Wherever he plays in the field, Ethan Petry locked in on one goal for junior year

Paul Mainieri feared the worst. Less than a day before South Carolina began full team practice, Mainieri thought he might not have his potential starting third baseman for a while.

He received word that KJ Scobey twisted his ankle while taking batting practice on his own. For a short time, his early concern was that the freshman infielder may have broken his foot, which led him to start working on a Plan B for third base.

Luckily, the veteran coach had a nice option at the hot corner in Ethan Petry, who’s proven to be a valuable commodity at multiple positions. In the first weekend of preseason scrimmages, Petry had been playing third base with Talmadge LeCroy at first base and one of the other three catchers behind the plate.

This would’ve been Mainieri’s long-term plan if in the event Scobey were out for an extended period. But he returned to action on Tuesday and played over at third, which moved Petry back to first, a position he could end up being the Opening Day starter at this season.

[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

With this being Petry’s junior year, making him eligible for the 2025 MLB Draft, his role is already solidified as a heart of the order bat. Where he’s playing in the field is the bigger question. But Mainieri already has a pretty good idea of where he’ll be playing the veteran slugger.

“I think Petry’s long-term career in the big leagues is going to be as a first baseman,” Mainieri said. “But he doesn’t care where he plays, whether it’s right field, first base, third base. That kid just wants to win. He’s special.”

For most of his college career, Petry has been South Carolina’s starting right fielder, where he’s made 96 starts in the last two seasons. At the backend of last season, though, he moved over to first base for 21 starts. Between those two positions over 61 games, he only made two errors and fielded at a .990 clip.

“First base is coming along,” Petry told GamecockCentral. “I’ve been playing it all fall basically and played the Charleston game. It’s been a great experience. I’m getting way comfortable in right field, so I think I can handle all three positions and play them serviceably.”

During the summer, Petry spent some time at first when he was playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Of course, most of his games came in the outfield, but he played four games at first. He earned Pat Sorenti Most Valuable Player honors after hitting .360 with 11 homers, while leading the league in on-base percentage (.480), slugging percentage (.760), OPS (1.240), extra-base hits (18), total bases (76).

“You play every day. You can’t dwell on your 0-for-5 games. You’ve got to go out there and play the next day,” Petry said on his experience in the Cape. “Swinging with a wood bat is awesome. Meeting new people was a great time. You have to grind it out basically.

“You’re playing day after day. You just go out there and you’re tired, I’m mentally locked in sometimes. You just got to do 100 percent of your 50 percent, 100 percent of your 70 percent. So, you’ve got to go out there and try your best every day.”

[Win tickets: South Carolina-Auburn WBB]

In addition to playing a lot more at first, Petry has seen his share of time at third base. It’s a position he played going as far back as high school. He’s made it clear he’s comfortable playing that side of the infield if the Gamecocks need him to.

But regardless of where he plays, or where his career takes him next after this season, Petry’s mind is only on one thing.

“My mindset is just to win. I’ve always had that mindset for the past three years I’ve been here,” he said. “I just want to win. I want to make it to Omaha. It’s been like that for the past two years, and I think everything else will handle itself if we make it to Omaha, or even if we come close. I think everything else will handle itself.”

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!