Gamecock Slugger Hopes to Pick Up Where He Left Off

From Spurs & Feathers

Wes Clarke would like to pick up where he left off. In his second season with the Gamecocks last year, Clarke was on a blistering pace with an SEC-leading 8 home runs to go along with 22 RBI and a .286 average in 16 games before the rest of the season was canceled.

“When you hit it on the barrel, you almost don’t feel it come off,” Clarke said. “If you hit up, you pretty much know it’s over the fence. A lot of the times, when you hit those line drives that get out, you don’t really know. It depends on the ball you hit.

What a difference a year makes. As a freshman, Clarke hit .239 with one home run in 19 games.

“Nothing was really different with my swing or my approach,” Clarke said. “It was all mental. It was just confidence. Once I started getting confident, I realized that I’m here for a reason, and I’m good enough to play here. Then I started playing really well.

It gives me a lot of confidence. We had a very good fall, so I am very confident for the spring.”

A high school All-American coming out of Liberty Christian Academy in Virginia, Clarke was selected in the 40th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, but he opted to put his professional career on hold to come to South Carolina.

“I really didn’t feel like I was prepared or mature enough to play pro ball. Everyone who I had talked to, told me to go to college because the development in college is a lot better than the development when you come out of high school and go to pro ball.

“I’ve become a way-better player since coming here. People would be shocked if they saw me play my freshman fall season and if they saw me play now.”

“He’s one of the guys I point to and say, work like this guy and you’ll be fine.”
– Coach Mark  Kingston

Clarke attributes his growth to hard work in the weight room and his coaches on the field.

“The coaches always believed in me. I always believed in myself, and I just never quit. I kept working really hard, and I’ve gotten a lot better from it. When you’re in high school, everything is slower; slower pitching, slower running, slower balls hit in play. When you first come here, everything jumps up about 10 miles an hour. It does take some time to get used to. Once you start getting used to it, it really does feel like baseball and the game you’ve always played.”

“He’s a guy that just wants to be great,” said head coach Mark Kingston. “He studies the game. He studies the craft of hitting. He’s in the weight room all the time. He’s a guy who wants to work on hitting and loves to work on getting stronger. He’s one of the guys I point to and say, work like this guy and you’ll be fine.”

If not serving as a DH, Clarke will likely play some first base and has also made strides as an option at catcher.

“I don’t think it really matters where I play,” Clarke said. “First base is definitely the least stressful. I like catching as well. It doesn’t really matter.”

Regardless of where he plays, Clarke has hinted about some lofty goals in 2021.

“I haven’t set anything hard in stone, but I’m shooting for 20 home runs and batting above .300. We’ll see how that plays out. I might refine it a little bit. If I couldn’t do both, I’d probably take the 20 home runs because I need to produce RBIs.

“I think we’re going to be really, really good this year. I think we do have a chance to go really far. That’s what I’m excited about.”

Clarke is not a superstitious player, and he tries to keep it simple if he falls into a slump.

“I pray a lot before every game and before every at bat, so I guess that’s my superstition.

“You have to think that if you fail 70-percent of the time in baseball, you’re going to be a hall of famer. So, I just think of it that way.”