Long Beach State, former Tennessee pitcher Grant Cherry commits to Florida State

Former Long Beach State pitcher Grant Cherry has committed to Florida State out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, he announced on social media on Thursday. Cherry began his collegiate career at Tennessee.

In two seasons at Long Beach State, Cherry made 33 appearances, primarily as a relief pitcher, posting a 4.93 ERA. He pitched just 3.1 innings during his freshman season at Tennessee before transferring.

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“Go Noles,” Cherry said in announcing his commitment.

Cherry has at least one year of eligibility remaining.

Florida State is on a quest to finally win a national title

Not long after the season wrapped up in Omaha on Wednesday, head Link Jarrett was asked about Florida State’s chances of getting back to the CWS and winning it all in 2025.

“When you can acquire some experienced freshmen, that helps. And I think the guys going into their sophomore year that have played and have felt it. So you get a little time, when you onboard a grad student or somebody that has one year, you know the turnover is coming. So I like what we’ve done,” Jarrett said.

Florida State had an offense that was as good as just about anyone in 2024, but what kept the Seminoles from accomplishing their ultimate goal was inconsistent pitching.

Jarrett knows that his club must be better on the mound in 2025 and is hopeful FSU can avoid some of the injuries that were costly this year.

“Now, we need [Cam] Leiter to be healthy. We need Jamie Arnold to be healthy. And we have some good young arms coming in, some JUCO arms. We’ve gotten three transfer arms out of portal,” Jarrett said. “There’s other pieces we need to add when you look at the puzzle and where we need to fit those athletes.”

Jarrett felt after the 2023 season that if Florida State got the right pieces, the Seminoles could have a huge turnaround and reach the College World Series.

He now feels like if FSU gets a few more of the right pieces, they can win the national title in 2025.

“How I felt a year ago, when I looked at what we needed to try to grab, and how I feel now, now you’re grabbing what you think gets you the trophy here,” Jarrett said. “When you were able to grab some younger players… there’s some guys that walked back in knowing exactly what’s going on in the program and what it’s like to run through an ACC tournament and do well at the Regional and do really well at the Super Regional and do well and compete here.

“Totally different feel, but my mindset has not changed. It is what can we do to figure out a way to win this, including trying to keep the guys healthy on the mound.”