Kentucky outfielder Nolan McCarthy enters NCAA transfer portal

Kentucky baseball just lost a big piece of their 2024 College World Series team as centerfielder Nolan McCarthy has entered the transfer portal, On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed.

McCarthy, the UK starting centerfielder, hit .288 with 8 home runs and 41 total RBIs this past season. He also came up huge in the postseason for the Wildcats, hitting a home run in the Wildcats’ only victory in Omaha vs. NC State, while he was also responsible for the game-winning run in the second Super Regional game vs. Oregon State to send the ‘Cats through to the CWS for the very first time.

Now, he’s in the portal and will evaluate options ahead of 2025.

Relevant: Georgia hires away Kentucky assistant

By KSR’s Daniel Hager

Kentucky Baseball Assistant Coach Nick Ammirati is leaving Lexington to join Georgia’s staff, D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers reported on Monday.

Ammirati will be replacing assistant coach Josh Simpson, who returned to LSU earlier this offseason. Coach Ammo joins assistant coach Will Coggin in Athens, who was an assistant under Nick Mingione on the Kentucky staff from 2020-2023.

Ammirati left Southern Miss for the Kentucky job in 2021, but his updated contract at Kentucky ran from July 3, 2023 to June 30, 2024. Instead of renegotiating, his contract expired at midnight last night and he decided to make the move to Georgia. He made $40,000 plus incentives this past season at Kentucky.

Following Kentucky’s Super Regional victory over Oregon State to clinch its first ever Men’s College World Series berth, Mingione credited one important move with turning around the whole program; moving Ammirati from third base coach to the dugout while he assumed third base coach duties.

“I cannot do this on my own anymore,” Mingione said. “The Lord put it on my heart that I was not using my spiritual gifts that he’s given me, and he basically — we have to make changes. I had to make changes. One major change we made was we brought Nick Ammirati from coaching third base to the dugout to be with the players. And it put me at third base. I started coaching third base on May 15th of 2022. I started coaching third base and I put Ammo in there. You can’t make this up. I surrendered. I surrendered.”

Ammirati’s absence will surely cause a bit of a domino effect, as he was the lead recruiter for many incoming players (freshmen and transfers). Nick Mingione and administration will now move quickly to find a replacement.