Congratulations are in order to the South Carolina Gamecocks for winning this year’s College World Series, their first national championship during the last year of Rosenblatt Stadium.  Jackie Bradley Jr. was named the Most Outstanding Player, while ace Blake Cooper continued to be masterful against some of the top teams in the nation.

While much of the top high school talent was at Tropicana over a week ago for the 2010 Perfect Game National Showcase, there was an intriguing quartet of premium 2011 draft eligible college talent in Omaha over the past week-plus.  We’ll start with Jackie Bradley Jr. since he was just mentioned above.

Jackie Bradley Jr.

Bradley quietly opened the year as one of the top prospects eligible for next year’s draft, coming off of a strong campaign playing for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League, in which Allan Simpson rated him the 23rd best prospect in the circuit coming off of his freshman year in college.

He is a potential five-tool athlete that has good, not great speed and a very strong throwing arm.  He has very good bat speed and budding power potential, swatting two home runs in Omaha and 13 overall on the season, tied for the most on the Gamecocks.  He also led South Carolina in hitting (.368), on-base percentage (.473), RBI (60) and walks (41).  Those walks are a good indication of how well he manages the strike zone, and also continued to show that ability to get on base in the College World Series.

In Omaha he hit .280/.400/.440, but was hitting .350 prior to the final game when he went 0-5.  He hit a home run in each of South Carolina’s first two CWS games, the second of which was a key three-run shot in the second against Arizona State as the Gamecocks sent the top-seeded Sun Devils home.

He also scored the winning run in a 12-inning elimination game against Oklahoma, also contributing with an RBI single to get on base during that final frame.  Overall he scored five runs and drove in nine during the seven games South Carolina played in Omaha, of which they lost their first game and won their next six to take home the championship.

Bradley certainly has put his name in the conversation for the first half of the first round in next year’s draft.  He could hit anywhere first through third in a big-league lineup, although he doesn’t possess prototypical game-changing speed to leadoff.  His ability to get on base could make up for that and then some, and his knack for the big hit will serve him well wherever he hits.

Trevor Bauer

Bauer leap-frogged teammate Gerrit Cole in the Bruins’ starting rotation as UCLA opened play against Florida in the College World Series.  The move appeared to be an astute one for Head Coach John Savage, as Bauer tossed seven strong innings, striking out 11 Gators.  In this game he set UCLA’s single-season strikeout mark, breaking Pete Janicki’s record that stood since 1992.

In his next game, he eliminated TCU, whom the CWS crowd adopted as their emotional favorite, with another strong perfromance.  He fared even better against the Horned Frogs, going eight innings with 13 strikeouts.

After going 2-0 in Omaha with 24 punchouts in 15 innings of work, Bauer moved to 12-3 on the season with a 3.02 ERA.  His 165 to 41 strikeout to walk ratio over 131.1 innings of work is particularly impressive, and his presence, along with Cole’s, give the Bruins an excellent chance to pick up where they left off next year.

Bauer’s stuff matched his statistical success.  At his best he threw 93-94, settling in the 90-92 range with a hammer curveball.  His exaggerated delivery and the way he rocks his back as part of his delivery is similar to that of Tim Lincecum.  Bauer doesn’t throw as hard as Lincecum, but the break of his curveball and the velocity it is thrown at is close.

In addition to his success, he as an interesting pre-game preparation, with all sorts of unconventional physical contortions as part of his stretching routine before he stretches out his arm by playing long-toss in the outfield, heaving the ball from right to left field to warm up his arm.  I enjoy the character aspect he brings to the game, as he certainly appears to be one of a kind.

And that one of a kind talent means he projects to go early in next year’s draft.  His teammate Gerrit Cole projects to go higher than Bauer due to Cole’s better pure stuff, but Bauer appeared to be the better pitcher down the stretch.

Gerrit Cole

Cole seemed to wear down some as the season progressed, although his stuff still looked plenty good in Regional, Super Regional and College World Series play.  His threw his fastball in the 94-98 range, although he was down to 91-96 in his last game against South Carolina.

Similar to Bauer, he did have a heavy workload this spring, tossing 123 innings, and his coach worked both starters pretty heavy in the postseason, as Cole threw 122 and 127 pitches in his two starts against TCU and South Carolina respectively.  Bauer finished second in the nation in innings pitched this past year, with Cole finishing sixth, although their extended postseason playing time helped lead to their lofty totals.

Cole’s first game against TCU was dominant, fanning 13 batters in eight innings of work.  His second game against the Gamecocks wasn’t as good, although he had some terrible luck in the early innings, which led to six runs (four of which were earned) in seven innings.

While Cole didn’t break the single-season strikeout record at UCLA, he eventually moved past Pete Janicki’s mark as well, finishing the year 153 punchouts versus 52 walks, an improvement in the control department compared to last year’s ratio (104 to 38 in 85 innings).  Overall, Bauer and Cole finished first and third respectively in the nation in Ks.

As good as Cole’s fastball is, it does look as though he needs to improve the consistency of his secondary offerings.  He can throw a nasty slider, and seems to be able to take a little off of his fastball for added movement.  He also appears to be working on a changeup, but his fastball is not only his best pitch, it is the single best pitch available for next year’s draft, and the reason Cole is often considered the favorite to go first overall next June.  Not only does he throw extremely hard, but the ball appears to have some run to it, and bores in hard on right-handed batters.

Overall he went 11-4 this season with a 3.37 ERA.  Opposing hitters batted only .205 against him, and only 23 of the 92 hits he allowed this year went for extra bases.

Matt Purke

Every time I watched Purke throw this year he reminded me why I had him ranked as the second-best draft eligible prospect, behind only Stephen Strasburg, among those eligible for the 2009 draft.  He was a first-rounder of course, and after he was unable to come to terms with the Rangers he joined the TCU program, much to the delight of Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle.

And while true freshmen rarely perform at a high level, Purke quickly proved this year that he was the exception to the rule.  He, like Bauer, as some quirky antics on the mound, and adds a valued level of character to the game of college baseball.  He was dominant down the stretch, pitching very good games against Utah in the MWC tournament, Arizona in the Regionals, Texas in the Super Regionals and both Florida State and UCLA at the College World Series.

He lasted seven innings against the Seminoles and 6.1 against the Bruins, fanning nine batters between those two games.  He picked up a win in both contests, and finished the season a perfect 16-0 (and led the nation in wins), sporting a 3.02 ERA in 20 games, 18 of which were starts.  He struck out 142 batters (fifth-best in the nation) and allowed only 34 walks and 91 hits during his 116 innings spent on the mound, limiting batters to a .212 batting average.

In Omaha, his fastball sat at his usual 88-92, touching the 93-94 range frequently in the early innings.  His slider also continues to be a dominant pitch, and he does an excellent job upsetting opposing batter’s timing.  The low walk total shows how well he makes his pitch when he needs to, and he can be effectively wild at times.  He is a fiery competitor, and has stepped up to every challenge he has faced so far during his college career.

As a draft-eligible sophomore next spring, I envision Purke joining the likes of Gerrit Cole and Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon for the conversation for the first overall pick.  If you had to put Purke in a big-league rotation today, I think he would enjoy success, and it won’t take long for him to reach the big-leagues once he begins his professional career.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA.  Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and 5 Tool Talk, and can be contacted via email at pebert@5tooltalk.com.