How Noah Hall turned into South Carolina's ace in SEC play

Noah Hall lowered his glove to his belt, ready to deliver his 108th pitch of the game. He had pitched around trouble all day for South Carolina. He had to do it again to end the seventh in what was another gem of an outing.

That gem wouldn’t matter much if he didn’t get the next batter out with the Gamecocks clinging to a one-run lead and the go-ahead run at first base.

So he reared back and delivered a rope of a fastball at 92 miles per hour. It froze one of the Bulldogs’ best hitters to get out of the jam. In the process, Hall’s knee’s buckled and he took his hat off, emotional en route back to the dugout.

But that strikeout—and the feather in the cap of Hall’s performance—didn’t just mean something at the moment. It spoke to the larger picture as Hall has become the ace of a staff desperately needing someone like him out there.

“His development has been one of our biggest keys this year to still staying in this fight and still having a chance at the end…He’s a competitor. He loves the ball,” Mark Kingston said. “They play well behind him. His development has been huge for us this year, no doubt about it.”

Hall’s move to the rotation three weeks into the year was less about some genius strategic move and more about necessity for South Carolina.

James Hicks had just gone down for the season with Tommy John surgery. Julian Bosnic was still on the shelf. Outside of Will Sanders, there wasn’t much to turn to from a starting pitching perspective.

Hall was a starter at times during a two-year App State career, and he was thrust into that role again against Clemson.

It was up and down at first largely because the Gamecocks needed him to just eat innings for a staff hurting for quality arms at the moment.

So games he pitched well in would look worse than normal. He had to stay in one inning longer than he should have, giving up a big inning, just to provide length.

“There were times I felt like, ‘Man, we probably left him in there one inning too long.’ Just trying to get him stretched out. Then protecting the rest of the guys to cover the rest of our innings,” pitching coach Justin Parker said. “I felt like he got the rough end of finishing starts.”

But the numbers are starting to reflect the performance now. His arsenal now includes a cutter, two-seam fastball and an improved slider. He’s also maintaining a low-to-mid 90s fastball for most of his outing.

And it’s led to him being electric through five SEC starts. He’s second in the SEC entering the weekend in innings pitched (33.1) and top 10 in ERA (2.97).

In league play, he’s struck out 30 to just nine walks with a 1.11 WHIP. He’s throwing 66.5 percent of his pitches for strikes. Opponents are slashing .224/.292/.360 against him.

In his last three starts, he’s thrown 21.2 innings with a 1.66 ERA and a .198 batting average against. He’s allowing less than a base runner per inning with 69 percent of his pitches strikes.

Of his five SEC starts, three have come against the most potent offenses in the league in terms of scoring runs: Tennessee, Georgia, Ole Miss. And Vanderbilt is fifth in the SEC in team batting average.

“I don’t think he cares who it is. In a way he just worries about himself,” Parker said. “He feels like if he executes pitches and we trust in the scouting report that it doesn’t matter who he’s facing. That’s his level of confidence in himself and that’s his level of mindset.”

And for Hall, the plan really wasn’t to be a starter heading into the season.

South Carolina’s staff kicked around the thought of him getting the ball to begin games but ultimately settled on him as a bullpen piece, primarily for his versatility as a reliever.

But plans change. Hall was forced to grow into that role on the fly, something he’s doing with flying colors so far.  

“I don’t know if I’ve seen it. I think the coolest thing for me to see and to do and the reason I love him the most and have an affinity for him is I love the way he competes. It’s genuine, there’s no BS and he doesn’t talk about it. He’s just a genuine, authentic competitor,” Parker said. “I can’t say enough about the kid’s spirit to compete and fight.”

And it has to be cool for Hall, who’s from the Carolinas and grew up a South Carolina Gamecock fan.

“I just want to go out there and compete, execute every single pitch I can and try to win,” Hall said after a nearly eight-inning, two-run performance against Ole Miss. “That’s really all I care about. It’s the same mindset. I’m just throwing 100 (pitches) instead of 50.”

And it’s his performances that have typically kept South Carolina alive in the postseason hunt. The Gamecocks are currently one of the first four teams out by Baseball America.

The Gamecocks have a big series at Auburn starting Friday night and will need him and Sanders to continue pitching well.

Hall will get the ball Saturday afternoon against another offense in the top half of the SEC in batting average and runs scored, ready for his next challenge.

“He’s on this journey now to see how good he can become…The thing for Noah that’s so much fun, I just love being around him on game day,” Parker said.

“That’s the adrenaline high I love that I get out of coaching is having a guy like this who’s out there competing right there with you. He’s starting to find some of that stuff. He’s starting to get excited about it.”

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