Tennessee baseball landed its first commitment of the Josh Elander era Saturday morning when right-handed pitcher Kaiden McCarthy committed to the Vols over a top group that included Arizona and Wake Forest.
“First off I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me this opportunity,” McCarthy said in a post on his Instagram. “Secondly, I want to thank my family, friends, all my coaches and everyone else who has supported me throughout my baseball career so far. I am grateful to say I have committed to play baseball at the University of Tennessee. I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity and for the coaching staff at Tennessee.”
McCarthy is a member of the 2027 recruiting cycle and took an official visit to Tennessee back in September before eventually committing to the Vols. A 6-foot, 185-pound prospect, McCarthy ranks as the No. 59 player in the 2027 recruiting cycle according to Perfect Game.
More From RTI: What Tennessee HC Josh Elander Said About Poaching Top Florida Assistant
A Vermont native, McCarthy joins an already loaded 2027 recruiting class for Tennessee baseball. The Vols now have 13 commits in their 2027 recruiting class including two top 10 commits, seven top 50 commits and 10 top 100 commits according to Perfect Game.
Elander is known as an elite recruiter as an assistant coach and is quickly living up to that billing as a head coach. Tennessee has elite recruiting classes in the 2026 and 2027 cycle and they have largely kept them together despite Tony Vitello’s departure to professional baseball.
Tennessee’s new head coach has already made a splash in his first week on the job. Earlier this week, Elander poached top Florida assistant Chuck Jeroloman as Tennessee’s new associate head coach.
