Wolves freshman ace pitcher transfers to West Virginia

NEWBERRY — Newberry College baseball program have become victim to what many other mid-major Division 1 and Division II programs are experiencing, and that is the transfer portal. Freshman starting pitcher Chansen Cole announced on social media that he has entered the transfer portal and will be headed to the University of West Virginia.

Cole started in 14 games this season for the Wolves and finished the season with a 7-5 record in those games. The six-foot-four right hand pitcher from Boiling Springs, S.C. had a 3.39 ERA and threw for a complete game as well this season.

He allowed 74 hits, gave up seven home runs and had 97 strikeouts this season. In addition, Cole held opponents to just a .220 batting average this season. He led had the lowest ERA, most strikeouts and lowest opponent’s batting average of all the Wolves’ starting pitchers this season.

Cole had his best outing on Feb. 14th against Tusculum where he almost threw a no-hitter in six innings pitched. He gave up just one hit, allowed no runs and had 15 strikeouts. He also had double digit strikeouts against Wayne State and had four other games with eight or more strikeouts.

He was named first team all-conference and finished second in the conference in total strikeouts and was ranked fourth earned run average(ERA). He finished ranked eighth overall in school history for the most strikeouts in a single season.

The Wolves will truly miss this young ace in their starting lineup and Jay Snyder will have a tall order to replace him going into his second year as head coach.