How Gamecocks are performing in summer baseball league action: July 21 update

Summer collegiate baseball league action continues to roll on and enters the home stretch of their seasons. Only a few Gamecocks are still actively playing with as many as a dozen players seeing action this summer.

South Carolina is currently represented in three different leagues by four players. Two are playing in the California Collegiate League, whose regular season ends on Sunday, July 27. The Pacific Empire League regular season ends on Sunday as well. There’s still one player remaining in the Cape Cod League, which wraps the regular season on Aug. 3.

Here’s a look at how all Gamecocks have performed this summer.

Still playing

Caleb Hoover — Santa Barbara Foresters, California Collegiate League

Hoover, who had been hitting below .200 in the last update, is now hitting at a .222 clip. He’s been swinging the bat better lately as he’s 4-for-8 with a home run and double in his last two games. In 29 games this summer, he’s 20-for-90 at the plate with two homers and 11 RBI. He’s struck out 29 times with 16 walks.

Bryce Navarre — Santa Barbara Foresters, California Collegiate League

Navarre, who became South Carolina’s latest transfer on July 18, has been playing with Hoover in the California Collegiate League this summer. He’s dealt with some struggles, though, pitching to a 10.38 ERA with 10 strikeouts and 15 walks in 8.2 innings. The left-hander has made five appearances, three of which were starts. He transferred to the Gamecocks from Texas.

Alex Philpott — Brewster Whitecaps, Cape Cod League

Aside from one rough start, Philpott has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen this summer. He’s 0-2 with a 5.65 ERA, 16 strikeouts and two walks in 14.1 innings of work. He took the loss in his last outing on July 17, where he gave up two runs in 3.2 innings but struck out four and walked one.

Logan Sutter — Healdsburg Prune Packers, Pacific Empire League

Sutter is hitting .305 with nine homers and 31 RBI in 35 games. He’s struck out 31 times with 24 walks. The right-handed slugger has broken out of a recent 1-for-24 skid with at least one hit in five of his last six games. In that stretch, he’s homered twice and driven in six runs. Most of his starts have been at third base, but he’s also played some first base and left field. He’s hit in the middle of the order, typically in the three-hole with the Prune Packers.

Not playing

Tyler Bak — Valley Blue Sox, New England Collegiate Baseball League

Bak’s time with the Blue Sox came to an end in mid-June. In the leadoff spot, the Wofford transfer slashed .600/.739/.867 with nine hits in 15 at-bats, including one homer and three RBI. He struck out three times, walked seven and stole five bases without being caught.

Elijah Foster — Brewster Whitecaps, Cape Cod League

Foster only made one start this summer, which came on June 15. In a three-inning outing, he gave up two unearned runs on one hit. He struck out one but walked three and plunked one more to finish with four free passes.

Seth Graham-Pippin — Mahoning Valley Scrappers, MLB Draft League

Graham-Pippin no longer appears on Mahoning Valley’s roster. It was a tough summer for the right-hander as he’s pitched to a 15.26 ERA in five relief appearances with seven strikeouts and nine walks.

Josh Gunther — Bourne Braves, Cape Cod League

Gunther made two starts on the mound to begin his time in the Cape, but he struggled mightily and gave up 12 runs in four innings. His struggles haven’t fully gone away since moving to the bullpen. He picked up his first save of the summer on July 4, striking out three and walking two in a scoreless ninth inning. In his last outing, he gave up three runs with three strikeouts and one walk in 1.1 innings on July 12. Gunther is 0-2 with a 15.95 ERA in 7.1 innings and has struck out 11 and issued nine walks.

Dawson Harman — Sanford River Rats, Florida Collegiate Summer League

Harman, who was named to the FCSL All-Star Game, hasn’t played since July 2. This would seemingly indicate that his summer is over, ending what was an impressive showing from him. He hit .347/.460/.542 with two homers and 20 RBI in 72 at-bats. He struck out 23 times with 13 walks and stole seven bases in eight tries. Harman primarily played third base, with occasional appearances at first base and in right field.

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Beau Hollins — Lexington County Blowfish, Coastal Plain League

Hollins hasn’t played since June 12. He’s slashing .238/.360/.429 with one homer and five RBI in 21 at-bats over six games. On June 4, he hit a walk-off three-run homer to give the Blowfish a run-rule win over the Boone Bigfoots.

Cullen Horowicz — Trenton Thunder, MLB Draft League

Horowicz made four appearances with the Thunder this summer and didn’t allow a run in 4.1 innings of work. The right-hander struck out two and walked two. He picked up his first save in a 5-3 win over the Scrappers on June 10. He pitched one clean inning with a strikeout in his last outing.

Jake McCoy — Harwich Mariners, Cape Cod League

McCoy reached his innings limit for the summer after making three starts in the Cape. The left-hander pitched to a 1.46 ERA with 25 strikeouts and three walks over 12.1 innings. He also plunked three batters, but his command proved to be much sharper.

Erik Parker — Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, Northwoods League

In 16 games, Parker hit .333/.500/.412 with no homers and 10 RBI over 51 at-bats. He walked 16 times and struck out eight. He looked solid on the basepaths with nine stolen bases in 12 attempts. The Georgia transfer had a six-game hitting streak snapped in his last game on June 26. He was 11-for-23 (.478) with two extra-base hits and six RBI during that hot stretch. His defense was shaky, though, with 11 errors and a .761 fielding percentage.

KJ Scobey — Lexington County Blowfish, Coastal Plain League

Scobey’s stint with the Blowfish was short as he only played in six games and went 7-for-24 (.292) with four doubles, three RBI, three walks and eight strikeouts. All of his starts with the Blowfish have been at shortstop. He was invited to training camp with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in late June, but did not make the team’s final 26-man roster.

Alex Valentin — Bourne Braves, Cape Cod League

Valentin’s summer in the Cape has come to an end. He made three starts and went 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA. The left-hander has struck out seven and walked nine in 11 innings of work. In his last start on July 1, Valentin gave up six runs (four earned) in two innings and struck out two batters with three walks.

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