re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

JW went to see 2013 Commitment Reed Scott pitch on Monday night, Scott through 16 K's & of course that deserves an article, here's JW's writeup:

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ROSWELL, Ga. - The 2014 season seems to be a long way away given that South Carolina is only halfway through the conference slate this year but, glancing ahead, there are a lot of innings pitched leaving when the last ball of 2013 is thrown. Multiple players are going to have to fill the void of pitchers like Nolan Belcher, Adam Westmoreland, and Tyler Webb.

One of those pitchers coming in ready to compete is right-hander Reed Scott (Roswell, Ga./Blessed Trinity), who pitched perhaps the best game of his young baseball career on Tuesday night against Decatur High School. Given his recent outing, he's shown he can make an early impact for the Gamecocks.

Scott has made his name pitching to contact. He has a fastball with some good sink that will run in on right-handed hitters, a tight slider and a changeup. He’s a ground ball pitcher which makes Tuesday’s start even more impressive.

On his very first pitch of the game, Scott allowed a leadoff single through the left side. It was the only runner, however, he would allow until the sixth inning. He retired 16 straight hitters at one point before giving up an infield single. It was the last time a player would reach base on him in the game.

"Everything was working,” Scott said. “I was hitting my spots well. Me and my catcher were on the same page. My defense played really well and kept the pitch count low and let me pitch the whole game.”

Scott finished with a complete game shutout as Blessed Trinity blanked Decatur 8-0 over seven innings. He allowed two hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out 16 in 80 pitches of work.

Scott is a strike-thrower and didn’t go to a full count to any hitter in the game. He only went to two two-ball counts and finished off both of those hitters with a strikeout.

“I just try to work low in the zone, get ground balls, get outs and keep my pitch count low,” Scott said. “Tonight I had my strikeout pitch working and felt good.”

Scott, who signed with the Gamecocks in November, hopes to enroll this summer and get into the weight room before the fall semester when the rest of the team arrives.

Between now and then, his goal remains the same as what it was entering the season, which is to tack on more velocity to his fastball.

"I really wanted to work on my velocity,” Scott said. “That was my main concern with getting ready for college. I feel like I’ve picked up a couple of miles per hour, which is really helping me. If I can keep hitting my spots like I have been and keep my velocity up, I think I’ll be fine.”

Scott visited for the Clemson game earlier this year and hopes to get back to campus to see another game before the season is out. He hasn’t spoken to the South Carolina coaches much in recent weeks but the last time he did, the message was clear.

“They told me I could start or relieve, anything next year, which I’m excited about,” Scott said. “As long as I get to pitch next year, that’s all I really care about. It doesn’t matter where they put me.”

Scott is one of eight pitchers signed as a part of the 2013 class.

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