Royals’ Whit Merrifield was honored at South Carolina football game

Whit Merrifield will be remembered forever in South Carolina for one of the biggest plays in Gamecocks history.

Merrifield, now the Royals’ second baseman, had the walk-off hit when South Carolina won the 2010 College World Series. On Saturday, he was back in Columbia, S.C., and led the “Gamecocks” cheer before the team’s game against Florida.

Merrifield wrote in an Instagram post: “USC, you’re the best! No place like Columbia. Loved being with great friends and former teammates this weekend. And special thanks to @gamecockfb for this awesome moment!”

According to the Post and Courier, Merrifield was honored on the field, along with fellow major-leaguers Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox, Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays, Christian Walker of the Diamondbacks and Jordan Montgomery of the Yankees.

Merrifield and Bradley also took time to meet with the South Carolina baseball team on Friday.

One team Merrifield didn’t visit was the men’s basketball squad. Gamecocks coach Frank Martin let Merrifield know about it, too.

“Man I can’t believe u didn’t come by practice. I was waiting to put u and ‪@TheRealHos35 in my drills,” Martin wrote.

Merrifield answered: “I’ll be back this winter for a hoop game! Be an honor to come put on a free throw clinic and run some suicides with a Final Four squad!”

This story was originally published November 12, 2017 at 12:24 PM.