The Feed Pail: Celebrating a couple World Series champion Gamecocks and more

Welcome back to the feed pail, where we take a look around the internet for some choice South Carolina Gamecocks tidbits and share them back here with you. On the menu this evening: Congratulating a couple World Series champion Gamecocks, an update on the as-of-yet-unscheduled 12th game, and a couple other odds and ends.

First of all, congratulations are very much in order for South Carolina baseball alums Jackie Bradley Jr. and Steve Pearce, who are now World Series champions with the Boston Red Sox. JBJ earned the American League Championship Series MVP award for his heroics against Houston, while Pearce captured the World Series MVP honor after helping the Sox put the nail in the Dodgers’ coffin with two homers in the decisive Game 5.

Steve Pearce Had A Long, Strange Trip To World Series MVP — Barry Petchesky, Deadspin

Jackie Bradley Jr.’s rise to fame and stardom was fairly quick, in the grand scheme of things, but Steve Pearce has had a lengthy — and quiet — career as he’s bounced around all over the majors. This piece is a great summary of how Pearce got to this stage and became Boston’s unexpected hero. That a longtime journeyman can suddenly morph into the most valuable player in the World Series is one of the reasons you just gotta love baseball. Thrilled for both Pearce and JBJ.

South Carolina wraps up fall baseball with ‘mixing and matching’ approach to pitching — David Cloninger, The Post and Courier

Speaking of baseball, here’s an update on how the Yardcocks have been doing during fall practice. With multiple high-profile personnel losses, pitching will be an area of concern and emphasis for South Carolina this year. Here’s coach Mark Kingston on how fans can expect the staff to be handled:

“Maybe we don’t have guys that could give you seven, eight, nine innings on a given day, but we have a lot of guys that can get you three innings very effectively,” the Gamecocks’ coach said last week. “It’s just going to be a matter of mixing and matching the best recipe.”

Interesting. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t make me nervous, but it’s an approach that can work. Just check out the Milwaukee Brewers, for one.

One team standing out as South Carolina prepares to schedule 12th game — Ben Breiner, The State

Yes, that makeup game for the Marshall cancellation IS still happening, even if weather, conference championships, and other factors have made the logistics a bit of a Gordian knot. Breiner reports that Southern Mississippi (3-4, 2-2 C-USA) has emerged as the most likely candidate, although Akron (4-3, 2-2 MAC) and Appalachian State (5-1, 3-1 Sun Belt) are technically still in the picture as well. There’s an outside shot that Marshall will be available, but the Herd is still in the C-USA title hunt and that won’t be sorted out for at least a few weeks.

Pruitt still upset about potential missed fumble during South Carolina game — Terry Lambert, Rocky Top Talk

This one comes to us from our friends at our Tennessee sister site, and I figured I’d include it just for kicks. I’m sure that if I were Pruitt — or a Vols fan — I’d be fuming, too, but sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, and it’s notoriously difficult to sort out those pileups at the goal line anyway. I also don’t want to bag on Rico Dowdle after he rolled up 140 yards against UT, but man, I wish he had just a liiiittle more ball security.