#Risewithus

  Another fun part of summer is tracking the status of the Flames players that are playing Summer league baseball.  Summer ball is a big deal, particularly for the freshman.  Many times the summer after the freshman year is a huge indicator as to whether the player will factor into the next season.  Below is an update on the players that are known to be playing.  The Flames don't have as many guys playing this year as in years past as veterans that are known commodities that are coming back are using the summer to get healthy and rest.  The Flames also have a number of guys that are preparing for the draft such as Adametz, Carter & Fluharty and then there are a number of players that have exhausted their eligibility or are recovering from injury.  Finally, pitchers that had a heavy workload (particularly freshman) will get the summer off.   Addrian Mcneal - The middle infielder is 3/12 with 1 run scored so far while playing for the Brookhaven Bucks in the Sunbelt league.  Three

  The Summer may seem quiet for fans but it's a very busy time in the College Baseball calendar.  Recruiting is in full swing as there are tournaments everywhere with coaches to attend, prospect camps are being held, the transfer portal is in full swing, the coaching carousel is mostly winding down & summer bridge is just around the corner for the freshman.  The draft is also in July and will remain at 20 rounds post COVID.  Roster finalization is a completely different animal thanks to all these factors which happen so late in the calendar year.  Add in the fact that COVID gave players and extra year of eligibility and the late time frame of coaching changes and the MLB draft and you can quickly see how roster projection is a very difficult part of the sport.  NIL has reached down into the College Baseball World as well which has further complicated the roster projection and recruiting calendar.  With that being said we will take a look at what the 2022 roster could look like.

Summer is officially upon as we turn the calendar from Spring.  I haven't posted since Liberty went 0 and 2 in the Gainesville regional after loses to Oklahoma and Central Michigan.  Oklahoma has proven to be a worthy opponent as they went on to win the regional and beat VT in the Super Regional to get to Omaha.  They have also since beaten Texas A&M & Notre Dame in the CWS and have a great chance to bring home the title.  They will have a rematch with the Aggies up next.  Over the next week I'll have 3 updates including tonight's recruiting update, a look at the draft and roster projections & an update on Summer league baseball for those that are playing for the Flames. The transfer portal has been huge for Liberty Football and Baseball the last few years.  Baseball has produced guys like Trevor Delaite, Fraser Ellard, Aaron Anderson, Derek Orndorff & Stephen Hill just to name a few.  Liberty has added 4 players via the portal thus far.  One from Clemson, 2

  # 3 seed Liberty 37-21 #31 RPI  #2 seed Oklahoma 37-21 #19 RPI  June baseball and regional play is here.  Liberty will make it's 3rd straight appearance and 2nd consecutive at large appearance, both of which are program records.  The Gainesville regional is universally agreed to be one of the toughest and most projections has it as the toughest matchup.  Central Michigan is certainly one of the best 4 seeds and they feature one of the better starters in the nation in Andrew Taylor that they will likely throw vs the Gators in Game 1.  He has a 3.19 ERA in 79 IP and went 8 and 3 on the year.  The Gators lost ace Hunter Barko who beat the Flames in the first game of the season to TJ surgery but Sproat and Neely became 2 very solid starters with mid 3 ERA's for the Gators.  Jud Fabian smashed 22 homers drove in 53 runs but hit just .247 on the campaign.  Lanford, Thompson (who hurt the Flames) & Riopelle all turned into .300 hitters with power for the Gators.  HC Scott Jackso