Two years and two NCAA Tournament appearances for sophomore Blake Barthol and the Coastal Carolina baseball program has provided a great start to the former Trojan’s college career. Barthol, a 2022 Parkland High School graduate, just completed his second season helping lead the Chanticleers to a 36-25 overall record and second straight berth in the NCAA Regional round of the College World Series. “I feel like the season overall was good,” said Barthol. “The first half of the season was really good, I was playing high level baseball and the team was winning. The second half I struggled and did not do as well and as a team we struggled overall. “We did make a regional and made it to the championship game but came up short. We lost the same game last year too, which is disappointing, but next year is another promising year that could lead to another regional and beyond. “Making regionals is one of our goals every year and to achieve that is exciting. Making a regional is just the beginning of our end goal. We put in a lot of hard work to make a regional, but at the end of the day we want to make it farther and achieve more.” Barthol has made an instant impact in Conway, S.C., in his first two seasons. He has played in 113 games, starting 107 of them as an infielder, including all 61 this past season when he was one of only two Chanticleers to start every game. He batted .310 this spring with 20 doubles (tied for team-high), 15 home runs (second on team) and 61 RBI while posting a .597 slugging percentage and a .444 on base percentage. Barthol led the team with 35 total bases last season. Over two seasons Barthol is batting .309 with 33 doubles, 22 homers and 93 RBI with a .587 career slugging percentage and a .436 OBP. “I give credit to the coaches on helping me improve and giving me an opportunity to play every day,” said Barthol. “A lot of hard work is put in between the coaches and I to continue to get better.” Coming off of a successful high school career, Coastal fit Barthol’s criteria as one of the nation’s best Division I baseball programs in a warm climate. “I did not have many offers out of high school and Coastal was the only school that was in the South,” Barthol said. “I wanted warm weather all year round. Coastal is known to have a good baseball program so when I got an offer, I could not turn it down.” Barthol enjoyed his time at Parkland in the classroom and on the diamond. “Parkland was a good time and they taught me to work hard while also having fun,” said Barthol. “Baseball is still the same game no matter where you play it. If you believe in yourself and work hard you’ll be successful.”