re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

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GREENVILLE - The recruiting world shook last week when left-handed pitcher John Parke (Greenville/Greenville) flipped from Clemson and signed with South Carolina. Just four days after his decision, he took the mound in a playoff game against Belton-Honea Path in front of one of his future coaches.

Recruiting coordinator Sammy Esposito made the short drive to Greenville High School to see his prized southpaw. He wasn’t the only one there to see Parke though as a dozen scouts had their radar guns out ready to clock and evaluate.

Parke pitched well but he didn’t have the most memorable of outings as his team lost 4-0 after making some mistakes that led to a four-run fifth inning. Parke allowed just four hits in the game and registered 10 strikeouts but the Red Raiders could only muster two hits in the game.

“I threw the ball pretty well tonight,” Parke said. “I came inside a few times tonight and got ground balls. The defense had a little bit of a rough night tonight but we’ve played well all season and I’m sure we’ll bounce back.”

Parke said that when he’s pitching well, he commands the outside corner to right-handed hitters. The left-hander has been as high as 91 mph this year on the radar gun but sat comfortably at 86-88 most of the night on Tuesday against the Bears.

The recruitment of Parke was a team effort for the South Carolina staff. Parke visited twice during the Kentucky weekend and Esposito visited with the Diamond Prospect Diamond Kings award candidate.

While Esposito handled the bulk of the work, it was all hands on deck, including head coach Chad Holbrook.

“It all came down to where I wanted to play baseball over the next four years,” Parke said. “It felt like family at South Carolina. Coach Holbrook did a great job of making me feel comfortable. Coach Buscher, coach Esposito and coach Meyers took me around campus and I loved the campus. I can really see myself playing there the next four years.”

In addition to the coaching staff and feeling comfortable in Columbia, the former Clemson commitment pointed to the fact that playing in the Southeastern Conference was important as well as pitching in one of the best atmospheres in college baseball.

“You play in the SEC against the best teams in the country,” Parke said. “You play against the best teams around and it’s a great atmosphere.”


Other recruiting notes


-- South Carolina will host several unofficial visitors this weekend for the Vanderbilt series. More are certainly expected to add their name to the list but some include 2013s shortstop Jordan Gore (Conway/Conway) and outfielder Gene Cone (Columbia/Spring Valley). Class of 2014 commitments include right-handed pitcher Tyler Johnson (Richmond, Va./Trinity Episcopal) and outfielder Clark Scolamiero (Greenville/Greenville). Uncommitted players expected to visit this weekend include 2013 infielder and right-handed pitcher Matt Williams (Belton/Belton-Honea Path) and 2016 right-handed pitcher Duncan Callahan.

-- Class of 2013 signee Gene Cone (Columbia/Spring Valley) has been on a tear since the playoffs started. He’s knocked a home run in three of the four games. His high school team will have to defeat Dorman twice on Wednesday night at Dorman to advance out of the district round of the playoffs.

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