It was the top of the seventh at the Hoover Met during the SEC Tournament. The Florida Gators had blasted their way to an 11-2 lead over the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Sensing a win in hand, Kevin O’Sullivan started to empty his bench.
Blake Reese pinch-hit for Dalton Guthrie with Nelson Maldonado on first base and one out. Reese was just 1-5 (.200). He had struggled all season to find a place on the team, serving mainly as a pinch runner.
“It’s not like high school ball. There’s a big jump,” Reese said of his freshman season. “There’s a big learning curve and some people adapt quicker. I was a little slower, but everyone finds their way eventually. You just have to adjust to it.”
The game was out of hand, Mississippi State and Florida were both putting in reserves but to a player making just his sixth appearance at the plate in the 58th game of the season it might as well have been the bottom of the ninth of the College World Series. Reese, lined a ball into the right center gap for a RBI double. It was in that moment that Reese found his place. He finally felt as if he belonged.
“We were up by a lot and it didn’t mean a whole lot, but for me, it meant everything,” he said. “I didn’t travel the first three weekends. That was difficult and I had a hard time figuring out my place on the team and convincing myself that I was meant to be here and that I can hold my own. So that was my moment of ‘Wow. I’m here.’”
Reese was originally committed to South Florida but a coaching change made him rethink that decision. Kevin O’Sullivan and his staff offered Reese a scholarship the summer before his junior season of high school. Reese’s mind was made up quickly. O’Sullivan laid out raw data for Reese to ponder. Sitting across a table in McKethan Stadium O’Sullivan slides a piece of paper towards Reese.
“You look at the numbers and they lay out the papers in front of you,” Reese said. “’Here’s our numbers. Here’s the guys who get drafted. Here are the wins.’ All these different numbers, it sells itself.”
Reese grew up playing shortstop. He’s a versatile athlete who can play all four-infield positions; the trouble is he came in with Jonathan India and Deacon Liput and Dalton Guthrie was already locking down the starting shortstop role. Reese was left out of the fold after the two other freshmen infielders but he didn’t let that stop him from working.
“He’s the first one in and the last one out,” sophomore pitcher Jackson Kowar, who is Reese’s roommate, said. “I know that’s cliché to say, but he’s actually the first guy in the cages and the last one to leave the field after practice.”
All of that work, hitting in the cages back on his own paid off in Hoover against Mississippi State. Reese took that momentum into the offseason and came back to Gainesville for his sophomore season a changed player. With that change came a new role as well. With all of the infield spots spoken for, Reese saw a chance to get into the lineup in the outfield, taking over the vacancy in centerfield left by Buddy Reed’s departure. Reese had never played outfield before but he was determined to find a role. His blue-collar mentality has helped him make that transition and it’s turned the heads of his teammates.
“He takes more reps than anybody I’ve seen. He’s stays out here during BP getting reps in center field, because that’s his best chance to play,” junior catcher JJ Schwarz said. “He’s been improving a lot. His range is getting a lot better. His arm is a lot better. He’s always been a solid hotter, so I think it’s just the defense part he needs to work on and he’s been working really hard at it, so that is encouraging to see.”
Reese took a gamble on himself when he chose to go to Florida instead of South Florida. He’s taking another gamble on himself with a move to a position that’s foreign. All the while he’s putting in the work to stack the odds in his favor. It’s a bet he’ll make every time and one that the Gators feel good about making with Reese in the starting lineup this season.