Transfer portal boosts FSW baseball’s roster with D1 talent

Author: Zach Oliveri
Published: Updated:

Florida Southwestern baseball team is made up of players who have transferred from various prestigious programs.

“I came from Virginia Tech,” said Ryan Grzesiak, an FSW pitcher.

“I came from the University of Miami in the fall,” said Alex Kuenzle, an FSW outfielder.

“I came from Baylor,” said Michael McAloose, an FSW infielder.

Michael McAloose, originally from Fort Myers and a former Canterbury player, joined the Bucs last season from Baylor.

“It was a tough situation I was in up there. New coaches coming in and that whole situation. But once I figured out I was coming here I was very excited,” said McAloose.

The FSW baseball team boasts over 20 players who transferred from Division I or junior colleges, bringing experience to the team. At one point this season, the entire starting lineup consisted of transfers.

“We’re all kind of in that similar situation. We’re all trying to perform get to a future school. You know I just feel like it makes us play together more,” said Grzesiak.

FSW Baseball Head Coach Zac Cole has never coached so many transfers.

“This is kind of that unicorn. This might be the high water mark this year,” said Cole.

While the transfer portal has bolstered the roster, it has also impacted recruiting.

“We’re seeing kids that we traditionally recruited go from D1 to D1,” Cole said. “In years past, we had a chance to recruit those guys because they couldn’t go D1 to D1.”

Cole anticipates changes at the NCAA level could alter his roster’s composition.

“We may be back to what it was pre-COVID where we have six or seven of those guys and a lot of high school kids. But we’re going to get better high school kids because for a couple years here when the rosters got expanded with COVID, the D1s were taking 50 kids. Like they’re not going to be able to do that anymore,” said Cole.

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