The Importance of Cole Messina & Will Sanders' Returns For South Carolina
Mark Kingston and the South Carolina Gamecocks are set to embark on a new season, one where just a couple of bad games in a row could be the end of the row for the group. Due to the smaller margin of error that'll exist from this point forward, teams like Carolina will need to have their best players step up, or in the case of the Gamecocks, be available to play.
It's no secret that over the past six weeks or so, South Carolina has been hit with a rash of injuries that very few teams have endured throughout the regular season, to the point where some of their best players haven't been safe. Starting pitcher Will Sanders hasn't played for the Gamecocks since their third-to-last conference series of the regular season due to a lower-body injury, while first-team All-SEC catcher Cole Messina was taken out of South Carolina's SEC Tournament bout with LSU six days ago due to showing signs of concussion-like symptoms.
Luckily for the team, both are expected to return for regional play, as Mark Kingston told the local media after their selection show special on Monday afternoon. Both returns are enormous for differing reasons, as Cole Messina is viewed as the "heart and soul of the team," someone who produces on the field at a high level, but doesn't get enough credit for how he works with the Gamecocks entire pitching staff when in the game.
On the other hand, Will Sanders is one of a few players that were a part of South Carolina's 2021 team that made it to the NCAA Regionals. With Eli Jones, Jack Mahoney, and James Hicks having proven they can handle being a starter in the postseason, Sanders being back with his teammates gives the Gamecocks four legitimate arms who could start and be effective on the mound, giving them an advantage that very few teams in the postseason will possess.
While the news of the Gamecocks being a regional host might've been viewed as the best news of this past weekend, the news of Messina and Sanders' returns should hold the same amount of weight.
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