Greensburg Central Catholic graduate Collin Liberatore was all set to attend Campbell this fall.
But things changed the past month, and the 2015 Tribune-Review Baseball Player of the Year will be playing at Pitt.
Liberatore signed a letter-of-intent to play at Campbell and couldn't wait to get started at the school in Buies Creek, N.C.
But the night he played in the WPIAL Class A championship game, Liberatore received a call from Campbell coach Justin Haire to inform him the baseball team was being put on probation for one year by the NCAA because they didn't meet the Academic Progress Rate. Campbell would not be eligible for the Big South or NCAA tournaments.
“I was thrown a curveball,” Liberatore said. “So I asked for a release from my (National Letter of Intent) and was granted it. I had to send a request to Campbell and the NCAA stating why I was requesting the release.
“I didn't want to miss a year from a chance at playing in the postseason tournaments.”
Once he was granted the release, Pitt, Maryland and Clemson came knocking. The right-handed pitcher picked Pitt.
“All Campbell said was I couldn't pick another Big South team,” Liberatore said. “Pitt coach Joe Jordano said he saw me pitch the championship game and he told me he wished he had recruited me.
“Pitt had a couple pitchers get drafted and some scholarship funds became available. I'm excited about the chance to play at Pitt and in the Atlantic Coast Conference.”
As a senior, Liberatore was 7-0 with an ERA of 0.91. He struck out 90 and walked nine.
“I'm anxious to get started and learn under Pitt pitching coach Jerry Oakes,” Liberatore said. “In some ways, this has turned out better than expected.”
Paul Schofield is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.
