fans. The Goings Law Firm has earned a reputation as one of the preeminent litigation firms in South Carolina in the fields of personal injury, wrongful death, and workers compensation.

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