Liberty relief pitcher Mason Fluharty has been the first Liberty baseball player selected in the 2022 Major League Draft on Monday. On Tuesday, that list was added to when starting pitcher Joe Adametz was selected.
Fluharty was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round with the No. 158 overall pick. The junior left-hander was one of Liberty’s top relievers this past season, leading the team with 26 appearances. He posted a 6-3 record with a 2.84 ERA while striking out 83 batters and walking just ten in 50.2 innings pitched. He was named to the ASUN’s second team All-Conference team this past year.
Adametz was taken in the 14th round with the 417th overall pick by the Detroit Tigers. In his first season back from Tommy John surgery, the lefty made 16 appearances, all of them starts. He finished the year with a 6-3 record and 2.51 ERA while striking out 84 and walking 25 in 86 innings pitched.
Fluharty and Adametz helped the Flames to some of their best seasons in program history the couple of years as Liberty earned an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons. In 2021, Fluharty the Flames defeated Duke twice in the Knoxville Regional to advance to the regional final. This past spring, Liberty advanced to the Gainesville Regional as an at-large team.
Fluharty becomes the highest drafted Liberty baseball since 2004 when Jason Jones was taken in the fourth round by the New York Yankees. The Flames have had at least one player chosen in each draft since 2000, except the 2020 draft which was limited to just five rounds due to COVID-19.
*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics
