Dalton Reeves seizes his moment in first start against former team
After spending two seasons at Presbyterian College, Dalton Reeves transferred to South Carolina for his final season of college baseball. And so far this year, he hasn’t seen much playing time.
Before Tuesday, Reeves had never started a game at South Carolina. But with his old team in town, Mark Kingston gave him the starting nod behind the plate at catcher.
“It was really special obviously,” Reeves said. “King texted me this morning saying, ‘Hey you’re going to go behind the plate today,’ and I jumped out of bed ready to go. It was really cool to play against some of my brothers I’ve played the last two years with.”
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Getting his first start at Founders Park was a surreal experience for the catcher. His whole career had lead up to this moment.
“It kind of hit me as I came in the dugout, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness I’m about to start in Founders Park,'” Reeves said. “So It was kind of just settle in, be in the moment, take it all in and just say this is what I have been working for my whole career and I’m finally here. I’m starting as a Gamecock.”
Related: South Carolina-Presbyterian Box Score
In his first at-bat of the night, Reeves lifted a three-run homer, his first as a Gamecock, which gave him the reassurance he needed to thrive. Coming off his bat at 107 MPH, Reeves homer traveled 390 feet over the right field wall.
“Off the bat I knew I hit it pretty well,” Reeves said. “I was sure that I put a good swing on it but I came out of the box and looked up and it was going pretty far so that was really exciting.”
In the bottom of the fourth, Reeves was explosive at the plate yet again. He hit another three-run homer, this time 387 feet over the right field fence. Just like that, he had a multi-homer game in the books.
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He finished 2-for-4 with six RBIs. He was a key contributor in South Carolina’s 19-14 win over the Blue Hose on Tuesday.
Since coming to South Carolina, Reeves has grown and developed his game. While he hasn’t played much, he’s been learning a lot from watching on and staying ready.
“We are so prepared with everything we do, there are so many different things that we work on day in and day out. Preparation is really unmatched from anywhere I have been,” Reeves said. “Our coaching staff is legit so I feel like I definitely really grown from when I got here. Im a completely different ball player from when I showed up here.”
His positive attitude and improvements made the decision to start him easy for Kingston.
“Reeves had been doing really good in practice, has had a great attitude, we were playing his former team. Just though it was the right move and he took advantage of it,” Kingston said.
