JUCO transfer Cayden Gaskin wants to be a 'spark plug' for South Carolina

Coming out of high school, Cayden Gaskin didn’t have all of the big time D1 offers. The only offers he was getting were coming from the JUCO ranks.

Rather than be discouraged by this, he saw it as an opportunity to grow and develop his game. So he took a chance and made way for Northwest Florida State College.

“I’m not going to lie, my first year was kind of rough. I struggled a little bit,” Gaskin told GamecockCentral.

In his first year, he put up respectable enough numbers, hitting .274 with three homers, 36 RBI and 19 stolen bases in 157 at-bats. But that wasn’t good enough for him. He wanted to be better.

“Over the summer, I worked, I grinded,” he said. “And then coming into that fall, I just had that mindset of grind and compete. That’s where I saw my strides. I just spent a lot of time grinding in the weight room, hitting in the cage.”

[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]

By the time his sophomore year rolled around, Gaskin’s game improved tremendously. In 2024, he hit .403 with seven homers and 59 RBI. He also finished with 79 hits, 21 of which were doubles, and he stole 41 bases.

“It’s kind of a hunger thing. You’ve just got to take it,” Gaskin said about what led to the high number of stolen bases. “When you’re on base, you can’t really think about it too much. You’ve just got to try to take that base and make something happen. I want to be chaotic when I’m on the bases. That’s kind of what I’m thinking, just cause chaos.”

Near the midway point of his season, Gaskin started to receive interest from South Carolina, who knew it would need a new second baseman in 2025 with starter Parker Noland out of eligibility. Almost immediately, there was interest from both sides with Monte Lee heavily recruiting him.

“He’s genuine. He gave it to me straight. He sees my talent, sees my skillset,” Gaskin said about Lee. “We had a conversation about how I fit into the South Carolina lineup. How he explained it to me, he gave me a straight shot and gave me a perfect vision to build that connection and relationship.”

Gaskin was sold by everything he heard and learned from Lee in their conversations. So he officially committed to South Carolina on Wednesday. But it wasn’t just Lee he was committing to. With South Carolina naming Paul Mainieri as the new head baseball coach, it was a quick process for Gaskin to get to know him. It didn’t take much for him to realize who he would be playing for, though.

“It’s history behind him. He knows how to win,” Gaskin said. “I’ve heard that from sources and other people, and I believe it. That shows it right there.”

[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]

Heading into 2025, Gaskin, a middle infielder, will compete for starting duties at second base. He described himself as having “pretty good hands” on defense and the ability to put the ball in play and make things happen.

“I’m definitely an energy guy. I play the game hard,” he said. “That’s kind of just how I was raised through high school and JUCO ball. You’ve just got to grind it out. When somebody’s looking on the outside, they’re going to see a grinder, somebody who plays with energy and joy. At the end of the day, it’s still a kids game. Just out there having fun with it.”

However he fits into this roster, Gaskin said he wants to “be that guy” for South Carolina. He made it clear he wants to make an impact right away.

“I’ve heard we have some big hitters in the lineup,” Gaskin said. So I want to be that spark plug, get on base, cause havoc and they can hit me in.

“I’m excited. I came a long way. So I’m just ready to shine on a big stage, show everyone my skillset. That’s kind of what I live by. Just play hard and show everybody how I play. Definitely excited to be a Gamecock.”

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!