Russ EddinsThe 2023 baseball season was, for lack of a better phrase, one to forget for the Rebels. They went 25-29 overall and 6-24 in SEC play, missing out on postseason play. After the lackluster season, there was a lot of roster turnover.
Offseason losses:
Players lost include: Peyton Chatagnier (transferred to TCU), Calvin Harris (drafted by the White Sox), Jacob Gonzalez (drafted by the White Sox), Kemp Alderman (drafted by the Marlins), Jack Doughtery (drafted by the Twins), Matt Parenteau (transferred to Indiana State), Banks Tolley (transferred to Appalachian State), Garret Wood (graduated), Anthony Calarco (signed with the Rangers) and TJ McCants (transferred to Alabama).
Head Coach Mike Bianco was tasked with replacing all of that production, so how did he go about it? To no one’s surprise, Bianco and the team hit several big targets in the transfer portal.
Offseason Additions:
Their biggest grabs were two sophomores: shortstop Luke Hill from Arizona State University and infielder Andrew Fischer from Duke University.
Hill played in all 54 games for the Sun Devils in 2023. He batted .314 in 204 at-bats and racked up 64 hits, 43 runs, 42 RBIs, 19 multi-hit games and six homers. Hill was named a Pac-12 Honorable Mention and the ASU Defensive Player of the Year.
Fischer was a Perfect Game second team freshman All-American last year. He started in 45 games for Duke last season. In 47 total games, he slashed .289/.404/.595 for his percentages in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage respectively. He accumulated 38 runs, 50 hits, 11 home runs and 100 total bases.
The Rebels have 12 new freshmen on the roster, and many promising players among them.
Freshman Seth Farni is an outfielder from St. Stanislaus High School in Gulfport, Miss. In his senior year, he batted .402 with a 1.342 on-base plus slugging percentage and 11 homers. He was the back-to-back team MVP in his junior and senior years and also won the 2021 International Home Run Derby.
The Rebels may have picked up their next great catcher in Oxford High School graduate Campbell Smithwick. He was 6A Mr. Baseball, Mississippi 6A Player of the Year and team captain his senior year.
With a .463 batting average, a .616 OBP and a 1.469 OPS, Smithwick led the Chargers to back-to-back district championships in 2022 and 2023.
The Rebels landed catcher and utility player Trenton Lyons from Christian Brothers High School in Memphis. He was a Mr. Baseball Tennessee Finalist and graduated with honors. In his senior year, he had a .470 batting average, 12 doubles, seven triples and eight homers.
Next up is Ryne Rodriguez,a 6 foot 5 inch lefty freshman with junior college experience at Weatherford College. His high school career ERA was 1.25. In his one year at junior college, he went 11-0, had 17 starts and struck out 108 batters in 90.2 innings pitched.
Gabe Smith, a right-hander from Father McGivney Catholic in Edwardsville, Illinois, will add to the team’s pitching depth. Smith struck out 60 batters to only 13 walks and went 6-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his senior year.
Other notable additions include RHP Hudson Calhoun, a freshman from Tupelo, Miss. who pitched a .848 ERA his senior year; outfielder Treyson Hughes, a junior transfer from Mercer who hit 23 homers and drove in 101 runs in 109 games; outfielder Connor Chisolm, a junior transfer from Hinds Community College who had an OPS of 1.237 in junior college; senior infielder and outfielder Jackson Ross, a transfer from Florida Atlantic University who accumulated 144 hits, 91 runs, 90 RBIs and 21 homers in 116 games.
