In a sport where prospects are committing as early as 13 or 14 years old, Dalton Wentz didn’t want to be one of those guys.

The switch-hitting, two-way play wanted to find the right fit, and he did when the Gamecocks came calling.

Wentz became one of the latest commitments in the 2024 class recently, another top 500 player in his class.

“I didn’t want to be one of those guys who committed then de-committed. I wanted to find the right place. I had gotten recruited pretty hard before that then South Carolina started recruiting me. It was the first SEC school I started talking to,” Wentz said.

“The SEC and South Carolina appealed to me big tie. That’s the closest SEC school to home and it’s a place I’ve always looked at and been in my top three. It was still a decision but it helped me out a lot.”

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Wentz committed to Mark Kingston and South Carolina earlier in October, attracted to the SEC and the “best conference in all of college sports,” he said.

Spearheaded by Chad Caillet, Wentz enjoyed the relationship he built with the Gamecocks’ new recruiting coordinator.

“He was great. He was always open, asking about my day. Our stuff wasn’t always about baseball,” Wentz said of Caillet. “He was a friend and easy to talk to. It was more of a friendship than talking to a coach and making it stressful. He made it easy for me.”

PerfectGame considers Wentz the No. 338 prospect in his class and the seventh-best prospect in Virginia.

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One of the biggest factors in deciding on South Carolina was the Gamecocks giving him the option of both playing the left side of the infield and pitching once he arrives in Columbia.

“That was one of my biggest things in playing in college. I wanted to be able to hop on the knot and pitch and be able to play the left side. For them to give me that chance, I couldn’t turn that down,” Wentz said.

“That’s always a good thing for me when you get to hop up on the knot; the game is in your hands in some sorts. You get the ball every pitch. Then being able to swing the stick and play every day is a big part for me.”

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Wentz is part of South Carolina’s 2024 class including five top 500 prospects, including four in the top 100.

He’s ready, he said, to get on campus in a few years and try to get the Gamecocks back to where they were a decade ago.

“I’m excited,” he said. “That’s my biggest thing I‘m excited to get there, play for them, compete and try to win a national championship.”

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