In the Coastal Plain League, college baseball players sign on with a team for the summer to develop as players to prepare them for increased roles on their college teams. 

But the success of their college teams often forces the collegiate wood bat teams they’re set to join for a couple months to start the season without them while they compete in the NCAA baseball tournament. 

This leaves a window of opportunity for 10-day contract players to fill rosters until players participating in college postseasons return. 

This year, the Lexington County Blowfish signed four players to 10-day contracts at the beginning of the season. One has already pursued opportunities elsewhere, but three remain and are fighting for a more permanent position on the team or to impress another Coastal Plain League club into picking them up and continuing their summer opportunities.

Julian Scott

Spartanburg Methodist first baseman and former Irmo High School standout Julian Scott planned to work individually on his player development over the summer. After the season ended, he had no plans to play for a team but was still eager to get stronger and better.

Then, two days before the Blowfish season opener, Scott received an unexpected text message.

“On Wednesday, coach shot me a text and was like ‘we need some guys to fill in’ and asked if I could come Friday and Saturday,” Scott recalled. “So I just took the opportunity.”

The opportunity presented a different challenge for Scott. One where he could play in front of more fans than he ever did in high school or in college. It was also a chance to see high level college baseball pitching. 

On opening night, Scott entered the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when Ashby Vining left the game with an injury after being hit by a pitch. Scott filled in for him on the base paths and managed to score a run after Jonathan Jaime’s ground rule double moved him to third and a wild pitch brought him across home. At the plate, Scott struck out in both of his at-bats. 

That would be Scott’s first and last game as a member of the Blowfish. With a few players coming in from The Citadel, it caused an infield log jam. 

There is still a summer opportunity to play for a team, as Scott has since opted to play American Legion ball since he’s still in the appropriate age range to participate.

Cade Bouknight

Cade Bouknight had an eventful week. On Thursday May 25, he graduated from Batesburg-Leesville High School. By Friday May 26, he was making his Coastal Plain League debut with the Blowfish.  

Bouknight was a standout at Batesburg-Leesville. He hit .410 with four home runs as well as excelling on the mound with 86 strikeouts in 55 innings and posting an impressive earned run average of 1.63. He also earned All-State honors and signed to play college ball at USC Aiken.

But before his career in Aiken begins, Bouknight is going to experience a level of baseball he hasn’t seen before. Not only will he be using a wood bat, but he will be seeing opposing pitching that is completely new to him. At the 2A level, he mentioned that he never saw a pitch over 90 miles per hour. The first pitch he saw in his one at-bat against the Boone Bigfoots clocked in at 93 miles per hour. 

For many players, this can increase nerves. But for Bouknight, this is a challenge he is comfortable with.

“I think I play my best ball against better ball clubs,” Bouknight said. “I’m seeing the ball better this year at the plate, 90 or not. So I mean, this should be fun. I’ll adapt to it and it’ll be what it is.”

For many athletes at the 2A level, it’s not just the speed of pitches that’s dramatically different but the setting and speed of the game can make a player from a smaller high school feel like they’re playing on another planet. Bouknight has his own approach when bracing this challenge.

“I’m just trying to stay simple,” he said. “The game’s gonna move at the speed the game does but as long as I can control it and keep it slow to my vision, then it’ll be fine for me.”

These adjustments can be hard for any player to make, especially with only such a short time to make a good impression. But the coaching he has received throughout his career will be something he relies upon to stay engaged mentally.

“I mean, I’ve had hard coaching my entire life and some people have not liked that but I’ve enjoyed it a lot because it’s prepared me for stuff like this,” Bouknight added. “They pushed me everyday and it grew on me to do that for myself and prepared me for stuff like this. It’s done nothing but better me.”

On June 3, Bouknight got his first opportunity to really make an impression in a Blowfish uniform when he entered in relief of Beckett White in the fifth inning of their game against the Macon Bacon. 

With the game tied at 6 and Macon hitting the ball well, Bouknight provided much needed stability on the mound and provided four innings of relief with the Blowfish bullpen getting thin. In those four innings, Bouknight surrendered only one run and struck out five batters. Bacon batters chased his slider and were behind his changeup. His unpredictable pitch speeds fooled hitters all over the lineup. The Blowfish went on to win the game 8-7 and the recent high school graduate got credit with a win in his first Coastal Plain League appearance. 

“As soon as the first batter went by, I knew he swung at a slider away and left in the batter’s box, I knew it was on from there,” Bouknight said after his outing. “Stuff was working great, changeup was working good, slider was working great. They weren’t expecting the fastball and when they’re not expecting it you can just put it by them.”

Bouknight not only pitched a great game at a level he’s never pitched in before, but did so in front of a crowd filled with friends and family who made the drive from Leesville to support him. During the game, his introduction received the loudest cheers and his strikeouts received the loudest ovations.

After the game, he was the most popular player in the concourse, signing autographs, taking pictures with all sorts of friends, family and members of the Batesburg-Leesville community.

“It was amazing,” an elated Bouknight said after the game as he looked back at all of his supporting party as they watched him go through postgame media duties. “I didn’t know everybody was coming tonight. I just knew I had to do my job and I think I did pretty well for my first time being out here. I love everybody coming out and it just feeds me energy and just keeps me going. So, it’s great to see everybody and perform in front of them. It was a good night.”

As a temporary player on a 10-day contract and with several players from the University of South Carolina playing in the super regionals in the NCAA Tournament, Bouknight might have earned himself more time in a Blowfish uniform and more time to take advantage of a golden opportunity in front of the eyes of his home community. 

Thomas Powell

Like Bouknight, Thomas Powell had an eventful week leading up to his Blowfish debut. On Wednesday, May 24, Powell helped lead the River Bluff Gators to the 5A state baseball championship and two days later, was back on the diamond to suit up for the Blowfish.

Powell signed on to play at South Carolina next year and accepted the opportunity with the Blowfish to help him learn from other college players before moving on to the next level.

The celebration of a state championship was enjoyed by Powell but it didn’t take long before it was once again back to a business-like attitude with the Blowfish.

“For me, it’s been just going about my day. Show up, put the work in, keep my head down and bring energy whenever it’s time to play,” Powell said when describing his mind set.

Whether or not Powell gets an extension to his short term contract isn’t the most important aspiration. He’ll be playing baseball next year in the SEC and living out a lifelong dream. This opportunity, however, exists to learn the college baseball experience and become a student of the game. 

Powell emphasized that this short-term experience will be good to continue to learn the college game and gain a better understanding of what to expect at the next level. 

So far, Powell has collected one hit and stolen two bases in his 10 plate appearances.

Blake Martin

Out of all the 10-day contract players, Spartanburg Methodist infielder Blake Martin might have the most to prove. 

Martin came out of the gates last season scorching for Spartanburg Methodist. In the team’s first 18 games, he hit a mind blowing .483 along with an on-base plus slugging percentage of .916. Martin also hit two home runs and brought home 13 runs. 

However, his red-hot start was slowed down by not just one, but two separate season ending injuries that he suffered in the same at-bat.

“It was back to back pitches. I fouled one off my foot and then I gave myself a few seconds and then got back in the box,” Martin recalled. “I then hit one in the gap and was running to second and tore my hamstring.”

Since then, it’s been a long and frustrating journey to get back to the early season form he was in before the injuries.

“I was on a hot streak for a good two or three weeks so it kind of sucks that it had to end because of an injury,” Martin said. “But you can take what you get and you try to learn from those experiences and just try to do your best to get back to where you were.”

There was an attempt to bring him back for two games following the injury but Martin wasn’t the same.

“Ever since the injury it was really hard to adjust back to the game or just to be able to come back and be expected to play like how I was pre-injury.”

Not only is Martin battling with himself to regain his pre-injury form, he’s having to adjust to a big increase in levels of opposing talent.

“There’s gonna be a few adjustments out here. Obviously, you’re gonna be facing better pitchers and players because coming from JUCO, you’re not always facing the best guys but there is definitely some talent that is hidden,” Martin said. 

After two games, Martin looks like he has regained his early season form and has been one of the Blowfish’s best players. Against the Bigfoots, he went two-for-two with a single, a double, a walk, got hit by a pitch, scored a run and stole two bases. His loaded statline was enough to earn Coastal Plain League “Hitter Line of the Night” honors.

In the second game against the Forest City Owls, Martin continued his hitting streak as he went three-for-three with a walk. In 17 plate appearances over five games of action, Martin has reached base eleven times and has an impressive batting average of .538.  

Martin is not only making his case to receive an extension with the Blowfish, but will undoubtedly receive attention from division one baseball programs as a transfer prospect.