Two days after the Class 7A state title game, Venice left-handed pitcher Carter Cox drove roughly three hours to Gainesville with his dad. He toured Florida baseball’s indoor facility and the weight room. He stopped by Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and then the Gators’ dining hall, decked out with a golf simulator.
And eventually, he met with Florida baseball head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, who offered Cox a roster spot, detailing his interest in the southpaw. Cox capped off the visit on the baseball field, exploring the dugouts and then standing on the mound.
After decommitting from FAU on Wednesday, May 13, Cox flipped to Florida, announcing his commitment on Wednesday evening, May 27. Florida reached out — along with several other programs — on the same day Cox led Venice past Vero Beach in the Class 7A semifinal for its first state title appearance since 2019. Upon seeing the Gator’s interest, Cox said he only thought “Wow.”
“Based on how my season went and how the performance went, I felt like it would be smart to explore other opportunities,” Cox told The Herald-Tribune. “I honestly had no clue Florida was going to be the school to reach out, but they reached out … I got up there for a visit. Loved it there. Loved the coaches.”
Cox has a five-pitch mix, throwing a high-spin fastball that reaches 92 mph. Cox went 13-0 this season with a 1.03 ERA, striking out 125 in 79.2 innings, helping Venice to a 32-2 record. He broke Venice’s strikeout record and has the most wins in school history. To begin the postseason, Cox threw a 17-strikeout no-hitter, tying Venice’s records for most punchouts in a single game.
“Florida has always been a dream school of mine,” Cox said. “I grew up a Florida fan ever since we moved here.”
As Cox considered where to further his career, he prayed often and relied on his parents, who told him there’s no bad option out there, to choose what felt right and it would be. Cox also talked to his Florida Burn coach Mark Guthrie — who attended Venice and played in the MLB from 1989 to 2003, winning the World Series with the Minnesota Twins in 1991 — to help him “gather more information” about the process.
And Florida felt like the right place to go.
“It felt like a homey place,” Cox said. “It was a really good visit. Their facilities are amazing. Being at an SEC program is just kind of impossible to pass up.”
Cox plans to shut down for a little bit and “take it light this summer,” after a season full of pitching. He still has to officially apply for Florida and get everything ready to go to Gainesville, all while still handling MLB draft attention.
At the end of June, he’ll head to Gainesville for a six-week training program for incoming first-year athletes that works to prepare them not only for sports, but also for college life.
“It’ll definitely be a cool experience,” Cox said. “It’ll be a new experience. It’s fast-moving parts with having to apply and get all the stuff ready to be able to go there. So, it’s kind of hectic right now, but it’s definitely a blessing to be able to have this opportunity, meet new people and play a level of baseball that rarely people get to say they play at…so definitely whatever happens with college or draft buzz or anything, I’m definitely just going to enjoy it all.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice High’s Carter Cox flips from FAU to Florida
Reporting by Emma Moon, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
