Monte Lee impressed with South Carolina's sophomore class

Monte Lee didn’t recruit any of the hitters on the roster he’ll spend the 2023 season with at South Carolina. 

The Gamecocks’ associate head coach wasn’t responsible for bringing in any of the offensive players. But he is pleased with the crop he inherited and that Chad Caillet left for him. 

Some of those are transfer bats or draft-eligible pieces, but what Lee likes is a young group of rising sophomores to build around like Carson Hornung, Evan Stone, Cole Messina and Talmadge LeCroy. 

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“Carson Hornung, for instance, he had a .550 on-base percentage this fall. I mean he was a monster for us. He understands the value of taking balls,” Lee told GamecockCentral. “He does a really good job of doing that. He’s just an on-base machine. You put enough of those guys in front of Gavin Casas, who has tremendous power and can hit the ball out of the ballpark, now guys start to understand the system.”

South Carolina had to rely on freshmen heavily last season for a variety of reasons–depth issues, injuries, performance–but what it did was give the Gamecocks’ young players some experience in the SEC. 

Hornung started 32 games, slashing .209/.342/.297 with 19 walks.

He’s tied with Talmadge LeCroy, who was the starter at third base the last stretch of the season. LeCroy–who will focus more on catcher this season–slashed .253/.381/.305 with 11 RBI and parlayed that into a really quality fall. 

“(He had) maybe one of the best offensive performances of the fall. This is a guy who walks more than he strikes out,” Lee said. “He understands the value of a walk. He understands the value of not just trying to put the ball in play. He’s a guy who can hit to that system because he hits the ball the other way really well.”

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One of the guys Lee also heaped praise on was Evan Stone, whose offense is catching up to his defensive prowess. Stone was one of the better defensive centerfielders in the SEC last season but struggled offensively.

He ended his first season slashing .184/.317/.207 but has really adopted Lee’s approach and his offense has ticked up. Lee helped him work on a leg kick in the fall to try and get rid of Stone’s thought process of just trying to put the ball in play. 

“I took that out and said let’s throw that mindset away. That’s not the mindset we want to have. As athletic as he is on defense I want him to be that athletic in the batter’s box,” Lee said.

“We taught him a leg kick to try and let his athleticism come out a little more in the box and create a little bit more momentum, bat speed and power. It really translated for him. Just the idea of him feeling more athletic in the box with that leg kick allowed him to get better swings off and create a little more power and pop in his swing.”

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Stone responded well, having one of the better falls for the Gamecocks. Stone will now compete for South Carolina’s starting centerfielder spot when preseason scrimmages start. 

“He’s such a stick of dynamite on defense and on the bases. We want him to be a stick of dynamite in the box,” Lee said. “I wanted to help him create a swing that compliments what he does on the bases and on defense. He did that and was an absolute monster on offense. He had as good a fall as anybody we got. I’m really, really proud of him.”

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Stone–who grew up in South Carolina–mirrors a lot of the other rising sophomores on the roster who grew up in the state watching the Gamecocks. 

Stone, LeCroy and Cole Messina–who Lee was also complimentary of–are all in-state players and want to help the program get back to its title-contending ways. 

“The first thing you have to know about Evan Stone is Evan was born a Gamecock. That, I think, is one of the traits that you see in Evan Stone,” Lee said. “I don’t know if anyone in that locker room loves the South Carolina Gamecocks more than Evan Stone. He’s going to run through a brick wall for you. He’s got that winner’s makeup because he loves the program so much.”

South Carolina has a few other sophomores who will compete for at-bats like Michael Braswell, who started all 54 games last season with 27 RBI and a .284 average. 

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