Radford Baseball 2021 Position-By-Position Preview

RADFORD, Va. – With Opening Day just a day away, RadfordAthletics.com breaks down the Highlanders' roster in advance of the season opener Friday against Ohio.

CATCHER
Straton Podaras is back for another season behind the dish for the Highlanders after putting together career highs across the board in the shortened 2020 season. Podaras was named to the Buster Posey Award Watch List last season, the only catcher in the Big South Conference to earn a spot on the list. He hit .283 with six doubles, a triple and 11 runs batted in on the offensive side, and led all of Division I with 14 runners caught stealing. Podaras also led the Big South by throwing out more than 60 percent of attempted base-stealers.

Will Harless and Garrett Matheny also return for the Highlanders and can provide experience behind the plate, though both of their primary roles are at other positions. JUCO transfer Logan Hullette rounds out the Highlander backstops after hitting .313 in his career at Walters State CC (Tenn.).

CORNER INFIELDERS
Radford has to replace a key part of their lineup with the departure of J.D. Mundy, but the Highlanders return plenty of experience as well. Mundy was a cog in the middle of the lineup and a fixture at first base as the 2020 season went on. JUCO transfer Connor Bagnieski was a part of Florida Southwestern State College's All-Decade team and figures to play a role there. Bagnieski and Tanner Barrs, who hit .323 in his freshman season last year, split most of the reps at first base in the fall, and both should see significant action this year.

Will Harless spent the majority of the 2020 season at third base and could see extended time at the hot corner in 2021. Harless had seven extra-base hits and 11 RBI's in 17 games last season for the Highlanders. Radford has depth in the infield, as both David Bryant and Austin Kaplan can play at third as well, though both of them have primarily been middle infielders in their time at Radford.

MIDDLE INFIELDERS
As mentioned before, David Bryant and Austin Kaplan have spent most of their Radford careers as middle infielders, with Bryant being Radford's primary second baseman each of the last two seasons and Kaplan serving in a utilityman role with second base being his most common spot in the infield. Bryant enters the season with an eight-game hit streak and was Radford's stolen base leader in 2019 with 16. Kaplan had seven hits in the last six games of the 2020 season, including four extra-base hits, and also had a 0.00 ERA in two relief appearances.

JUCO transfer Dac Archer spent plenty of time at shortstop in Radford's fall practices as well, and the Bellevue College product figures to see time at the position this year. Archer hit .333 and .320 in his two seasons at Bellevue, and had an on-base percentage above .440 in both seasons.

Freshmen Jordan Peyton, Jalen Buster and Tommy Myint round out the infield contingent for the Red and White, though all three have the versatility to play in other positions as well. Peyton is the highest-rated position player recruit in the Big South and one of two top-500 national recruits in Radford's freshman class.

OUTFIELDERS
All three starting outfielders from the 2020 season are back for the 2021 campaign. Sean Cheely spent most of the season at left field, Garrett Matheny played every inning of the 2020 season in center field and Anthony Galati played mostly in right field. Galati carries a 14-game on-base streak into the season, Matheny led Radford in triples (three), stolen bases (six) and HBP (11) last year and Cheely had six hits and seven RBI's in the final six games of the year.

Radford had depth in the outfield as well, as the aforementioned Tanner Barrs spent some time in left field in 2020 can play either corner outfield spot. The same holds true for Connor Bagnieski, who is also listed as both an infielder and outfielder and can play either spot.

Freshman Bryson Dansberry rounds out the outfield contingent, while fellow first-year players Jalen Buster and Tommy Myint, who were mentioned earlier, can also play in the outfield.

PITCHERS
The starting rotation will have a new look for the 2021 season, as Brandon Donovan and Ryan Sande have departed. Transfers Greg Duncan (UVA Wise) and Vinnie Venturi (Chicago State) are expected to headline the rotation, while Ryan Bywaters returns after starting five games and posting a 2.29 ERA in 2020.

Bruce Hudson led the Big South in saves last year with four and was also selected to the 2020 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List. Hudson could feature as part of the rotation or as a relief pitcher this season. Alex Perkins sat out last year due to transfer rules, but served as a closer in fall practice and could serve in that role this season.

Brandon Feathers and Derek Domecq both have experience as starting pitchers and relief pitchers, and both could be utilized as either bullpen arms or midweek rotation pieces. Hunter Williams also can perform in either role, though his 2020 season was cut short due to injury. Andrew Boyd is also back after having three appearances with one earned run or fewer in 2020.

Among the new faces in the bullpen, the staff is high on lefty Brock Smith, who joins from Hagerstown CC (Md.), while fellow JUCO transfers Storm Mace and Ty Burton also joined this season. The freshmen pitchers are headlined by Gene McGough, the highest-rated recruit in the Big South this season. Tyler Horton, Tyler Bowes, Landon Higgerson and Latroy Whitaker round out the freshmen, with Higgerson being a familiar name due to brothers Colby (2016-20) and Hunter (2012-15) previously playing at Radford.

Radford opens its season Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. against the Ohio Bobcats inside the friendly confines of Williams Field at Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium. It is just the third time in program history that the Highlanders are opening the season at home and will also mark the earliest home game (by date) in program history.

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