#Risewithus


October 16, 2021


Liberty baseball has spent the last month and a half practicing and scrimmaging each other.  Friday afternoon the Flames pitchers dominated the Hokies lineup for 9 innings and the Flames rode 3 HR's to a 6 to 0 victory in the 9 inning portion of the contest.  Newcomer Jake Lazarro paced the flames offensive attack with 3 hits including a HR and was on base in 4 of 5 total plate appearances.  Logan Mathieu smashed a 2 run HR to get the scoring started early.  As we mentioned earlier in the week freshman Cam Foster flashed and started the game at 2B for the Flames.  Foster looked the part on defense and hit a HR late in the 9 inning contest.  Foster's development is a welcome sight for the Flames.  At 6'4 he provides a different look at 2B than the Flames are used to seeing historically.  Betts caught the first 5 innings before giving way to Three Hillier who caught the remainder of the game.  Hillier has flashed this fall as well and is expected to provide the Flames with a quality backup option behind the plate that could also allow the Flames to use Betts in the OF should the need arise.  Joseph Waters was another true freshman that saw some playing time and looked capable.  Jaylen Guy is looking to bounce back at the plate from a challenging 2021 that saw Guy hitting below the Mendoza line for most of the season.  He demonstrated a much better approach and had a couple of hard hit balls.  Derek Orndorff may be the Flames new spark plug.  At one point he flipped over the outfield wall during the pursuit of a fly ball.  

Joe Adametz returned to the mound in live game action just over 14 months removed from Tommy John surgery.  Adametz started the game and pitched 1 scoreless inning with 2 K's including the a strikeout of the Hokies potential first rounder Gavin Cross.  Adametz sat 89-92.  Adametz is expected to factor into the rotation again for the Flames in the 22 season and had a great start to that Friday night.  Dylan Cumming is returning to the Flames for his second season and he followed up Adametz with 2 scoreless innings of his own.  Cumming sat 91-92 and is showing a much improved slider to add to his sinking stuff that carried him most of last year.  Cumming will surely factor into the rotation as well.  Steady Eddie David Erickson came on behind Cumming and picked right up where he left off in 2021 with 2 scoreless innings.  He sat in the 91-92 mph range.  He was followed by Trey Carter who is one of my 2022 breakout candidates to watch for the Flames.  Carter looks like he could play linebacker for Hugh Freeze.  Carter has always had big time velocity and sat 93-95 in 2 scoreless innings.  He pounded the strike zone Friday night which is the key to his success.  Carter has also focused exclusively on pitching which should his development in 2022.  Mason Fluharty followed Carter with a scoreless inning and sat 90-94 with big time cutting action on his fastball.  He will again be a key cog in the bullpen from the left hand side for the Flames.  Another breakout candidate for me was Cade Hungate.  The former FSU transfer flashed brilliance last year in a few outings.  Friday night he sat 90-93 and featured a wipeout slider and struck out the side.  Hungate has the type of stuff that could possibly challenge for the closer role.  Emmanuel Johnson is another pitcher that has come on for the Flames in the fall.  He allowed a leadoff walk to score but was clean otherwise.  Johnson throws from the 3/4 arm slot from the left slide and could very well factor into the bullpen for the Flames.  Tyler Germanowski got an inning and was 94-96 and showed improved command.  He had an excellent outing at the end of the regional and is another guy that could factor into the late innings if he can exhibit consistent command.  

All in all it was an excellent showing for the Flames.  The pitching staff held the Hokies to 6 hits total through the initial 9 inning game.  Trey Gibson & Max Alba have been shut down for the rest of the fall so they will be fresh for the season but those 2 will obviously be in the rotation barring injury.  Landon Riley is back as well and is taking it slow so that he will be fresh for the season.  It looks like the Flames could have as many as 5 pitchers that are capable of starting and as many as 12-13 that could contribute regularly this year.  

The Flames will head down to ECU to face Cliff Godwin's squad next Sunday to close out the Fall.  We will be back with an update on signing day later  this week which is rapidly approaching.  As noted earlier the Flames have a couple big time Juco recruits on campus this weekend and the Flames hope to close the deal with them and finish strong for the fall signing period.  


#Risewithus

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