Cooke remains under the radar despite emerging as future star for Chants

Seemingly all the talk this week leading up to Coastal Carolina’s NCAA super regional at Louisiana State has been about the Chanticleers’ collection of power hitters, or the pitching matchups and how the team’s arms will fare against the host Tigers.

Earlier this week, in the afterglow of the Chants’ dramatic NCAA regional championship, the spotlight was seized by sophomore Seth Lancaster’s momentous two-run go-ahead single. And all season the story has mostly been about the core of seniors and juniors who have made this memorable run possible.

Through it all, though, sophomore centerfielder Billy Cooke has been right in the middle of what has officially become one of the Chants’ greatest seasons.

And if he’s been overshadowed this year, well, that’s just fine with him.

“I love being the sleeper guy. No one really expects much from me, which is great,” he said this week. “I love being under the radar and I’ll just give all the attention to the other guys and just do my thing.”

Going into the start of the Chants’ super regional series at LSU on Saturday night, Cooke ranks second on the team with a .352 batting average, first with 26 stolen bases (in 32 attempts) and likely first in defensive highlights while making centerfields across the Southeast seem very small.

All while managing to stay in the background on a team full of personalities.

“Has he said a word in the two years since he’s been here? I don’t know. Honestly, if the only way to pass school was to answer verbally he probably wouldn’t survive here very long,” Chants coach Gary Gilmore joked. “He’s that quiet guy that just grins a whole lot and stuff, but he plays so hard and he competes and wants to win. He and a few others’ personalities are overshadowed a little bit by these older guys, but I think a year down the road he’ll open himself up a little bit because he’ll be the guy when he comes back.”

In a season where seemingly every piece has fallen into place for the Chants (47-16), as they return to the super regionals for the third time in program history and first since 2010, Cooke has quietly produced a breakout season while putting up top-of-the-order numbers from down near the bottom of the lineup.

It’s not that it was totally unexpected after he was viewed as a potential key contributor last season before breaking the hamate bone in his left hand in the season opener and going on to bat just .148 in 27 at-bats, but he has certainly accelerated his development as a sophomore.

As great as the offensive contributions have been, though, Cooke’s defense has been even more valuable -- and his own biggest source of pride this year.

“I love going out there and catching fly balls. I always give CO (right fielder Connor Owings) a hard time because I’ve got more range than him. He’ll never admit that, but we both know who’s got more range so it’s fun. I just always have a good time out there,” Cooke said.

He’s made just one error in two seasons while totaling 153 put-outs and seven assists in center.

He’s made some incredible diving catches and closed the gap on countless fly balls that seemed destined to drop for hits – including an incredible grab at Georgia Tech earlier this year that earned a replay on ESPN’s SportsCenter – but perhaps none could be more memorable at this point than hauling in the final out of the Chants’ 7-5 NCAA regional-clinching win over NC State on Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C.

Coastal Carolina had seized momentum with a four-run top of the ninth inning – the last run coming on an RBI single from Cooke – to overcome a two-run deficit, and senior closer Mike Morrison opened the bottom of the ninth with two quick outs before Brett Kinneman smacked a line drive to deep center that Cooke eventually ran down for the third out.

“It was kind of funny that last out at NC State, that ball is absolutely smoked and I was standing right by [pitching coach Drew Thomas] and he goes, ‘Oh, [crap],’” Gilmore said. “No more had that come out of his mouth and I said, ‘We’ve got a Billy there.’ And darn if he didn’t run it down. ... That takes a special ability to do that. He’s been outstanding at that part of his game.”

Said Cooke: “I caught that and then it was the longest run in ever. I had to sprint from basically the warning track, but going on top of that dogpile at the end was just a great feeling.”

Like Gilmore said, Cooke won’t have such an easy time remaining under the radar next season as the Chants lose a number of their veteran stars.

For the time being, though, he’s done a fine job letting his play speak for him this year.

“Going into the season I don’t think they expected much from me, and being able to get that playing time and that opportunity, I just think I took the best advantage of it and it turned out great,” Cooke said. “I’ve still got some more work to do, and I’m looking forward to that.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2016 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Cooke remains under the radar despite emerging as future star for Chants."