Portal Szn

As of June 17th the Flames have 6 portal commitments and they are currently ranked #14 nationally by 64 Analytics though that will of course change as more commitments are made nationally,  The Flames are looking to add roughly 10 new players via the portal.

Austin Irby ECU - Irby was a first team freshman All American per Perfect Game in 2025 after his freshman season where he hit .303 with 12 homers and 50 RBI's.  He's a corner infielder that should be a middle of the order bat for the Flames.  Big time acquisition here.  He hit .239 with 5 HR's and 39 RBI's to go along with a .354 OBP in a bit of a down season in 2026.  

Cole Cleveland FIU - Cleveland is a rangy OF from conference mate FIU.  He hit .232 with 4 HR's and 23 RBI's with a .359 OBP and 9 SB's in his sophomore season.  In his true freshman season in 2025 he hit .291 with 5 HR's 32 RBI's and 13 SB's.  He was also named to the All CUSA freshman team.  

Jaeden Carter Longwood - Carter was Longwood's best player and comes in as a utility player that can played OF and Catcher for the Lancers.  He hit .298 with 7 HR's and 44 RBI's and 37 runs scored.  He broke the program record for AB's with 235.  Another huge add from the portal that should plug right into the lineup somewhere.  He has 2 years of eligibility remaining after redshirting at Dayton before transferring in.  

Mike Kalinich ECU - Kalinich could be the front line catcher the Flames are searching for in the portal.  He just completed his freshman year at ECU where he played in 35 games and started 14.  In HS he was the 5th ranked catcher in talent rich FL and 418th overall nationally while being ranked as a 9.5 by PG.  Highly touted and sought after high school Catcher.  

Mike Lane Delaware St.  -Lane is a hard throwing RHP that was up to 96 MPH as a sophomore at Delaware St.  Lane has a big time breaking ball and could be a draft risk for the Flames.  One to keep an eye on when the draft rolls around.  He had a 2.25 ERA in 7 starts and 39 IP while going 1-4.  I'd throw the record out as he was playing on an awful team.  

Brandt Corley ULM - Corley is a 6'2 LHP that made 14 starts for ULM this past year and will have 1 year of eligibility left.  He struck out 61 in 58 IP while recording an ERA of 7.82 ERA.   Lot of experience and 1 of those arms that the Flames could develop as they have the past couple years.  

Stay tuned as more commitments role in over the next few weeks.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keeping the momentum

  Liberty wrapped up the 2026 season with a 6-1 loss to # 3 Georgia in Athens, GA on Sunday night.  The Flames beat the 4 seed from the ACC Boston College twice in the Athens regional while falling twice to Georgia 6-2 and 6-1.  Liberty tied a program record with 43 total wins, 11 Quad 1 wins, 19 true road wins, 2nd place in both the regular season and CUSA tournament as well as featuring the CUSA pitcher of the year in Ben Blair and the defensive player of the year as well as well the CUSA player of the year in Tanner Marsh.  Liberty will finish at #29 in the RPI and likely just outside the Top 25 as they also cracked the BA top 25 for the first time in 5 years.  All that to say Liberty Baseball bounced back in a big way from what had been a tough 3 year stretch for the program.  Some other highlights of the season included taken 1 game off WVU at home in what proved to be a Super Regional win.  The Flames would go 5-6 against the ACC on the year high...
Read more

Summer League Updates

  Liberty has just about put the finishing touches on the roster barring any last minute surprises.  The Flames added 3 impact starting caliber hitters/defenders to supplement a strong returning core.  On the pitching side of things Liberty added several arms that they thing will be impact arms.  Perhaps none bigger than Bradley Zayac who went 7 strong in the Regional Final for ECU against eventual runner-up ECU.  Liberty also really likes Jaxon Lucas the RHP from NC State who could factor in as a potential starter as well.  Pitt transfer LHP Matt Porter & Indiana RHP Ayden Decker-Petty complete the pitching staff additions.  Liberty has given itself a strong group to compete for the starting spots behind ace Ben Blair in Zayac & Lucas to pair with Potts, Harrington & Swink.  Liberty will most likely enter the year with just 3 LHP's on the roster.   There are a couple other notes and changes including Seth Way entering the tr...
Read more

2 Weeks out

  As hard as it may be to believe the Flames are just 2 weeks out from the first pitch of the 2026 season.  The field is still half covered with snow/ice but the Flames got about a weeks worth of scrimmages in before the weather hit.  Fortunately, they have enough indoor facilities these days to do everything but full on scrimmage.  Most of the teams the Flames will play this year are also dealing with some level of weather as well.   The 2026 season starts and ends with ace Ben Blair.  The Flames will trot the pre-season CUSA pitcher of the year out on Friday when the season kicks off.  Beyond that, Potts, Swink, August, Harrington & Lucas are battling for the 2 spots behind Blair and the midweek starter spot.  As of now transfer Ayden Decker-Petty is expected to be 1 of the key backend arms.  2 of the before mentioned group will also factor into the bullpen along with Josh Mcckusker had a solid 2025 for the Flames.  Beyond tha...
Read more