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Ethan Petry on Monte Lee, Joey Holcomb working together: 'It's like a hitting genie'

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Monte Lee and Joey Holcomb are two different types of coaches. Lee is more aggressive in his style and comes off as an old-school type of coach. Holcomb on the other hand is all business.

“Joey is more like a mellow guy. He just kind of goes out there and is about his business, tells us what to do. He challenges us a lot,” Ethan Petry said.

“Monte’s always bringing a high energy, but it’s like a good high energy where he tells us, ‘You’ve got Cole Messina hitting in the four-hole, he’s the best hitter in the country.’ And he’s yelling at us like that. It’s just great. He’s a great guy.”

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Based on this alone, you probably couldn’t picture these two ever coaching together. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Somehow, those two personalities have found a way to make it work and develop South Carolina’s hitters.

“Those minds clashing together, it’s like a hitting genie. They’re great hitting coaches, they know what they’re doing, they know how to develop young guys,” Petry said. “They’re like polar opposite energies but they just work so well together.”

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While they might not coach the same way, their job and goals are in line with one another. South Carolina had a young, promising offense in 2023. Lee did everything he could with this group and saw good results.

But now adding Holcomb, who spent the past two years at Campbell, to the equation creates for a more dynamic look. Their mission is to build off last year’s success and crank it up a notch this season.

Most of those young bats in the lineup are back this year. Gavin Casas, Cole Messina, Talmadge LeCroy, and of course, Petry, the team’s top hitter.

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Those players all have a year of experience under their belts and are considered to be the heart of this year’s lineup. But Lee and Holcomb have also been at work to get the fresh blood ready to go for the new year.

“We’ve seen so many strides by our freshmen here. Ryan Bakes, Lee Ellis, (Tyler) Zedalis, they have been making great strides,” Petry said. “It’s great to see how good they work together, and I hope they’re here for a while.”

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