Former Randleman pitcher Cooper opts for another year at Liberty

Trey Cooper (Bob Sutton / Randolph Record)

BURLINGTON – Even during a summer of baseball uncertainty for pitcher Trey Cooper, he was focused on development.

The former Randleman pitcher wants to be a starting pitcher again.

“Trying to get back in the starting routine,” Cooper said.

Cooper has one season of college eligibility remaining and he entered the transfer portal after his second season at Liberty. It turns out, he’s staying with the Flames.

For the second time in three years, he was pitching with the Burlington Sock Puppets, a collegiate summer team in the Appalachian League.

Cooper said he held out a longshot hope that he might be selected in last month’s baseball amateur draft after fielding “a couple of calls here and there.” That didn’t happen.

Along the way, the left-hander was trying to re-establish himself this summer. He also pitched for Burlington in 2022, when he was picked for the league’s All-Star Game.

“I’ve worked myself back in the groove,” he said.

Cooper’s final outing for the Sock Puppets came with four shutout innings on the road last week against the Danville Otterbots, who by Saturday night became league champions. He finished the season with a 1-1 record and 6.97 earned run average in nine appearances, including eight starts. He struck out 41 batters in 27 innings, but issued 32 walks and hit 10 batters.

Cooper struck out 10 batters June 16 in a home game against the Elizabethton River Riders. That accounted for all the outs he notched in the 3 1/3 hitless innings, though he also walked four.

Cooper’s first two college seasons were in North Carolina State’s program before he transferred to Liberty.

Scott Jackson resigned as Liberty’s head coach in July to return to a staff position at North Carolina. Bradley LeCroy, who had been at Virginia Commonwealth, took the Liberty position. Cooper gave a positive review of Jackson.

Cooper hadn’t met LeCroy, but he said talking on the phone he felt comfortable and decided to play a redshirt senior season at Liberty.

“I was going to make a switch, but the coach made it seem like they wanted me back,” he said. “It’s a super-nice place. It felt like the right place.”

Cooper said Liberty is adding a pitching lab to its baseball program and increasing trend at the collegiate level

There, he’ll be joined by incoming freshman pitcher Seth Way, who’s also a Randleman graduate. They’ve never played on the same team, but they’ve worked out at Ghost Lab in High Point.

“We’ve trained together,” Cooper said.