DIAMOND PROSPECT
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON BASEBALL Coach Chad Holbrook knew there was something a little different about Cole Mathis. Even as a freshman, Mathis had this quiet confidence about him. There was nothing flashy or verbose about Mathis’ demeanor; he wasn’t going to flip his bat to show up the pitcher after he smacked one of his towering home runs at the Patriots Point Sports Complex.
“Cole is one of the top two right-handed hitters I’ve been around,” says Holbrook, the CAA Coach of the Year who has been a collegiate coach for nearly three decades. “The other was (Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman) Christian Walker, and he’s hitting 30-plus home runs a season in the Major Leagues.”
That’s not just hyperbole from Mathis’ head coach, either. The facts support Holbrook’s claim. Many professional baseball scouts have Mathis going in the first five rounds in July’s Major League Baseball draft. The Cataula, Ga., native could be the College’s highest-drafted player in program history – maybe even going in the first round – a first for the school (former New York Yankee Brett Gardner went in the third round in 2005).
“He’s that good,” Holbrook says.
As dominant as Mathis has been at the plate over his three seasons with the Cougars, he’s been just as effective on the mound. Mathis has been a two-way player since the day he stepped onto campus. In a breakout sophomore season in the spring of 2023, Mathis led the Cougars in batting average (.330), doubles (20), slugging (.575), walks (41) and runs (48).
With a fastball in the mid-90s mph, the All-American had a 5-1 record and a 3.45 ERA in 14 starts. Mathis’ father, Sammie, was a pitcher in the Cleveland Guardians minor league system.
“There are not many guys in college baseball who have the potential to dominate a game on the mound and at the plate,” says Holbrook. “Cole has the ability to win a game almost all by himself.”
His teammates call Mathis “Cole-Hei” – in honor of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani – because of his dual threat status. It doesn’t matter to Mathis where he plays, just as long as he’s on the field.
“I love to hit, and I love to pitch,” says the mathematics major, who was sidelined with a sore elbow and didn’t pitch this past spring. “I think my future is probably as a position player. I know my father loves to see me pitch.”
A year ago, Mathis took that same attitude to the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, where the nation’s top college players gather for two months each summer.
“I didn’t think about the scouts,” says Mathis. “I just wanted to have fun, maybe hit one home run.”
Mathis did more than hit a single dinger. He dominated the league at the plate and on the mound. He was second in the league in home runs (11) and RBIs (42) and hit .318 with a wooden bat.
“Hitters don’t go up to Cape Cod and do what Cole did last summer,” says Holbrook. “It’s a hard place to hit. They’ve got wood bats, bad lights, the fog rolls in every day, so when you put up numbers like Cole did, it catches everyone’s attention, especially the scouts.”