The Daily Gamecock

Schmidt anchors weekend rotation with lofty expectations

South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook had the enviable decision of selecting a Friday night starter from juniors Clarke Schmidt and Wil Crowe, who both received preseason All-American recognition, and sophomore Adam Hill, who was a Freshman All-American last season. 

He could also have gone with Tyler Johnson, who also has received All-American honors as a closer and represented the United States on the Collegiate National Team. Johnson is poised to finish out the ninth inning for the Gamecocks, but he did make the biggest start of the year for South Carolina in 2016, tossing a complete game with 11 strikeouts against UNC Wilmington in an elimination game. 

All four arms were ranked as top 50 players in the country in their respective classes by Perfect Game, leaving Holbrook with a difficult decision, albeit one that won't earn him much sympathy from other coaches around the SEC. 

Holbrook's final call, at least for the first weekend: Schmidt on Friday, Crowe on Saturday, and Hill on Sunday, with Johnson stashed away in the pen.

"I couldn't have gone wrong with any order that I put them in; somebody has to throw Friday and Clarke was the returning Friday night guy," Holbrook said. "Wil has been off a couple of years, so I just kind of wanted him to get the first day [off]."

Crowe previously anchored the weekend rotation for South Carolina before missing the last season and a half recovering from Tommy John surgery. 

Schmidt stepped into the lead role last season as a sophomore and finished second in the SEC with 129 strikeouts, while walking just 27 batters in 111.1 innings. 

"It's just fun getting to work with those guys everyday, those are two great pitchers — Clarke and Wil — and I just try to learn as much as I can and improve my own game," Hill said. 

The depth and talent in the Gamecocks' rotation has made them the darling of many preseason polls, a consensus top five team for 2017 by D1Baseball.com, the AP Coaches Poll, Baseball America and Perfect Game. 

The players and coaching staff seem cautiously optimistic about the preseason hype. The Gamecocks were consistently ranked in the top ten before the 2015 season, but then failed to secure a regional berth. 

"I couldn't tell you who was ranked No. 1 last year, but I bet it wasn't Coastal Carolina," said senior reliever Reed Scott. "We appreciate the people seeing us as a team that's going to be pretty good this year, but at the same time we gotta remember that it really means nothing." 

Instead the Gamecocks will look to embrace the eternally cringe-worthy sports cliche — one game, one day at a time. Fortunately for South Carolina, they will be in the advantageous position of doing it with Schmidt on Friday, Crowe on Saturday and Hill on Sunday. For now. 


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