‘A pretty good feeling.’ USM baseball keeps key pieces, loads up on new talent.
The addition of a Gulfport High School standout in the last week has brought the 2021 Southern Miss baseball roster into focus, and head coach Scott Berry feels good about what he’ll have to work with.
The main departure from the 2020 squad is redshirt senior second baseman Matthew Guidry, who has decided to forego an extra year of eligibility and move on from baseball.
The NCAA granted spring athletes an additional season after the COVID-19 pandemic cut short the 2020 campaign.
Guidry’s departure will leave a significant hole in the middle of the lineup, but four key senior pitchers have decided to take advantage of their newly-granted eligibility — right-handed starter Walker Powell, right-handed bullpen ace Hunter Stanley, left-handed reliever Sean Tweedy and right-handed reliever Tyler Spring.
USM had Conference USA’s best one-two punch in the weekend rotation in the form of sophomore right-hander Gabe Shepard and Powell, and the return of those two should give Southern Miss an upper hand.
“Well, that’s a pretty good feeling. I won’t lie to you,” Berry said. “Hunter Stanley, we also get him back. All those guys have been impact guys for us over the years.”
Shepard, who features a fastball that tops out at 97 mph, was expected to be a high pick in the MLB Draft, but this year’s event proved unpredictable after it was cut from 40 to five rounds due to the pandemic. His cause was also hurt when injuries limited the Mobile native to only three appearances in 2020.
Powell, who has only five losses over his last 36 starts, will take advantage of his last year of eligibility to give himself a shot at pro baseball.
Stanley, who had a 1.42 ERA with three saves in eight appearances out of the bullpen in 2020, may also get a look as a starter this upcoming season. He’s been receiving starts while playing in the Deep South Summer Collegiate League this summer.
“We’ve talked to him about that — the possibility of starting,” Berry said. “It may be a situation where he starts a midweek game and we use him on the weekend in short relief. We know he’ll do whatever we ask him to do. He’s a very selfless player.”
Golden Eagles leaving the program
While multiple seniors have chosen to come back for one more year, others have decided to move on.
▪ Senior left-hander Josh Lewis confirmed to the Sun Herald that he is transferring to Delta State.
▪ Sophomore outfielder Hunter Leblanc is transferring to Jones College.
▪ Senior right-hander Alex Nelms will be starting medical school.
▪ Junior catcher Brian Davis is no longer with the program.
Gulfport’s Cade Crosby joins the mix at Southern Miss
Former Samford signee Cade Crosby, who transferred from Long Beach to Gulfport ahead of his senior season, is the latest and likely final addition to the USM roster for 2021 after verbally committing to the Golden Eagles on Sunday.
Crosby’s plan to head to Samford was derailed when an MLB prospect at Samford went undrafted, allowing him to return for the 2021 season. That cut into the scholarship money that Crosby was supposed to receive at Samford, forcing him to rethink his decision.
Not long after he got the bad news, Crosby got a call from Southern Miss letting him know he had a guaranteed spot on the roster if he wanted to go to school in Hattiesburg.
“I think God truly has a plan,” Crosby said. “It’s the school I wanted to go to my whole life.”
Crosby should provide depth in the middle of the infield. In 11 games as a senior, he hit .300 with three doubles and six RBIs. As a junior at Long Beach, he hit .455 with 25 runs scored.
Crosby, who finished high school with a 3.8 GPA, was also a standout on the football field, serving as one of the Coast’s top quarterbacks at Long Beach and at Gulfport.
Slade Wilks brings power to USM
The shortened MLB Draft also allowed Southern Miss to retain the most highly-regarded high school prospect from the Eagles’ November signing class — Columbia Academy outfielder/third baseman Slade Wilks.
Wilks, who was projected to go in the first five rounds of the 2020 MLB Draft, is capable of hitting 480-foot homers. He swings from the left side and has an exit velocity that surpasses 115 mph.
Crosby has been witness to Wilks’ impressive power.
“You’re going to hear it. If you walk up to the field and hear a loud boom, you know who it is,” Crosby said. “It’s really a thing of beauty to watch him swing. You can expect a kid with a lot of power who is going to give 150 percent.”
USM will be stacked with talented freshmen and tested veterans, but Berry knows his team won’t be the only one working with a stacked deck after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility.
“Those that are college baseball enthusiasts anticipate this will be one of the strongest years ever in college baseball, and rightfully so,” Berry said. “We’ll have young guys who are freshmen who played 16 games this past season. That’s a free year of experience at the Division 1 level that doesn’t count against their years.”
