Virginia gets three pitchers to flip, plus All-American transfer infielder

By Jerry Ratcliffe

New Virginia coach Chris Pollard flipped the commitments of three outstanding high school pitchers previously headed to Duke, and landed the MAAC Player of the Year from the transfer portal as he continued to fill the Cavaliers’ roster for 2026.

Noah Yoder, a right-handed pitcher from Mechanicsville (Atlee High School) and John Paone, also a right-handed pitcher from Lexington, Mass., both announced on their Twitter accounts that they had decommitted from Duke and committed to Pollard’s UVA program. Also, another right-hander, Christian Lucarelli, from Beaver Falls, Pa., said on his Twitter account Friday that he had flipped his commitment from Duke to Virginia.

On top of those three recruiting flips, Joe Tiroly, who was the MAAC Player of the Year for Rider University, announced that he has transferred to Virginia.

Yoder is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound righty with a massive ceiling, garnering lots of interest for next month’s Major League Baseball Draft. If Pollard can keep him at Virginia, it would be a major recruiting coup.

Yoder consistently hits the mid-90s with his fastball, which has already been clocked up to 98 mph, and continues to grow his velocity. He also has an above-average curveball (low 80s), a slider (85-87) and changeup (83-86).

Paone is a 6-3, 205-pound righty from Lawrence Academy High School in Massachusetts. He is tops in the recruiting class of 2025 rankings for the state by Perfect Game.

Paone’s fastball is 92-96 mph, with a slider at 86 and changeup 86.

Lucarelli announced his commitment to Virginia on Friday, flipping from the Blue Devils, meaning that six former Duke commitments are headed to Charlottesville.

Lucarelli is a 6-3, 215-pound righty who played for Riverside High School in Beaver Falls, also the hometown of former NFL star quarterback Joe Namath. Lucarelli has a 93-mph fastball, a curveball that has been clocked between 74-76 mph, a changeup 78.7 to 81 mph and a slider between 76.5 and 82.

Meanwhile, Tiroly was a third-team All-American infielder at Rider as selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings. He hit third in the lineup for Rider and posted 75 hits, 17 home runs, 64 RBI with 16 doubles. His slash line was: .377/.481/.749.

He is projected to play second base or shortstop for the Cavaliers.