Growing up, Joe Satterfield and his family made the drive out to Omaha and the College World Series twice to watch the Gamecocks play, including in 2011 to watch his favorite college team win a national championship.
Now Satterfield is hoping to be a part of the next South Carolina team to make the College World Series as the latest grad transfer.
“I had that love for South Carolina since I was a little kid,” Satterfield told GamecockCentral. “As long as I can remember I’ve been in garnet and black. It’s kind of a dream come true.”
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The son of two South Carolina alums who grew up in the state it was hard for Satterfield not to grow up at Gamecock fan.
But, coming out of J.L. Mann High School with the 2016 class, he went to Elon and spent four years there before putting his name in the transfer portal after getting another year of eligibility after the 2020 season was canceled because of Coronavirus.
It wasn’t long after when the Gamecocks came calling and when they did it was a “slam dunk” to commit to South Carolina for his final year of eligibility and to go to grad school, which he officially did Friday night.
“Leaving Elon was the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my career. I had such a great relationship up there with those guys. It was more than a team, more than a school I was going to. It was a family,” Satterfield said.
“I wanted to go somewhere where I had passion for it. I want to love the team and wanted to win not only for my teammates and myself but also for the fans and the program. South Carolina, it worked out academically to get my MBA there and they’re going to give me a chance to play baseball. It was an easy decision for me.”
And the Gamecocks are getting a versatile infielder who has a refined offensive game the developed the last few seasons at Elon.
He’s a first-team CAA player in 2019, his last full season, slashing .325/.438/.476 with four homers and 53 RBI. Playing first, second and third base, he started 160 games over four seasons—three full and one partial season—and had a career .291 average.
The Gamecocks like his mature bat and his position versatility and hoping to have that make an impact next season.
“I handle the bat well. I think I have a really good approach at the plate. I work really hard not only on my swing but I work hard on the mental side of the game with reading pitchers and figuring out the little things that could help you out throughout a game. Until you’ve been around for a while it’s hard to grasp that,” he said. “They felt confident that was the type of player I’m going to be every day.”
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Satterfield begins online classes over the next few weeks and will get to Columbia as soon as he’s allowed to get down.
Once he gets down, it’s full steam ahead getting ready for the 2021 season playing for his dream school.
“I just have a lot of pride in putting that jersey on. I can’t wait to see my parents after that first game. I’m sure there will be a lot of nerves,” he said. “Playing for my family and friends who are South Carolina fans and getting to experience South Carolina fans on my side now. Getting to play in front of playing what’s my favorite fan base in the world. I just hope we go out there and make them proud and play hard every day.”
