9/27/24

2025 MLB Draft Prospect - OF - Kane Kepley - North Carolina

 


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OF KANE KEPLEY (LIBERTY TO NORTH CAROLINA)

The Tar Heels are getting one of the best contact hitters in the transfer portal. At Liberty, Kepley made some insane numbers contact wise. It doesn’t matter where you throw it, there is a good chance that Kepley will hit it. He utilizes the opposite field quite a bit as well.  The 5’8, 170lb outfielder doesn’t possess much raw power but still puts up decent overall exit velos. He’s a plus runner who can track a ball down decently in the outfield. That speed has also led to 20+ steals in one season at Liberty and two summer ball seasons. The lack of power, as mentioned, limits his ceiling, but he has a very safe floor due to his speed, defensive ability, and ability to make contact.

 

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Kane Kepley

Position: OF

Bats/Throws: L/L

Height: 5-8

Weight: 165

Prev School: South Rowan HS

Hometown: Salisbury, N.C.

2023

2023 ASUN All-Freshman team

Played in 50 games with 40 starts

Started 29 games in left field and 11 games in center field

Hit .310 with 19 RBI and a team-leading 44 runs scored

Had eight doubles, four triples and hit a home run

Walked a team-leading 39 times and posted a .457 on base percentage

Had 17 stolen bases

Finished the year tied for third in triples, tied for sixth in stolen bases and 11th in on base percentage in the ASUN

Hit .325, collecting 37 hits and walking 30 times in 30 games after taking over as the Flames’ leadoff hitter on April 6

Scored 46.6% (34-of-73) of the time that he reached base after becoming leadoff hitter

Had two hits and a RBI, stole two bases and scored three times in 12-1 win over Austin Peay (3/24)

Collected three hits, two stolen bases, a RBI and a run scored in a 9-4 victory at Lipscomb (4/2)

Had two hits against Virginia (4/4)

Went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, scoring three times in an 11-6 win over Central Arkansas (4/7)

Walked twice and scored twice in a 7-3 victory at Virginia Tech (4/11)

Collected three hits, two doubles, two RBI and one run scored in a 9-1 win in game two of a doubleheader at Kennesaw State (4/15)

Walked two times and scored two times in 3-2 victory over Old Dominion (5/3)

Tied the program record with six hits, hitting for the cycle, driving in a run and scoring three runs in a 15-12 victory at Eastern Kentucky (5/14)

Had two hits, including a triple, two RBI and two runs scored in a 12-11 win over No. 1 seed Lipscomb during pool play at the 2023 ASUN Baseball Championship (5/23)

Member of the ASUN Academic Honor Roll

 

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In Saturday's Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game, Kane Kepley – a former Liberty Flame and now North Carolina Tar Heel – drove in the winning run with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the game for the West Division. If that clutch performance doesn't fit the profile of a UNC outfielder, what does?

With the Major League Draft claiming all three - Vance Honeycutt, Anthony Donofrio and Casey Cook - of the elite Diamond Heels outfield trio, head coach Scott Forbes has turned to the transfer portal and old friendships to rebuild. With the addition of assistant coach and former Liberty head coach Scott Jackson, Kepley, an outfielder who hails from Sailsbury, N.C. has followed suit.

Kepley had two productive seasons with the Flames. He was named to the ASUN All-Freshman team in his first year and slached .326/.477/.514 in his second season for the Flames. He has a knack for getting on base, recording a stellar 0.51 strikeout-to-walk rate, with 53 walks to 26 strikeouts in his sophomore campaign.

This summer, Kepley has done more of the same with the CCBL's Hyannis Harbor Hawks where he's slashing .236/.442/.349, earning an All-Star game bid and proceeding to walk-off the game for the West.


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