FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas added a commitment from a junior college baseball All-American on Friday.
Caleb Cali (6-3, 240 pounds) will transfer to the Razorbacks from College of Central Florida where he was an NJCAA Division I All-American this season. Cali began his career at Florida State as a redshirt in 2020 and played the 2021 season at Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College.
"I chose Arkansas because of the awesome opportunity to come in and make an impact and win right away," Cali said in a text message Friday. "I really liked the coaches and how they conducted themselves and showed off the amazing facilities. I felt like they can develop me and give me the best chance to get to pro ball."
The right hander batted .438 with an OPS of 1.359 this season. Cali hit 17 home runs, a program-record 22 doubles, 6 triples and had 77 RBI.
Cali had three games with 5 RBI, including a March 19 game at Lake Sumter (Fla.) State College when he homered twice.
"Caleb just bought in," CCF coach Marty Smith said. "The (batting practice) got a little bit tougher hitting off machines and got some passiveness out of his swing. We wanted him to swing and do damage and not worry about striking out. It's really elite ball-strike recognition for him. You're not going to find a kid who hits that many home runs and does that much damage who only strikes out (23) times. He had a lot more walks (43) than strikeouts, and almost as many home runs as strikeouts. He knows the strike zone really well."
Cali fielded .894 and primarily played third base. He also played first base some and Smith said he likely projects to play that position.
Cali was named player of the year for the Florida College System Activities Association.
"The best season I have personally witnessed from a hitter!” CCF assistant coach Zac Cole wrote of Cali in a season recap posted to the team’s website. “The growth has been so fun to watch. You want this guy in your dugout…I promise you, trust me, he moves the needle."
Cali is the 10th junior college transfer to commit to play at Arkansas for the 2023 season, and the 11th transfer overall.
Other infield JUCO commits include Ben McLaughlin of Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College; Hunter Grimes of McLennan (Texas) College; Isaac Webb of East Oklahoma State College; Peyton Holt of Crowder (Mo.) College; Harold Coll of San Jacinto (Texas) Junior College; and Tyson Fourkiller of Connors (Okla.) State College.
Arkansas has also added catcher Parker Rowland from Eastern Oklahoma State College, right-handed pitcher Cody Adcock from Crowder and left-handed pitcher Hunter Hollan from San Jacinto.
Jared Wegner, a transferring outfielder from Creighton, has also committed.
CORRECTION: An earlier version incorrectly listed the number of JUCO transfers.