South Carolina transfer portal infielder breaks down commitment
South Carolina baseball will be incredibly active in the transfer portal this offseason, and picked up a commitment recently, the first out of it.
That would be Chris Veach, a former Presbyterian infielder who announced his decision Tuesday night.
“It’s a dream come true really,” Veach told GamecockCentral. “I’m a fan of the Gamecocks, I love the atmosphere at the field. I love the facility and what it offers to be to be a Gamecock.”
Veach played baseball at Chapin before enrolling with the Blue Hose and spending two years in Clinton.
He was a two-way player while there, slashing .344/.385/.444 with seven RBI in 90 at-bats in 2021. He also served as a bullpen arm.
Veach made 11 appearances (20 innings) with a 2.70 ERA and a .186 batting average against with 10 walks to 19 strikeouts.
This year he only played in 16 games where he hit .322/.412/.525 in 59 at-bats with 11 RBI. He didn’t throw this year and is coming off Tommy John repair surgery before coming to South Carolina.
“Offensively, I’m a guy who can spray the ball around the field and has some power to the pull side and up the middle. I feel like I’m a true hitter. I like to not strike out a lot, put balls in play and get hits,” Veach said.
“Defensively I’m like second base or third base. Pitching-wise, in college I was a bullpen guy, a closer. I like to have that bulldog mentality and shut down hitters.”
South Carolina is recruiting him as a two-way player and will give him a look both at the plate and on the mound once he arrives on campus.
He’s still coming off that procedure and told GamecockCentral he should be full go to throw 100 percent off a mound by October.
“They like I’m a two-way player. I can pitch and play infield and hit. That’s what they had the idea of recruiting me by. What I can bring? I want to win every game,” he said. “I don’t like losing at all, to be honest, and I like winning everything. The ability to compete and try and win and be the best I can.”
He’ll also get to rejoin two former teammates from his high school pitching staff.
Veach also played with Cade Austin and Matthew Becker at Chapin and now all three will be on the Gamecocks’ staff in 2023.
“Those are friends from high school. We grew up playing baseball and we worked out (together) and I hung out with them a lot,” he said. “It’s really cool to go away to college for two years and reconvene with them to play baseball again.”
The goal this summer before arriving at South Carolina is to continue working out and getting his arm back in shape so he’s as ready as he can be going into fall baseball.
Veach said the summer before this season he was topping out at 96 miles per hour on his fastball.
“I want to get back to hitting and throwing basics and progress to hopefully better than what I was,” Veach said. “Then get the velocity numbers and command back to where it was. Then start getting the feel of being ready to play.”
