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South Carolina baseball commit Cameron Appenzeller excited for challenge of facing SEC hitters

imageby: Jack Veltri10/17/23jacktveltri
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Cameron Appenzeller (Photo provided by Zoe Orechwa)

The stress just kept building for Cameron Appenzeller. More than 25 schools showed interest in him for his baseball talents, with phone calls coming in almost every night.

But now that weight has been lifted off Appenzeller’s shoulders. He committed to South Carolina on Sunday evening.

“I’ve always been a big fan of South Carolina and the state,” Appenzeller told GamecockCentral. “My dad went to college in South Carolina, and it’s always just been high up on my list of dream schools.”

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Appenzeller, a left-handed pitcher, is a junior at Glenwood (IL) High School. He could’ve stayed closer to home but wanted the biggest challenge he could find in the SEC.

“I think there’s a big difference in Big 10 vs. SEC baseball. SEC is basically a semi-pro baseball league, where Big 10 is like college baseball if that makes sense. I just want to be challenged with facing the best guys everyday,” he said.

As of right now, Appenzeller stands at 6-foot-5, 165 pounds. He’s throwing around 87-89 miles per hour on his fastball. But he’s also hoping to be up 20-25 pounds by the time he gets to Columbia in 2025.

“I’m working with my guys at MPL (Maximize Pitching Lab) in the off-season, and they do a screening and se what I need to work on to throw harder,” Appenzeller said. “I think that will really help over the course of my high school career. And I want to be around the 92-95 (MPH) mark by the time I leave for South Carolina.”

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In addition to his fastball, Appenzeller also throws a slurve and change-up.

“I get a lot of swings and misses with the slurve,” he said. “But my change-up has been getting a lot better and I’m starting to use it more.”

One of the things Appenzeller looked for during his recruitment process was having a good personal relationship with the coaching staff. So far, it seems he’s been able to do that with pitching coach Matt Williams.

“Coach Williams was the only one recruiting me from South Carolina. And when I went on my visit, I really liked what he’s about. Like all of his off-season work for the players, all his pitching philosophies and just how he made it sound like I will have the chance to pitch as a freshman,” Appenzeller said.

And that’s one of Appenzeller’s main goals: to pitch right away. He believes he has what it takes to be an impact arm on the pitching staff.

“I think eventually when it’s my time, I can be one of those weekend starters that can hopefully help get the team to Omaha,” he said.

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