Flame train rolling
Baseball squad is ready to improve upon last season’s unprecedented success
With another 40-plus win season, a Big South regular-seaso title and the first at-large bid to an NCAA Regional in the books, the Liberty baseball team is aiming to accomplish even more during the 2015 season.
LOCKED IN — The Flames went a school-best 23-3 in the Big South in 2014. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
Head Coach Jim Toman wants to take Liberty to its first-ever College World Series in hopes of bringing the National Championship back to Lynchburg.
“We want to get on that national stage on ESPN and tell everyone that we love the Lord,” Toman, the 2014 Big South Coach of the Year, said.
The 2015 Flames are ranked No. 25 in Baseball America’s College Preseason Top 25 poll. The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s 2015 Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I preseason baseball poll has the Flames at No. 23.
Last season, the Flames went 41-18 and 23-3 in the Big South, taking home the Big South regular-season title and competing in an NCAA Regional for the second straight season.
“It was big for the program because Liberty has never had anyone that has gotten an at-large bid to an NCAA Regional,” Toman said. “It gives us a bigger platform when people nationally know who we are, … and that gives us a better platform for our mission.”
In order to surpass their 2014 accomplishments, the Flames will have 21 players back from last year’s squad, including seniors Alex Close and Ashton Perritt, who were both drafted into the MLB but chose to return to Liberty for their final seasons.
According to the Liberty Flames athletics website, first baseman Close was selected to the 2015 Perfect Game Preseason All-American third team as well as the 2015 Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American second team. Also, Close was named the 2015 Preseason Big South Player of the Year. In 2014, Close batted .324 with 45 RBIs and was one of only two juniors to be named to the Capital One Academic All-American first team. Close was also named to the All-Big South first team.
Perritt, the closer for the Flames, was selected to the 2015 Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American second team. With 12 saves in 2014, Perritt currently ranks second in program history with 22 career saves.
Yet, after such stellar 2014 seasons, both Close and Perritt, leaders on and off the field according to Toman, are back at Liberty to propel the Flames back to an NCAA Regional berth.
“It means a lot to the program (to have) two captains last year coming back this year to lead us again and hopefully get us to Super Regionals and Omaha,” sophomore pitcher Parker Bean, the reigning Big South Freshman of the Year, said.
Even though the Flames will have veteran leadership returning for the 2015 season, the Flames lost the 2014 Big South Player of the Year Ryan Seiz, as well as the Big South Pitcher of the Year Trey Lambert.
However, Toman is confident the Flames have enough depth and experience to fill the voids left by Seiz and Lambert.
“We are going to put out on the field this year a lot of guys that have played before,” Toman said. “Almost every position will be (filled with) guys that have experience. We just need someone who will play hard every day and hopefully we’ll have a couple guys that can replace (Seiz).”
With yet another talented squad, Toman said there is not one team in the way of the Flames reaching the NCAA Regionals again, but rather the Flames must either win the Big South Conference tournament or earn an at-large bid by winning close to 40 games and having an RPI high enough to impress the NCAA selection committee.
Close said the way for his team to be successful down the stretch is to focus on each part of the season when it arrives.
“We need to take it one day at a time and not get too worried about the end result, because we have a lot of games to play before we get to the Big South Tournament and regionals,” Close said. “Once we get there, I think we just need to finish strong and put in the extra work to get to that point where we are healthy and still felling good.”
Toman also acknowledged the change in the type of baseball being used by the NCAA. He said the seams on the ball are lower than in the past, allowing for a more offensive game.
“I think this year (people are) going to see a lot more runs scored, and hopefully we will be scoring a lot more than the other team,” Toman said.
The Flames currently sit at 2-1 on the season. They look to make it 3-1 against the University of Michigan Wolverines, Feb. 20, in Greeneville, North Carolina in the Keith LeClair Classic.
RODRIGUEZ is a sports reporter.