Some excerpts: "There’s plenty of reason to believe the Hokies will remain potent offensively in 2025, and whether they are able to get back into the postseason for the first time since 2022 will depend upon the growth of the pitching staff." "Virginia Tech hit the jackpot when outfielder Ben Watson returned as a sixth-year senior despite leading the ACC with a .417 average last year, adding 21 doubles and a 1.056 OPS. Watson didn’t play this fall while recovering from a stress fracture in his hip, but Szefc said it’s “nothing serious, just something where we had to rest him.” So Watson will be ready to hit the ground running in the spring, anchoring the lineup and providing strong outfield defense, whether he returns to center field (where he started 45 games last year) or slides to a corner to make room for a transfer in center." "One of Virginia Tech’s biggest portal acquisitions is a candidate for that center field job: Treyson Hughes, who put up big numbers for two years at Mercer before struggling last year at Ole Miss. he was on base in all five trips over the first nine innings during my visit to Blacksburg for the Liberty scrimmage, and he drew 47 walks against 35 strikeouts two years ago, so his maturity at the plate gives optimism that he can post a bounceback year." "McCann should back up Cooke behind the plate, along with exciting freshman Anderson French, a 6-foot-5 lefthanded hitter with very exciting potential. Good luck finding a better catcher’s room in college baseball. But McCann’s bat will be in the lineup every day whether he’s catching or not; he stepped into the DH spot as a freshman last year after Micheletti went down, slugging .574, and he looked primed for a big year as a sophomore. A powerful and compact 6-foot, 185-pound lefthanded hitter, McCann was the star of the day against Liberty, crushing three homers, to all parts of the yard." "Adding to the length of this powerful lineup, look for transfer David Lewis to step into the big shoes of Carson DeMartini at third base. Lewis began his career at Clemson before hitting 42 homers over the next two years at Division II North Greenville. Extremely physical at 6-2, 220 pounds, Lewis put his righthanded power on display against Liberty as well, hitting a slider out to left field for a solo homer. He was slowed by a knee injury this fall, but surgery to repair a torn meniscus should get him back to 100 percent by the spring." "Virginia Tech suffered a huge blow when righthander Griffin Stieg — a rock in the rotation last year — blew out his elbow in the final series of the regular season last year; he’ll miss all of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. That leaves sophomore Brett Renfrow (6-4, 4.92 with a 78-32 K-BB in 75 IP over 15 starts as a freshman) as the undisputed ace of the staff. Renfrow showed elite stuff this summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, spotting up at 95-97 mph and showing an above-average power breaking ball in the mid-80s along with a functional changeup." "the top pitchers who took the mound against the Flames were sophomore lefty Madden Clement and McNeese transfer Cameron Lejeune, both of whom should occupy key roles on this staff, potential both as starters. Clement, the son of longtime big leaguer Matt Clement, logged six starts among his 12 appearances as a freshman last year, and Szefc tabbed him as the top breakout candidate on the pitching staff. He’s plenty physical at 6-3, 210, and he hides the ball well before releasing it from a tick above three-quarters.... Lejeune had a rough outing against Liberty, when he was coming off an illness, but I still saw plenty to like from the big 6-4, 230-pound righty, who ran his heater up to 93 mph. His best pitch was a good 85-87 mph cutter, but he also mixed in a bigger three-quarters slurve around 80 and a functional but firm changeup at 87-88." "Four other key older arms plus four promising freshmen did not pitch against Liberty, either due to injury, soreness or getting ramped back up gradually." - Fitt was referring to "older" guys Sentlinger, Crowl, Exum and transfer Mathieu Curtis, plus frosh lefties Brendan Cowen, Jake Marciano, and righties Ryan Pugh and Logan Eisenreich. "freshman, Marcel Kulik, did pitch against Liberty and showed promise. He’s a power righty from New York capable of producing 92-95 mph heat."