#Risewithus

Liberty Baseball wrapped up the Fall 2026 season with a perfect 4-0 record in the fall.  The Flames beat Radford and NC State on the road while beating Longwood and Elon at home.  The Flames thoroughly dominated NC State & Elon and completely shut down the Longwood bats.  The only game that was really competitive was the 1st game of the Fall on the road at Radford that saw the Flames win 8-7.   Lineup wise here's a look at what we saw this Fall (no order) CF Campos/Cleveland RF Cleveland/Drumm LF Drumm/Carter/Kaitz 3B Irby SS Scilley/Miller/Mccoury 2B Ellison/Mccoury/Smith 1B Decandido/Myles C Kalinich/Carter DH Carter/Kaitz Let's start with the returners.  Josh Campos returns as an elite defensive CF who surprised a bit with an .872 OPS and 12 HR's & 51 RBI's.  Campos is locked in as the starter at CF heading into the Spring.  Riley Decandido returns at 1B after a .272 .837 6 HR 44 RBI slash line splitting time between 1B/DH/Corner Outfie...

  As the 2026 Fall schedule starts to wind down the Flames will turn their attention to the 2027 HS/JUCO Signing class.  The signing period opens on November 11 and will remain open throughout the Spring.  As of today the Flames have 6 commitments including 5 expected HS signees and 1 JUCO signee.   Seth Hooks - Hooks is a 6'0 195 LB left handed hitting and throwing OF from Knights Academy in Franklin TN.  Hooks has a chance to hit for big time power as his frame continues to fill out.  He has strong bat to ball skills and has had some big time exit velo's around 100 MPH regularly on the summer circuit per scouts.  Hooks is 1 of the top players in the state of TN and the Flames are thrilled to get him through to signing day.   Top 150 national player that projects as a corner OF and potential 2 way player.  He's up to 90 mph as a left handed pitcher.  The Flames got in early on Hooks and secured the commitment before who's who...

  Liberty had quite a bit of action on it's own players, signees & commitments.  Ben Blair obviously topped the list as he was selected 49th overall by the Tampa Bay Rays as he became the highest draft pick since Sid Bream was selected at 48 all the way back in the 80's.  The pick has a slot value of around $2.2MM.  There were several other teams in the mix and at the top of the list were the Rockies and Padres.  Typically, pitchers are shut down for the year after the draft so it's likely that we've seen the last of Blair for the year.  The Rays Low A affiliate resides in Charleston SC and they frequently play in Lynchburg against the Howlers and Salem against the Ridgeyaks but Blair may skip that level altogether depending no how Spring Training goes.  It's most likely that he starts out 2027 in High A with the Bowling Green Hot Rods in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Blair has already made a couple trips there to face the Hilltoppers of WKU in hi...

  Summer League action is in full force and the Flames.  It's not uncommon to see Starting Pitchers take the Summer off and that's exactly what Cooper Harrington and Bradley Zayac are doing.  Ben Blair took last Summer off after an increased workload.  You'll also see teammates playing together often times and this year is no different.  Valley League  Charlottesville Tom Sox Xavier McCoury - The Flames RS Freshman SS is hitting .269 in 52 AB's while starting 14 games.  He has no homer's and 12 RBI's but he has an impressive 14 BB's leading to an impressive .424 OBP.  He has made 5 errors in the field for a .929 Fielding %.   Brandon Dahlman - The Flames spin Dr. has a 0 ERA in 14 1/3 IP while punching out a whopping 31 hitters thus far.  He's held opponents to a paltry .044 battting average as well.  Those are eye popping numbers in the earlier part of the season.  Dahlman has 1 more year of eligibility left.  ...

  Liberty has had another excellent offseason where they currently reside in the T25 in portal classes for the 2nd year in a row.  They've made 7 portal additions with 2 to 3 more expected.  It's the portal so anything can happen until it closes at month end but it sounds like Cooper Harrington is locked in to come back.  The ceiling of the team with Harrington at the top is Omaha if all the additions work out and players develop.  They've also added 3 JUCO players and 5 HS signees.   Scheduling wise, it sounds like the Flames are heading back old rival Coastal Carolina for 3 and at Auburn for 3 in the non conference slate.  As of now, UNC and Clemson are back on the midweek schedule in road games only as well.  I'd expect the same slate of ACC home and homes as usual for the most part (UVA, Wake, Duke, VT).  Wake may take a step back after losing long time top assistant Bill Cilento to South Carolina.  CUSA will also be in transiti...

 Liberty has always had quite a few players drafted from the program over the years.  The Flames had some serious MLB talent in it's teen years before entering a dry spell.  That's all changed in the last couple years starting with Ryan Cordell who is now retired.  Will Wagner, Trey Gibson & Mason Fluharty have all had significant time in the show this year.  I'll dive in and take a look at the former Flames in MLB & MILB. Trey Gibson - Gibson has ascended from undrafted Free Agent to the #4 prospect in the Orioles system.  Trey had a 3.55 ERA in 38 IP to go along with a 1.53 WHIP .260 Opp BA and 38 K's for 1 strikeout per inning,  Gibson started in the Spring breakout game and went 3 scoreless innings against the Red Sox top prospects in a game I was able to attend.  He got the call in May and has started 6 games for the Orioles with a 5.64 ERA over 30 1.3 IP with 25 K's, .261 Opp BA and 1.65 WHIP.  The Orioles broadcasts have been ...