It’s April, we are in the middle of the baseball season and are taking a little different approach.

Baseball in today’s world is all about an inside joke or a personal battle cry if you will. The guys have taken on the Reapers of Souls this time around so we thought in true baseball spirit we would compare some of your favorite players to nostalgic characters from Disney, to old sports movies, video games anything you watched growing up.

Any resemblance from appearance, personality, and traits we take a look at some of the 2021 Gamecocks counterparts.

Braylen Wimmer: The Flash

Brady Allen is known as the fastest man alive… That was until Braylen laced up the cleats. The lengthy second baseman has shown time and time against you don’t need super strength to get on base, laying down bunts all year for base hits just simply because he can.

In the DC world, The Flash is overlooked often times by Superman and Batman but reassure respect is deserved by this crimson character and a man with one of the best on base percentages in college baseball.

Keeping fielders on their toes and showing that cleats can outrun a cannon when Wimmer steps up to the plate.

Jack Mahoney: Ben 10

Many of us as kids had Pokémon cards, Gameboys, and some of us had the green watch from Ben 10. The kid that could be and do anything.

The freshman Jack Mahoney can do it all. We’ve seen him field, hit, and pitch tremendously. In just a short time as a Gamecock so far he has really proven he can do anything anytime when his number is called.

Need a third baseman, just a flip of the watch and he’s ready to go. Want a starting pitcher? You got it! Want a basehit, put him in the lineup and watch him get fired up as he trots to first.

Jack is the ultimate tool and the type of player coaches love to have. The only thing missing is the legendary Ben Ten tune as his walk up song and he’s the real deal.

Collin Burgess: Stitch

We all remember watching Lilo and Stitch as kids, walking around school saying “Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten”.

Stitch may have been small but we all know he was an absolute unit.

Collin Burgess comes in at 5-8 and the smallest on the team, that means absolutely nothing. The Kid looks like an absolute animal when he leaps up to throw out anyone who dares to run for second.

Collin is like the little blue alien especially when he is in the garnet catchers gear. I get taken back to my elementary school days of seeing Stitch in his red jump suit every time I see him come up guns blazing for second base.

George Callil: Sub-Zero

We have all played Mortal Combat at some point in our life. One of the coolest characters to play as was Sub-Zero, and he reminds me of ninja Shortstop George Callil.

It’s almost like watching an acrobat when George is out in the field, and is in no doubt a certified killer.

From having a suddle tone and a turtle neck, he is the living version of Sub-Zero.

Josiah Sightler: 6^th ranger

Remember back when you were a kid, going to the ballpark. You might not remember the exact player, but you remember the tall smiling friendly guy that had it going on.

He trotted on the field, made the plays and you waited after the game to get a signature.

Now remember sitting at home watching the Power Rangers. With every season of the show they had the core group of fighters, then towards the end out of no where this new guy with a cooler suit comes in to save the day.

The one particular 6^th ranger that comes to everyone’s mind is the  green ranger that had a metal dragon. We all wanted to be him, when we went outside and played Power Rangers we all fought with our friends to be him.

That’s Josiah Sightler on the field.

With his socks up to his knees, his confidence, and heroic at bats, he embodies every 6^th ranger and childhood hero baseball player we wanted to be.

Brandon Fields: Raphael, TMNT

The young athlete we all love to see come onto the field Brandon Fields. We all use to watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles and all thought Raphael was the coolest.

The athletic confident and swag turtle with a red bandana and cool little swords. He was very young, very strong, and as the shows and movies go on we see him learn to harness his power.

Brandon is very young but very talented, and when he’s on the field makes a team sport look like a one man show. The future star centerfielder will make baseball games fun to watch for a very long time at founders park.

Wes Clarke And Brady Allen: Bash Brothers, Mighty Ducks

The hard hitting, cool kids on the block, the Bash brothers Fulton Reed and Dean Portman.

Deeming them enforcers is an understatement, Wes and Brady are so feared in the box they bring a literal scythe everywhere they go, reaping souls and adding them to their list.

The roommates are always having a good time being theirselves. In the field, on Instagram live, during interviews, these two are a duo that will be remembered in Gamecock history.

David Mendham: Gus, Benchwarmers

When you look at this team you see several leaders, one that has always caught my attention was the Canadian David.

The joking veteran is always having a good time and knows his way around a ballpark.

Although he is not a 40 year old man playing kids, he is very skilled and knows baseball like the back of his hand.

Thomas Farr: Ya Ya, Sandlot

If you’ve ever seen Thomas in an interview you’ll notice two things. He is very energetic and talks very fast. He always just seems to be so excited to be there and happy he is very much like Ya Ya from sandlot.

A guy that just loves playing ball with his friends and talking, we all need a guy like that around us to make the game fun and rejuvenated.

It’s a nice change of pace to see a guy smiling and enjoying himself.

Will Sanders: Groot

I AM WILL… The tallest guy on the team will little to say is Mr. Will Sanders. He is the youngster that knows exactly what to do to help his team out of any situation.

If you’ve seen Will doing interviews or when the camera catches him in the dugout, you see he has a suddle goofy side. Like young Groot, he is calm guy on the outside, but has a child like attitude just making jokes and being a fun clubhouse guy.

If they ever need a guy to make a start or keep batters in check, the young strong pitcher can get the job done.

Julian Bosnic: Squints

No, this is not only because of the glasses, but it did have a part in it. When you watch Sandlot, you can notice how clever squints is.

From tricking Wendy Peffercorn into a smooch, or concocting several plans to get the ball from the Beast you know his gears are always going in his head.

When Julian is on the mound, it’s like he is playing chess and those in the box are playing checkers. He is always thinking two steps ahead it seems like and calculating every detail.

On a serious note, characters with glasses are under appreciated in kids shows and movies. Why can’t a guy with glasses get to be the cool hero or absolute stud?

One thing is for sure, Julian makes those glasses a staple of this 2021 Gamecocks roster.

Coach Kingston: Chubbs, Happy Gilmore

As far as mentors or role models, several came to mind for Mark. Jimmy Dugan from a league of their own, Yoda because of his way to upset an umpire with one word “outside”, and even Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince because we all have an uncle like Coach Kingston.

But there was one that stood out more than most. Chubb the one handed Golf Guru from Happy Gilmore is Coach Kingstons counterpart. His conversations with the guys are heartfelt and simplify the game.

The amount of times he’s had an “it’s all in the hips” type of conversations bringing the game back to a manageable situation for the guys has to be a daily thing.

The firm but friendly attitude Coach Kingston has is one that players look for in finding a new home.