Virginia Tech baseball coach John Szefc and his staff have had a busy June. After being bounced from the NCAA Tournament on the opening weekend in the Los Angeles Regional by Cal Poly and UCLA, the Hokies staff went to work on the 2027 roster when they got back to Blacksburg.
There were some players who they needed to try and retain, and for the most part, they did. The biggest name coming back is freshman Ethan Ball, who had a tremendous first season in Blacksburg. Retaining him was priority No. 1 for next year, and he was.
However, there were some key subtractions from the roster that need to be replaced, and most of them are on the mound. That is one area that Szefc and his staff need to focus on as the Transfer Portal becomes busy. Virginia Tech has got some commitments on the mound for next season, and on Monday, they picked up another for 2027.
Virginia Tech baseball picks up commitment from Elon transfer Mike Staiano
Elon left-handed pitcher Mike Staiano posted on his X account that he committed to Virginia Tech for next season. He is the latest addition to the Hokies staff for next season. Virginia Tech has already added Chris Torres from USC Upstate through the portal, as well as Nate Bennett from Niagara.
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As for Staiano, the 6-foot-3 southpaw from Ridgewood, New Jersey, played his high school baseball at Don Bosco Prep. He made 22 appearances for Elon this past season and one start. He had a 3.78 ERA in 33.1 innings, where he allowed 38 hits and 14 runs, all earned. Before spending the last two seasons with Elon, he made 14 appearances for Manhattan and three starts in his freshman season of 2023-24.
It didn't look like Virginia Tech was going to make the NCAA Tournament midway through the season, but they finished the ACC schedule at 15-15, good for the seventh seed in the conference tournament, thanks to their pitching. Now, a new-look staff is being put together, but it's a veteran one from the portal, with some promising arms also returning for Szefc.
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