Fall Baseball Update

It might be fall, but Liberty baseball is still in full swing.

The team’s offseason officially started Sept. 13th and will end Oct. 26th. This aspect of the offseason is made up of six practice days and one off day. Of those six practice days, two or three are intra-squad scrimmages.

Senior outfielder Nick Paxton did not play due to an injury in 2014, but is excited to be back on the field with the team this fall and looking forward to the upcoming season.

“It’s going well so far and the ankle is healthy,” Paxton said. “I’m glad to be back to 100 percent and to be able to be back (on the field) with the team now.”

Paxton will be one of the leaders on the Flametrain this year, and under that leadership are freshman and transfers whom Paxton hopes to help guide.

“I’ve been mainly talking to them about how to deal with the negatives of the game,” Paxton said. “There are going to be struggles in this game at times, and they have to learn to keep their heads up.”

The outfield is not the only place that has some new faces this fall. A new season brings new talent all over the field. The Flametrain has 14 new players on campus this fall.

Newcomers will help on the field and in the dugout with the Flames welcoming new assistant coach Blake Hunt from Charleston Southern to the staff.

In his first season with Liberty, Hunt said he is excited with the progress on and off the field.

“I’ve really been trying to learn the guys and have the guys learn me,” Hunt said. “I’ve been trying to find out more about the guys’ personalities in off-the-field stuff in addition to on-the-field stuff.”

The Flames are coming off a 41-18 season in which they lost to Bucknell to end the season in the Charlottesville regional. In May 2014, the Flames broke into the top 25 for the first time at No. 21 in the Baseball America poll.

As successful as the season was last year, members of the team will say that it was not good enough.

Senior Pitcher Sean Clowers hopes that the team can put last year behind them and focus on finishing this spring.

“We’ve got to work hard in the fall so we can get into shape to last the whole season,” Clowers said. “For the pitchers, we need to be able to pitch as good as we can for as long as we can, and that will help us to finish like we want.”

The Flames scrimmages are open to the public on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays through October 26.

BRITT is a sports reporter.