Talmadge LeCroy saw more than anyone last year.

He was the only member of South Carolina baseball’s 2024 roster to play in all 62 games, and started 60 of them. He saw action at both shortstop and third base. He adjusted to a new position in the batting order seemingly every week, hitting in six different spots by the end of the season.

And yes, he saw everything online.

LeCroy was far from the only Gamecock who struggled mightily down the stretch last spring, but became something of a punching bag for frustrated fans online as he struggled defensively in particular. He committed three errors in the postseason, two in Hoover and one in the Raleigh Regional.

This was a sharp decline for a player who was a key part of South Carolina’s Super Regional team his sophomore year.

In a calendar year, he went from a player who won the the Tom Price Award — given to the Most Valuable Player of the Clemson series — and had five RBIs in a regional-clinching win to an angry fanbase’s scapegoat.

There was no denying how bad the errors were, or that his plate production dipped nearly 50 points in batting average and 90 in slugging percentage.

He could have transferred out to get a fresh start, but decided to achieve the same goal in another way. The Belton, S.C. native is back for his senior season, an opportunity to flip the script and exit Columbia on a better note.

“It was a lot last year,” LeCroy told GamecockScoop. “But at the end of the day, the people I trust are the people around the program and the coaches who trust in me as well.”

Nobody believes in him more than Paul Mainieri.

When Mainieri accepted the South Carolina job, catcher was the glaring hole on the roster. Cole Messina and Dalton Reeves were gone, emptying out the depth chart. Sophomore Ryan Bakes was back, and true freshman Gavin Braland maintained his commitment. But even after Texas A&M backup catcher Max Kaufer transferred in, Mainieri still felt the position was light.

LeCroy, initially a catcher in 2022 before moving to infield, gave him a potential solution on the roster.

“One day I was talking to him and he was telling me he caught as a freshman,” Mainieri said. “He was all gung ho for the idea. He really wanted to go back to catching.”

He went up to the Cape Cod Baseball League. Not as a third baseman, but a catcher. He slowly got back into the swing of things, of course with Mainieri taking the trip up to Massachusetts to watch him behind the plate.

Throw in a six-week fall baseball circuit behind the plate, more winter work and the preseason scrimmages, and he is ready to take the mantle as South Carolina’s backstop.

Of course, there is still trepidation; Mainieri himself admitted he still has concerns about the catcher position. Any time someone is transitioning to a position like catcher, you never really know until the games start.

“It’s been good,” LeCroy said about the move. “He [Mainieri] felt like it was the best move for the team putting me behind the plate, and I felt like it was the best move for myself.”

But more than anything, this was a vote of confidence a player severely lacking it last June needed. Pitchers aren’t on the mound every day, and position players wait for the ball to get hit in their direction.

There is nowhere to hide at catcher. The starting catcher is an integral part of every pitch, a key strand of the DNA of any team. You only have to look as far as Messina’s impact last season to see how often a catcher exemplifies the identity of a team.

Mainieri is entrusting the role to someone most Gamecock fans wanted to run out of town.

“My main focus is this team,” Mainieri said. “Any of the outside noise, who are they to say I’m not a good player? We’re putting in the work. It’s going to be a good year.”

Everybody gets a fresh start on Opening Day.

Nobody has looked forward to it more than LeCroy.

*******************************************************************************************

Looking to continue the conversation? Join us on the insider's forum to talk all things South Carolina baseball