The Coastal Carolina baseball team is off to a blazing start in the 2025 season.
The Chants are 16-5, undefeated in Sun Belt Conference (SBC) play and the number one pitching team in the conference.
The roaring start made notice, as CCU jumped into the No. 24 spot in the NCAA rankings made by D1 Baseball, where they’ve stayed for 21 games.
Leading from behind the plate, catcher Caden Bodine holds a laundry list of pre-season honors. Bodine was named the SBC Preseason player of the year. Other honors held are a Perfect Game, D1Baseball and Baseball America preseason All-American.
Bodine is ranked No. 41 in the MLB draft prospect rankings, per the official MLB site.
Playing in his junior year season, Bodine looks to add to the list of Chanticleers to play at the next level and will be draft eligible after the 2025 season.
Bodine started all 21 games for the team behind the plate and made only one error while throwing out 0.677 percent of runners attempting to steal a base for his staff. Bodine’s defense was just as dominant last season, allowing only 11 stolen bases, leading the Sun Belt as the catcher with the fewest allowed bases.
Eric Newell, Bodine’s varsity coach from Haddon Heights High School, follows Bodine’s games and is proud to see his progress.
“He loves baseball. His ability to just move on from tough times will help push through. His baseball ability, his versatility, I think he could do anything on a baseball field,” Newell said.
After his sophomore year at Coastal, Bodine found a spot on the 2024 All-Sun Belt second team and 2024 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp. The first Chanticleer to earn this stripe since pitcher Cody Wheeler in 2009.
“He’s one of the best defenders in the country, he’s just phenomenal, His ability to receive and present the ball, and his presence back there,” Newell said.
Tommy Baker, Coastal baseball player alumni of 1969, attended almost every game at Brooks Springs Stadium dating back 25 years. Baker and Schnall were both catchers for Coastal during their respective careers, and Baker credits Schnall with the team’s defensive success.
“This might be the best pitching staff I’ve ever seen,” Baker said. “We’re fortunate to have Kevin Schnall as our head coach. He’s probably the best college catching coach in baseball.”
Pitching for the Chanticleer’s 2025 season is unmatched. In the Chants first conference series against Georgia Southern, Coastal pitchers with Bodine as the backstop struck out 31 Georgia Southern hitters. They hold the lowest earned run average (ERA) in the SBC with a 3.60.
Bodine reached base seven times and was perfect behind the plate, making no errors and allowing no action on the base paths.
Former assistant director of Coastal Carolina College and retired head baseball coach Larry Biddle can be heard cheering at every home game.
“They are swinging it hot. They look dynamic and their pitching looks like the best anyone will see. You can hear me yelling for the Killer Bs,” Biddle said.
Biddle is the founder of the “Killer Bs”, he sits behind home plate letting all the Coastal players a with B name hear his support.
“Bodine is great. He’s a great a player and a good representative for the school. He goes out there and plays baseball in a way that’s easy to support,” Biddle said.
The Chanticleers started conference play with a series sweep and look to continue to dominate the Sunbelt. This could be Bodine’s last chance to make a deep playoff run with Coastal Carolina.
