Mississippi State's Bryce Chance Proving to Be an Overlooked Prospect
After being robbed by COVID-19 and facing some adversity, Mississippi State baseball's Bryce Chance is living out his dream and proving to be one of the team's most intriguing mergers to this point in the season.
The coronavirus especially hit Chance's junior year of high school hard with how difficult things were in the sports world in that time period, but he took action on his own to better himself. With the help of a close friend and now teammate, Hunter Hines, Chance turned his garage into a weight room where the two worked out, hit, and practice throwing, and shagging.
Chance's work in the offseason paid off during his senior season. He was getting offers from many community colleges and was committed to play with Hinds Community College. But it wasn't until a video caught of Chance turning on a pitch for a beautiful home run during live batting practice that things really took off. Shortly after the video hit social media, Chance received an offer from Mississippi State.
"Man, God is good," Chance told his dad after getting off the phone with assistant coach Jake Gautreau in a recent interview. "I got an offer to play for Mississippi State".
Coach Gautreau said the video of Chance was impressive but State had been looking at Chance for a long time.
"Everyone close to him ranted about his work ethic, his baseball IQ and the gritty, play hard, tough type of ball player that shows up to the yard to beat you every single day," said Gautreau.
Last season as a freshman, head coach Chris Lemonis redshirted Chance and used this time to work on areas of weakness and perfect his game.
Finally, in his sophomore season, Chance stepped out onto the field in the starting lineup in the opening series against VMI. That weekend, Chance pounded out seven hits, seven RBIs, his first career home run, and two walks as he batted .583 in three starts.
His success has not shocked Lemonis. Chance was starting over many capable players and there was a reason for it.
"He's been playing like that every day in our scrimmages. He's a special kid," Lemonis said. "He's not real big, he's probably not my best thrower or runner, but he really hits and loves the game of baseball. He puts his heart and soul in it."
Chance is the most consistent hitter in Mississippi State's lineup, something that looks to continue as the Bulldogs look to bounce back after some ups and downs this season.