Liberatore’s patience pays big dividends
After sitting a year, he’s pitching ace for Indiana State
For two long years, the talented Collin Liberatore did not throw a pitch in a college baseball game.
He watched … and he waited. He waited … and he watched. “It was a process,” said Liberatore, a Greensburg Central Catholic High graduate. “I just had to stay the course, had to try to find ways to make myself a little better every day.”
Liberatore checked those boxes the past two seasons, first while redshirting at Pitt in 2017 and then while sitting out at Indiana State University due to NCAA transfer rules in 2018.
In his return to the mound for the Sycamores this past February, the redshirt junior wasted little time in demonstrating that patience has its privileges. Liberatore raced to a 9-0 record and posted the nation’s 15th-best earned run average (1.80) in his first 12 outings. He was twice named the Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the week. He also yielded two runs or fewer nine times.
Rest, as they say, can do the body good.
“When he wasn’t playing, he was still preparing as if he was going to pitch the next day,” said Indiana State coach Mitch Hannahs, whose team is 34-14, 11-7 MVC. “Very seldom do you see that. That’s when I said, ‘This guy is a mature young player. He operates like a professional.’”
Liberatore currently is 9-1, after losing against Dallas Baptist last Saturday in a game televised by ESPNU. The right-hander ranks first in the MVC in wins, second in innings pitched (86.1), third in ERA (2.19) and opponent’s batting average (.194) and 10th in strikeouts (64). His ERA also ranks 45th nationally.
Among his many highlights this spring, there was a stunning, six-game stretch from March 31 to May 4. That’s when he yielded four total runs, including three scoreless outings, and 22 hits in 48 innings. He also struck out 35.
What’s more, he posted a twohit, complete-game shutout against Valparaiso, and threw eight scoreless innings, including eight strikeouts, against Illinois State.
And, if you think Liberatore, 6 feet 4, 210 pounds, is doing this against lesser competition, forget about it. The MVC, according to WarrenNolan.com, is ranked No. 6 among 31 conferences, trailing only the SEC, Big 12, ACC, Pac-12 and American. The first four from that group compete in Power Five leagues.
Indiana State, which returned eight starters from last season, is projected as a No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA regionals, according to Baseball America. Much of that can be attributed to the addition of Liberatore, though the former WPIAL champion deflects all credit.
“Our coaches have done a great job with us, getting everyone ready and prepared,” said Liberatore, part of a three-man rotation that boasts a 21-4 record. “This isn’t about me. I know there’s a spotlight sometimes, but this needs to be about the team. It takes nine guys to win. I’m just a piece of the pie.”
So, how did Liberatore get from Pitt to Terre Haute, Ind., home of the Sycamores? Research and a need for a change, he said. He pitched as a freshman at Pitt, where he went 3-1 in 10 appearances before taking a redshirt as a sophomore.
It was during that time that he explored other options.
“It just didn’t work out for me in the long run,” he said. “And when I was researching schools, Indiana State had a great track record for developing players and putting players into the pros. I reached out to them. They reached back out to me. And everything came together.”
A descendant of a uniquely long line of top athletes — mom (swimming) and dad (baseball) competed at the Division I level, as did several aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great grandparents — Liberatore is a potential Major League draft pick, per Hannahs (a former pick himself). Why so?
“He has pitchability,” said Hannahs, who has had 10 players drafted in his five seasons, including seven the past three years. “He consistently gets outs. At our level, we have kids who throw the ball as hard as I’ve ever seen. But I can tell you that many of those kids end up in bullpens and many don’t throw enough strikes in terms of getting outs. We have moved to getting guys who throw strikes, who get ahead in counts. Guys like Collin. Guys with that pitchability.”
Liberatore, whose fastball averages 88-90 mph and has touched 91, relies on a fastball, changeup and slider. He said the key is being unpredictable.
“Once the lineup flips over, I’ll show them another pitch,” said Liberatore, whose younger brother Jack owns a team-best 6-5 record as a freshman pitcher at Ohio University, and younger sister Sarah recently completed her junior season as the leading scorer for the Hempfield girls basketball team.
“I sprinkle in more as the game goes on. The goal is to give my team the best chance to win every time I’m out there.”
Most times, Liberatore delivers, proof that the wait was well worth it.