South Carolina prize catcher commit withdraws from MLB Draft, will play for Gamecocks
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South Carolina got a huge lift for the 2027 season on a summer Sunday when top catcher signee Alain Gomez-Guidino announced on social media that he would be playing for the Gamecocks next year instead of staying in the MLB Draft.
When Gomez-Guidino wasn’t picked in the opening rounds on Day 2 of the MLB Draft in Philadelphia, he chose to honor his commitment with South Carolina that will start next year.
“What’s up Gamecock Nation?” he wrote on his Instagram post on Sunday.
Gomez-Guidino was rated by Perfect Game as the No. 3 overall catcher in the country in the Class of 2026, so South Carolina’s catchers room just got the biggest lift imaginable for next season as Kevin Schnall takes over as Gamecocks head coach. Instead of sticking in this weekend’s MLB Draft, the 6-foot, 190-pound switch-hitter out of Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., is coming across the country to Columbia to launch his collegiate baseball career.
He is originally from Venezuela but fled to the United States 3 years ago.
Gomez-Guidino originally committed to South Carolina in November of 2024 before signing with the Gamecocks almost exactly a year later in November 2025.
Perfect Game ranked him as the No. 2 prospect in the state of Arizona, describing him this way: “Switch-hitting catcher with high-level, left-handed bat speed, very athletic actions behind the plate defensively, outstanding at PG National.”
Gomez-Guidino will join a loaded catchers room at South Carolina that includes Coastal Carolina transfer Brice Estep as well as Wake Forest transfer Andrew Costello. Schnall spent the previous 3 seasons as the head coach at Coastal Carolina, so Estep decided to stick with Schnall and follow him to Columbia for the 2027 season.
After Sunday, he’ll have some stiff competition for playing time behind the plate with Gomez-Guidino’s announcement.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
