#Risewithus

October 14, 2021


The Flames will bus up to 460 and 81 to Blacksburg for a 12 inning tilt with the Hokies of the ACC tomorrow @ 4 pm.  The Hokies will feature potential future first round pick Gavin Cross.  The Flames have taken advantage of the beautiful late summer & fall weather to get an excellent fall season in.  The Flames will wrap up the fall with a contest @ ECU next weekend.  Liberty should learn a lot about what they have for the 2022 edition of Liberty Flames baseball with these 2 upcoming contests.  Cliff Godwin has turned the Pirates into perennial power but they have been unable to get to Omaha.  VT of course was on cruise control to a potential host until the loss in Lynchburg to the Flames in April that seemed to cause the Hokies season to spiral out of control as they finished just 2 games above .500.  The final game of the 2021 season in Blacksburg against the Hokies was cancelled due to the Hokies reaching their "maximum number of games" as defined by the ACC in the pre season.  


Offensively the Flames have a number of key returners to the lineup.  Gray Betts is back and will anchor the flames up the middle behind the plate and leadoff once again.  Jaylen Guy electrified flames nation with his stellar defensive plays and frequent visits in the Sportscenter Top 10.  Guy has always possesed elite speed that must be accounted but this fall his plate discipline and pitch recognition has improved greatly.  Guy could serve as the second leadoff hitter to turn the lineup over once again.  Aaron Anderson and Brady Gulakowski are both back but have been hampered by lingering hamstring injuries.  Flames nation is fully aware of what those 2 can do.  Logan Mathieu appears to be back to form and has driven the ball up the middle consistently.  Coming back from injury I would expect a big year in the middle of the lineup for Logan.  That leaves a few key spots open at 2b, 3b, SS & RF.  Derek Orndorff has come in and solidified the RF spot for the Flames in the fall.  He's a wiry athlete that has 5 tool potential and provides the Flames with a much needed RH power bat.  Jake Lazzaro has come in from St. Johns as we reported earlier and appears to have solidified the SS position for the Flames that was held down by Cam Locklear for the last 5 years.  Stephen Hill, the transfer from Morehead State has a great approach is expected to man the 3b position though he has battled a few nagging minor injuries this fall as well.  Perhaps the biggest surprise of the Fall has been freshman Cameron Foster who is a 6'4 athlete that can play 2b, SS & 3b.  The Douglasville GA native is expected to be in the mix at 2b to replace stalwart Will Wagner.  Foster was at one time committed to Georgia Southern but ended up with the Flames.  He has an advanced approach at the plate and has provided a big spark for the Flames.  Bo Majkowski is another OF transfer from Clemson that we highlighted earlier in the fall that will compete for time in the Outfield though he has been nicked up as well.  


Stay tuned tomorrow as we will have an update of the pitching staff and then later in the weekend as we  provide a review of matchup with the Hokies.  

#Risewithus 

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