Baseball America continues its series of fall baseball updates with a look at Coastal Carolina’s deep roster, Wake Forest’s potential on the mound and more programs shaping their 2026 outlooks.

Coastal Carolina Chasing More History

Coastal Carolina enters 2026 chasing more history under Kevin Schnall, who last year became the first coach ever to win BA’s College Coach of the Year award in his first season as a Division I head coach. 

The Chanticleers won 56 games and reached the national championship series behind one of the best pitching staffs in the country and the all-around excellence of catcher Caden Bodine, who was one of the most well-rounded backstops in the nation. With a strengthened returning core and a staff Schnall believes can again be elite, Coastal looks positioned to remain on college baseball’s biggest stage.

According to Schnall, five key position players return and have each taken noticeable steps forward physically:

Blake Barthol hit .274/.387/.468 with a team-high 12 home runs.

Colby Thorndyke produced a .303/.395/.445 line with four homers and 18 doubles.

Walker Mitchell reached base at a .443 clip.

Dean Mihos posted the team’s best batting average at .332/.418/.453.

Blagen Pado added power with a .267/.364/.543 line and eight home runs.

Schnall told Baseball America that all five appear “primed for an even better season this year,” noting they look bigger, stronger and faster than they did a year ago.

The weekend rotation is set to feature Cameron Flukey, one of the top pitching prospects in the 2026 draft class, along with lefthander Hayden Johnson and righthander Ross Norman, a transfer from Georgia State. Johnson posted a 2.82 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 18 walks in 38.1 innings last season, all in relief. 

“This staff could rival our elite rotation from last year,” Schnall told BA.

The bullpen returns four important arms who combined for 117.1 innings: Ryan Lynch, Dominick Carbone, Darin Horn and Scott Doran. Lynch (0.56), Carbone (2.36) and Horn (2.73) were dominant, while Doran flashed significant promise in 17.1 innings. Flukey, Carbone, Lynch and Doran were kept on lighter workloads this fall.

Horn has been one of the most improved arms on the roster. He now features a sinker, slider and cutter, the last of which is new to his arsenal. Schnall said Horn’s mechanics are more synced up, producing more consistent strikes with the slider and rounding out his mix.

With a reinforced lineup, a top-tier rotation core and a bullpen anchored by outstanding returners, Coastal Carolina again looks capable of contending for another historic season in 2026.

Wake Forest Hopeful Pitching Will Shine In 2026

Wake Forest has garnered a reputation as one of the nation’s premier programs for pitchers thanks to significant investment into its player development on that side of the ball. After ranking fifth in the ACC last year in ERA, the Demon Deacons are confident they can return to nationally-ranked dominance on the mound.

Demon Deacons coach Tom Walter told Baseball America his squad has a chance to be “elite on the mound.” He credited the impact of first-year pitching coach and program alum Eric Niese and first-year pitching lab coordinator and director of player development Ezra Bye, the two of which Walter said have “done a great job elevating everyone on the staff.”

Added Walter: “In terms of velo, pitch shapes and pitch packages we will have as many weapons as anyone in the country.”

The centerpiece is righthander Blake Morningstar, who posted a 3.87 ERA in 79 innings last season and has taken a notable step forward. Morningstar has refined his arsenal so that his two- and four-seam fastballs now show clearer separation in movement profiles, and he also added a sweeper that has already posted standout metrics. Walter’s confidence in him is immense as Wake prepares to build its rotation around a more complete and more deceptive version of one of its most reliable arms.

Walter is equally optimistic about the team’s defense, saying Wake Forest should be “as good as we have ever been” with speed up the middle and a strong catching corps.

Offensively, the Demon Deacons return a productive nucleus led by Kade Lewis and Dalton Wentz. They are joined by key returners Austin Hawke, Matt Conte, Luke Costello and Javar Williams—a group that accounted for 47% of Wake Forest’s home runs last season. The lineup also received a boost from the transfer portal with a group of additions in Boston Torres (VMI), Jackson Miller (Ole Miss) and Blake Schaaf (Georgetown), all of whom were highly recruited.

On the mound, Wake added one of the ACC’s most significant transfer arms in Cam Bagwell from UNC Wilmington, giving the staff even more depth.

With a more advanced arsenal across the pitching staff, a strengthened defense behind it and a deep returning lineup supplemented by impact transfers, the Demon Deacons have a realistic path to prominence in 2026.

More Fall Ball Notes

Illinois State expects to contend in a competitive Missouri Valley Conference, with twin brothers Ryan Bakes and Brayden Bakes at the center of that optimism. Redbirds coach Steve Holm told Baseball America that both brothers “played like draft picks this fall.” Brayden hit .313/.407/.542 with eight home runs, 10 doubles and 26 walks to 28 strikeouts last season. Ryan transferred from South Carolina after logging only 28 at-bats with the Gamecocks, but he produced a loud Northwoods League summer with a .313/.481/.495 line, four home runs, seven steals and 24 walks to 18 strikeouts in 29 games. Holm, who caught 52 major league games between 2008 and 2011, said Ryan improved his operation behind the plate this fall.

Cal Baptist earned a dominant fall scrimmage win over Arizona State on Nov. 7 in Southern California, beating the Sun Devils 21-5 in the first of two games before tying Game 2, 1-1. The Lancers hit five home runs in the opener, including two from outfielder Ben Castelli. Outfielders Bryce McFeely and Riley Hunsaker and catcher Matt Chavez also homered. Lefthander Cody New threw three shutout innings. While the outcome has no W-L bearing on the season, it’s a strong early sign for a Cal Baptist roster with the pieces to be competitive in 2026. It also marks a difficult showing for an Arizona State team facing significant pressure to perform next spring, though the Sun Devils bounced back nicely in a scrimmage against Grand Canyon on Thursday in Tempe.