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Carlos Cortes, Gamecock baseball outfielder, is ready to show that his impressive 2017 season was not an aberration.<\/p>\n
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Carlos Cortes came to the University of South Carolina fresh off a senior high school season that saw him hit .395 from the plate.<\/p>\n
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Cortes hit a team high 12 home runs during his freshman season. During the 2017 SEC Tournament, Cortes hit three home runs and was named to the All SEC Tournament team.<\/p>\n
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Mark Kingston took over as head coach for the Gamecocks last summer after Chad Holbrook resigned from the position. Kingston sees great things on the horizon for Cortes.<\/p>\n
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Carlos Cortes, Gamecock baseball sophomore outfielder, says his love for baseball came at an early age.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I was 8 years old, I\u2019ve always wanted to play in the majors, and I\u2019ve never lost sight of the confidence of that,” Cortes said.<\/p>\n
Cortes was a standout athlete in high school. He hit .395 during his senior season, was rated as a top 50 prospect by Baseball America and was drafted by the New York Mets in the 20th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Rather than going pro, Cortes said he came to South Carolina for the winning tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Maryfield hit that work off base hit in the College World Series\u00a0and they won the very next year, I was like, ‘I want to go there,’\u201d Cortes said, referring to the Gamecocks’ 2010 and 2011 National Championship seasons.<\/p>\n
Even with heavy accolades coming into to his freshman season, Cortes\u00a0came into South Carolina with little expectations from the public.\u00a0However,\u00a0Cortes quickly made his mark on the team. He hit a team-high of 12 home runs during his freshman season. Cortes said\u00a0he was not surprised by his success.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just very pleased with the outcome,” Cortes said, “because it\u2019s just the product of the work that I\u2019ve put in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though Cortes had an impressive season, the Gamecocks still went into the 2017 SEC Tournament needing to win every game in order to make it to the NCAA tournament. As the SEC tournament progressed<\/span><\/span>, Cortes became a shining star for the team.<\/p>\n Cortes hit three home runs during the tournament, which landed him on the ALL SEC tournament team. But even after his efforts, the Gamecocks were still unable to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Although Cortes admits he enjoyed his success, he still\u00a0said that he wanted a better ending to the season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt good, but those accolades don\u2019t really mean much to me if we don\u2019t win.”\u00a0Cortes said.<\/p>\n As a result of not making the NCAA Tournament, Chad Holbrook resigned from his position as head coach. Mark Kingston, former head coach\u00a0of South Florida, took over the position last summer.<\/p>\n Kingston already sees Cortes as one of best players in the SEC.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year he hit below .300. I don\u2019t anticipate that happening again,\u201d Kingston said during spring training. \u201cI think he’s going to take his walks when he needs to. His power has continued to grow, so I think he\u2019ll be a better all around hitter this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Cortes\u00a0said that he appreciates\u00a0Kingston because he holds the team to a high standard.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the accountability has changed,\u201d Cortes said. \u201cHe holds us to a higher accountability and just busting our tails everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n Cortes came into the 2018 season with high accolades, which included an appearance on the preseason all SEC second team. With those credentials, Cortes said his role\u00a0increased tremendously on the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI know now that I have to step it up as leader. Last year I was kind of able to just sit back but now I have to step up and continue to help my team win.\u201d Cortes said.<\/p>\n However, through the first nine games of the season, Cortes was hitting just .194 from the plate. In spite of this,\u00a0he and Kingston are still in good spirits.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t make my failures just about me, I have to forget about them quickly and go back like it never happened,\u201d Cortes said. \u00a0\u201cIf someone after me hits a double, that kind of fires me up and gets me going.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that he is just as excited on the home runs and the big hits to shows what he is about and that\u2019s why he\u2019s a big time player,” Kingston said.<\/p>\n As it relates to the rest of this season, Cortes said that he and his teammates are aiming to take the Gamecocks back to the College World Series in Omaha.<\/p>\n \u201cOur expectations are to make to Omaha,\u201d Cortes said. \u201cWe\u2019re also going to go at it one game at a time but our expectations are high to make it to Omaha.\u201d<\/p>\n