98 MPH Fastball: Former Edwardsville Pitcher Chase Gockel Signs With LA Angels

EDWARDSVILLE - Chase Gockel, a former Edwardsville High School pitcher, signed a contract with the Los Angeles Angels after being selected in the ninth round of the Major League Baseball Draft on Monday, the 284th pick overall. He has been clocked with a 98 mph fastball.

Gockel, a 2018 grad of Edwardsville, pitched two years for Parkland College in Champaign, then pitched one year for Charleston Southern University in Charleston, S.C., then played his senior year at Illinois State before playing a graduate season at Quincy University. In his one-year pitching for the Hawks, he helped guide the team to a 47-11 record and both the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships as QU went on to the Division-II Midwest Super Regional.

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"I am very proud and happy for Chase," said Edwardsville High baseball coach Tim Funkhouser. "He has worked incredibly hard to get to this point and I am excited he has the opportunity. I look forward to continually following him in his journey."

Gockel pitched two years for the Tigers' varsity, going 4-0 in 2017 with one save and a 0.68 ERA, walking eight and striking out 12, playing on the Tigers' IHSA Class 4A runner-up team. In his senior year of 2018, Gockel was 3-2 with one save and a 1.72 ERA, walking 26 while fanning 43. In his two years at Parkland, Gockel was a combined 5-0 with an ERA of 2.78, walking 35 and striking out 70. At Charleston Southern and Illinois State, he went a combined 0-1 with 13 walks and 14 strikeouts, while having his best collegiate season at Quincy in 2023, going 3-0 with four saves, walking 20 and striking out 57.

"This surpasses any dream I could ever imagine," Gockel said in an interview with WGEM-TV in Quincy. "I always felt I had the potential to be drafted, but this just feels amazing."

Gockel is expected to report to the Angels' rookie camp in Tempe, Ariz. within the next week. He feels that he'll be used as a power pitcher in the back of the bullpen and will have the opportunity to be the fifth Quincy University player to play in the major leagues.

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