Columbia, S.C. - Several Gamecock baseball players have put their professional baseballcareers on hold for the present time and are returning to SouthCarolina for another season. Juniors
Sam Dyson and
Parker Bangs and senior
Nick Ebertdid not sign professional contracts by the designated MLB deadline andwill don the Garnet & Black for the 2010 season. In addition,Gamecock signees Adrian Morales, Colby Holmes and Christian Walker havechosen college instead of professional baseball and will enter theirfirst season at South Carolina.
Dyson had been selected in the 10th round of the 2009 MLB Draft bythe Oakland A's with Ebert chosen in the 32nd round by the New YorkYankees and Bangs in the 46th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Morales,a junior college infielder out of Miami Dade CC, was a 45th roundchoice by the Houston Astros, Holmes, a right-handed pitcher fromConway, S.C., was drafted in the 47th round by the Atlanta Braves andWalker a first baseman/third baseman from Limerick Pa., was a 49thround choice by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dyson was a frontline starter for Carolina in the 2009 seasonand compiled a 9-4 record with a 5.21 ERA and hurled a team-high 102innings. He struck out 94 and walked 37. He allowed 64 runs, 59 earnedon 92 hits as well. In his two-year career, Dyson owns a 17-4 recordand has 138 strikeouts in 152.2 innings pitched.
Dyson's nine victories along with senior right-handed pitcher Blake Cooper's(9-4, 4.50 ERA) nine wins last year is tied for the second highesttotal of victories returning by an individual player in the SEC. Bothpitchers along with sophomore left-hander Nolan Belchergive the Gamecocks its entire weekend rotation back for the 2010season. 30 of 40 victories from last year's staff return to Columbiathis season.
Ebert earned second-team All-SEC honors last year at first baseand hit a team-leading 23 HR with 72 RBI. Ebert finished with a .321batting average (67-for-209) and also compiled 13 doubles. He had a.468 on-base percentage and a .713 slugging percentage. Ebert's 23homers tied for the second highest single-season total in Carolinahistory and is tied for the second highest total by a player in thecountry that is returning to college.
Ebert returns to the lineup along with four other position starters: Sophomore outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. (.349-11-46) junior outfielder Whit Merrifield (.340-11-49), senior shortstop Bobby Haney (.291-4-30) and junior second baseman
Scott Wingo (.196-5-17). Designated hitter/right-handed pitcher Parker Bangs (.328-5-36) also returns along with sophomore outfielder Adam Matthews (.290-5-11), who came on late in the season to start in left field as well as senior catcher Kyle Enders(.261-3-9), who saw time behind the plate. The Gamecocks return 69total home runs from last year with five position starters back aswell.
Bangs served as a two-way player last season and hit.328 (39-for-119) in 40 games with five HR and 36 RBI. He also made 15appearances on the mound and was 3-2 with a 5.88 ERA and struck out 39batters in 33.2 innings pitched. Bangs played this summer in the CapeCod Baseball League with the Chatham Anglers along with teammate Whit Merrifield.
Morales was a second-team 2009 All-Southern Conference recipient in theFCCAA along with a 2008 NJCAA All-Gulf District honoree at Miami-DadeCC. Holmes was a two-time South Carolina AAAA All-State team selectionand was rated the No. 5 best high school player in the state of SouthCarolina by Diamond Prospects. He finished the 2009 season with an 8-3record and a 0.70 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 69.2 innings pitched.Holmes also was rated by Baseball America as the No. 9 best high schoolprospect at the 2009 Under Armour Preseason Tournament. Walker hit .588his senior season and was named to the 2009 Philadelphia InquirerAll-S.E.
Pennsylvania team. He also won the 2009 International PowerShowcase High School Home Run Derby at Tropicana Field in Tampa, Fla.and was rated the No. 1 best high school player in the state ofPennsylvania by PG Crosschecker.
South Carolina owns the longest current streak of NCAA Regionalappearances among the 12 SEC schools with 10 straight trips to thetournament dating back to the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina hasseven NCAA Super Regional appearances (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,2006, 2007) and three trips to the College World Series (2002, 2003,2004). South Carolina is one of only seven schools in the nation tomake at least seven NCAA Super Regionals in the last 10 years and oneof only eight schools in the country to have reached the NCAA Regionalsevery season in this decade. The program's 10-year total record of468-201 is the fourth highest win total among NCAA Division I schools.
