Baseball
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- Title:
- Assistant Head Coach
Tyler Cannon enters his seventh season as a member of the Liberty baseball staff. Since joining the staff during the summer of 2016, Cannon has assisted in all aspects of the Liberty baseball program, focusing on player development, hitting and team defense.
Liberty has been a constant at the top of many NCAA statistical categories during Cannon’s six years in Lynchburg, including the nation’s best fielding percentage in 2021. Additionally, the Flames have led their conference in several different categories both offensively and defensively.
An infielder during his playing days, Cannon's work with the Flames' infield has produced the lowest error total and highest fielding percentages from 2018-21 than in any season in the previous 17 years.
The 2022 season became one for the record books as, for the first time in program history, Liberty obtained its third straight selection to an NCAA Regional. For the second consecutive year, the Flames secured an NCAA at-large bid and went on to compete at the NCAA Gainesville, Fla. Regional. Liberty concluded the year with a 37-23 record and finished in first place in the ASUN Conference’s East Division. For the third time in as many seasons in the league, the Flames played for the conference title.
The Flames gained national attention early in the season by winning two of their three-game series at then No. 9 Florida to open the season and later moved to 11-1 with a 1-0 victory over No. 15 North Carolina at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium. For the first time since 2014, the Flames were ranked in the national polls and achieved their highest national ranking in program history when they reached No. 14 in the D1Baseball.com Weekly poll on March 14.
Entering the season, Liberty looked to replace three of its four infield starters, and midway through the year, it again made some adjustments to the infield with two freshmen playing on the infield and a new shortstop. Cannon’s work with freshman Cam Foster who played both second and third base during 2022, led to Foster’s inclusion on the ASUN All-Freshman and All-Tournament teams.
The 2021 campaign was arguably the most successful in Liberty Baseball history. The Flames secured an NCAA at-large bid for just the second time in the program’s history while Liberty’s 41-16 (.719) record set the school mark for winning percentage in a season at the NCAA Division I level. After its selection to the NCAA Knoxville, Tenn. Regional, Liberty posted two wins over ACC foe Duke and saw its season end in the regional final against host and College World Series participant Tennessee.
Cannon’s work with the Flames infielders and team defensive preparations helped Liberty finish the year as the top defensive team in the country in 2021. The Flames posted a nation’s best .984 fielding percentage, eclipsing the previous school record of .977 set by the 2018 Liberty squad.
From March 2-26, the Flames won 13 consecutive games, a Liberty NCAA Division I era record. After starting the year with a 2-5 mark, Liberty did not lose consecutive games for the rest of the year.
Six Liberty position players earned ASUN All-Conference recognition led by second baseman Will Wagner and shortstop Cam Locklear. Wagner was named a unanimous all-conference first team selection for the second time (2019 & 2021) and went on to be picked by the Houston Astros in the 2021 MLB Draft. Meanwhile, Locklear set a school record by playing in 246 career games and grabbed ASUN Defensive Player of the Year honors to wrap up an incredibly reliable career.
In 2019, Liberty became the first team since 1993 to capture the ASUN title in its first season in the conference and advanced to an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2014. The Flames tied the program record for wins, posting a 43-21 mark.
Once again, Liberty led a conference in fielding percentage (.976), a percentage point shy of the school record and committed less than one error per game (58 in 64 games) during Cannon’s third season with the Flames. At the plate, Liberty was again among the national leaders in walks and on-base percentage.
Catcher Jonathan Embry was selected the 2019 ASUN Player of the Year, voted ASUN Tournament MVP and named to the league's all-conference first team at season's end. The redshirt junior hit .312 and paced the ASUN with 56 runs scored and 59 walks. Embry went on to be drafted in the 10th round of June's Major League Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.
In 2018, Liberty posted a 32-26 overall mark. Cannon’s work with the team’s infielders helped produce a new single-season program record with a .977 fielding percentage. For the second consecutive year, Liberty hitters set a new single-season record for bases on balls (356) and led the Big South in RBI, doubles, triples and walks.
At season’s end, Cannon saw three Liberty position players named to the all-conference team, led by first team members, outfielder D.J. Artis and catcher/outfielder Tre Todd. The two went on to be selected in the 2018 MLB Draft. Artis became the highest Liberty draft pick since outfielder Ian Parmley was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2012 draft when he was selected in the seventh round by the Chicago Cubs.
In his first year with the Flames, he helped guide Liberty to a 33-23 record in 2017. Cannon played a vital role in the development of the Liberty infield, as the Flames started freshmen at both shortstop and third base. Paced by Artis, who led the nation in walks and finished second in on-base percentage, the Flames led the Big South in runs scored and on-base percentage. At the end of the season, Cannon saw Artis named the 2017 Big South Player of the Year and an All-American.|
Cannon joined the Liberty coaching staff after two years as an assistant coach at Army. Before his time at West Point, Cannon served as a student assistant coach at his alma mater Virginia, helping the Cavaliers finish as the 2014 National Runner-Up.
Cannon helped play a vital role in developing 2016 Patriot League first team shortstop Kris Linder. After two seasons at second base, Linder had a breakthrough season in 2016 for the Black Knights, leading the team with a .315 batting average and 53 hits and posting a .430 on-base percentage.
In 2014 on the staff of his former head coach Brian O'Connor at his alma mater Virginia, the Cavaliers posted a 53-16 overall record and a stellar 34-4 mark at home. Virginia hosted the NCAA Charlottesville Regional and Super Regional, before advancing to Omaha for the College World Series.
Induced into the Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, Cannon was a two-time All-ACC shortstop and four-year letterwinner with the Cavaliers. The infielder played in a school-record 244 games and started on four NCAA Tournament teams. He was the shortstop for the 2009 Cavaliers squad which captured the ACC Championship and advanced to the program's first College World Series, where he was named to the All-College World Series Team.
Cannon posted a career .303 batting average and collected 276 hits, tying for the second-most in school history. He still holds school records with 62 career doubles and 910 at bats. He also ranks third in program history with 12 triples and 185 runs scored, fifth with 380 total bases and eighth with 49 stolen bases.
The Pigeon Forge, Tenn., native was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft on two different occasions. In 2009, he was 41st round selection of the Pittsburgh Pirates, before returning to Virginia for his senior year. The following year, Cannon was chosen in the 12th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians and went on to play three seasons in the Indians' farm system, reaching Double-A in 2011. He retired in 2013.
Cannon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia in 2014. He and his wife Allison have two daughters, Brooklyn and Savannah.
