USC baseball notebook: Plenty of position battles to be decided in scrimmages – The State

South Carolina has less than three weeks until its opener against Albany on Feb. 19, and coach Chad Holbrook might take that long to decide on an Opening Day roster.

Holbrook said Friday there are currently 14 position players battling for nine spots, and he’ll make a decision on who starts in the opener based on scrimmages and practices leading up to the start of the season.

“We’ve got some difficult decisions to make. We’ve got some competitions going on out there between some pretty good players. Obviously, we’re looking forward to watching them perform,” Holbrook said. “We’ll put them in situations in which it will help our coaches make some very important decisions that we have to make prior to Opening Day.”

The middle of the lineup will likely consist of JUCO transfer Dom Thompson-Williams batting third and sophomore Alex Destino batting fourth, but other than that, not a lot is known at this point.

“I don’t have a timetable,” Holbrook said. “Four o’clock on Feb. 19, that’s my timetable. There’s a lot of opportunities for these guys. I’ve got 14 position players and there are only a couple that have separated themselves. Everybody else is bundled up in there, not much separation.”

PITCHING ROLES TO BE DETERMINED

Sophomore Clarke Schmidt is penciled in as the Friday starter, and freshman Braden Webb is also a strong candidate to start on the weekend. Otherwise, not a lot has been decided about roles on the pitching staff.

Josh Reagan, Adam Hill, Taylor Widener and Reed Scott are pitchers that could see plenty of action, but it remains to be seen if they will be starters or come out of the bullpen.

Holbrook likes USC’s pitching staff. He just has to figure out the right roles for everyone.

“The good news is, with the number of pitchers and the depth that we have, I feel good about the talent,” he said. “It’s not like I’m trying to hide someone. I feel like I’ve got to put a talented kid in a role that both fits him and our team. That’s a lot easier than having a pitching staff that lacks depth. I think I have a pitching staff that has great depth.”

VIDEO: Brandon McIlwain debuts for South Carolina baseball

South Carolina two-sport athlete Brandon McIlwain gets an RBI on sacrifice fly for the Gamecocks’ first run of the preseason. Head coach Chad Holbrook discusses expectations for the talented freshman.

NO-MAHA

No players on South Carolina’s team have played in the College World Series, which is a big change after the Gamecocks won two national titles and played for a third from 2010-12.

“I don’t think one player on our roster has been to the College World Series. Hopefully, we can change that here in a few months,” Holbrook said. “It’s both scary and exciting. A lot of these kids understand the expectations that are before them at the University of South Carolina. That’s one of the reasons that they came here.”

2015 TOUGH ON HOLBROOK

Holbrook admitted that last season was difficult as the Gamecocks failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999.

“It wasn’t much fun. I’ve been in coaching pretty much all my life, even when I observed my father coaching, so I know everything doesn’t always go according to plan,” he said. “What I went through wasn’t any fun, and I wanted to fix it. I don’t want to go through it again. … As the leader of the program, it’s my responsibility to fix it and correct it, and hopefully we have.”