Two Flames pitchers selected in 2022 MLB Draft

With the selection of two Flames pitchers in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, Liberty University Baseball has now had 74 players picked during the 49-year history of its program. At least one player has been drafted each year since 2000 (except for the limited 2020 draft due to COVID-19).

Left-handed reliever Mason Fluharty, a sophomore last spring, joined the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round as the 158th pick on July 18. The southpaw from Milton, Del., becomes the highest Liberty draft pick since Jason Jones was taken by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the 2004 MLB Draft.

One of the ASUN Conference’s top relief pitchers in 2022, Fluharty was selected to the ASUN All-Conference second team, after posting a 6-3 record with a 2.84 ERA and two saves over 50 2/3 innings, all in relief. Fluharty finished third in the ASUN with 26 appearances.

Left-handed starter Joe Adametz III was selected by the Detroit Tigers on July 19 during the final day of the draft in the 14th round as the 417th pick.

Adametz, a junior this past spring, was named to the ASUN All-Conference first team in 2022. A starter for the Flames, Adametz posted a 6-3 record and an ASUN-leading 2.51 ERA over 86 innings this past spring, finishing the year 26th nationally in ERA. In a team-high 16 starts, the Mohnton, Pa., native struck out a Liberty-high 84 and walked 25.