Hall not looking back
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
April 5, 2007

Vic Hall’s name had reached legendary status long before he ever donned a Virginia football helmet and prior to his conversion from quarterback to cornerback.

Message boards were fueled with speculation that Hall would set every record in program history while being blindfolded.

Sound familiar?

It certainly does to Hall. Luckily from his perspective, redshirt freshman Keith Payne, a running back, has become the program’s new Superman.

Remarkably, Hall admits he never got caught up in the madness.

“I never let that stuff get to me,” Hall said. “I just knew that [college football] is played at a whole different level. There are stars from every high school team out here.

“It’s not like you are going to be the best person out there. You just have to give it your best every day.”

The stats accumulated at Gretna High for Hall were mind-boggling - he passed for 8,731 yards and 104 touchdowns and rushed for 5,039 yards and another 66 scores, setting the state record for total offense - but he left those accolades behind.

“I felt as though the world was bigger than high school football,” Hall said. “That’s why I tried to come in with a level head and just play football and not come in here like ‘I am this’ and ‘I am that.’

“I have never been like that. I have just been the type that wants to get better every single day.”

That approach and an unselfish attitude made it easier for Hall to embrace the move from his natural position to the opposite side of the ball. He’s currently battling for playing time with his cousin, Chris Cook, and Mike Brown.

Sure, Hall is human and still fields ample questions about him taking snaps under center, something that built steam again after starter Jameel Sewell’s wrist injury was discovered. But Hall, entering his sophomore season, knows better than to bite.

“If I sit back and think about playing quarterback or any other position, I can’t focus on being a defensive back,” Hall said. “Right now, I have all my focus on being a defensive back. I want to be the best that I can be at that position so that is where my focus is.

If called upon, however, Hall would willingly switch back.

“I just tell coach [Al Groh] that I will do whatever I can to help the team,” he added. “If it is playing defensive back, it is playing defensive back. If it is playing quarterback, it is playing quarterback. It doesn’t really matter.”

Regardless, Hall is going to take some snaps - he is slated to replace former backup signal-caller John Phillips as the team’s holder on placement kicks.

It’s nothing new for Hall.

“When I first came in as a freshman in my first training camp, [assistant coach] Mike Groh said, ‘Quarterbacks should be able to hold,’” Hall recounted. “It just so happened that I had in high school since ninth grade, so I had a little bit of experience.”

Hall could also be in line for touches as the team’s punt returner, too, and it’s something he stayed after Monday’s practice to try and perfect.

“It has been really, really challenging,” said Hall, who would have to beat out Brown for the job. “It is not easy at all. You have to judge the ball and you play football in different conditions so the ball may be wet.

“You have to work on catching the ball in every condition. The wind could be blowing or it could be raining and it does not matter … you still have to catch it.”

Under the knife

Virginia wide receiver Kevin Ogletree had surgery to repair a torn ACL on Tuesday and Groh said the operation appears to have been a success.

While Groh met with Ogletree early Wednesday, he did not offer a new timetable for the wideout’s return. It is expected, however, that he will be sidelined until spring practice in 2008.

Extra points

Have you ever noticed how Virginia’s practices are precisely constructed? Here is a better example: Groh said the Cavaliers will take the field for Saturday’s open practice at 9:45 a.m. and the session will last until exactly 12:21 p.m. It will mark the last chance for fans to watch the team perform until the spring game on April 14. … Virginia inside linebacker Clint Sintim said he is trying to get his weight down to around 244 pounds. Groh said that was done intentionally as Sintim would surely add muscle over the summer and likely play next year around 250 pounds. … Virginia’s season opener at Wyoming on Sept. 1 will start at 2 p.m. It is slated to be televised by VERSUS, which was formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network.
 

Bajoczky is Duke's ace in the hole
By Todd Merchant / tmerchant@dailyprogress.com | 978-7236
April 5, 2007

Growing up in Tallahassee, Fla., Tony Bajoczky was very familiar with the Florida State baseball program.

He’d attended countless games at Dick Howser Stadium, saw numerous future major leaguers and watched the team in the College World Series plenty of times.

Needless to say, it was a pretty special moment when Bajoczky, a senior right-handed pitcher at Duke, earned a victory over the top-ranked Seminoles last weekend.

“I’ve been to many a Florida State baseball game, and I know a handful of guys on the team,” Bajoczky said. “It’s real exciting to get a chance to play against them.”

In the Blue Devils’ biggest win of the season, Bajoczky threw 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, while striking out four and walking three to earn the 8-5 victory.

While it was a strong outing, it wasn’t even his best of the month. That came a week prior when Bajoczky threw seven innings of shutout ball, scattering five hits to go with five strikeouts and no walks in a 3-0 victory over Georgia Tech.

That performance earned Bajoczky ACC Pitcher of the Week honors.

“They were big wins for both me and the team,” said Bajoczky, who stands at 5-2 on the season. “We started off slow in conference, and it’s taken us awhile to pick it up. It really gives us some confidence, especially knowing that Florida State was ranked No. 1 in the nation.”

Bajoczky and the Blue Devils (21-11, 2-10 ACC) will attempt to ride that wave of confidence as long as they can when they travel to Charlottesville this weekend to take on No. 3 Virginia(27-6, 8-4).

“We’ve got a lot of freshmen on this team, and I feel like getting a win from Florida State this past weekend can really give us some momentum going into this series against Virginia,” he said. “Beating a team with that prestige definitely builds your confidence.”

Bajoczky’s self-esteem has been steadily building throughout his three-plus years in Durham. He saw action in 13 games as a freshman, including one start. Then he led the team with 23 relief appearances and three saves his sophomore season.

He finally got his chance to be a regular starter last year, and despite a 2-8 record, he had proven himself as the Blue Devils’ ace.

“We felt good about him all of last year,” said second-year Duke coach Sean McNally. “We didn’t have the kind of depth in the bullpen we have this year, so I think his numbers last year were a little deceiving. We felt like he’s a guy who can keep us in a game against anybody.”

Along with a 6.09 ERA, Bajoczky led the Blue Devils in appearances (24), innings pitched (91.2) and strikeouts (56). He admitted how frustrating it was to pitch well but not see a positive end result.

“It’s tough when you throw a good game and when something here or there doesn’t fall right,” he said. “In years past, it seemed like whenever something possibly could go wrong, it did.

“This year, a big key is that I’ve been able to minimize big innings and get out of jams. Another big change is the amount I’ve matured from last year to this year.”

While he’s grown up on the field, he’s always been ahead of the curve off the field. A pre-law major, Bajoczky has been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll each of his first three seasons at Duke.

“Tony’s a great student and a great representative of our program,” McNally said. “We have so many young pitchers and young players, and I think he’s provided a great example for our guys off the field.

“I feel real good about the leap he’s made. It’s great to see a guy get tangible results because of the time and effort he’s put in.”
 

No surprise UVa is latest victim for VMI baseball

Nobody who has followed VMI's baseball team this season could have been shocked Tuesday at the news that the Keydets had knocked off third-ranked Virginia.

VMI had an impressive resume before the Cavaliers ever got to town.

By the end of March, the Keydets had beaten Florida twice in Gainesville, Fla.; beaten No. 10 Auburn at Auburn and ended lengthy losing streaks against Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth.

A five-game losing streak against Virginia, dating back to 1995, was nothing compared to a 19-game losing streak against Old Dominion dating back to 1979 and a 16-game streak against VCU dating back to 1985.

The Keydets, 22-9 after a 13-6 loss at Virginia on Wednesday night, had dropped an earlier decision to Virginia in Charlottesville, 5-3.

"When we lost to them the first game, it only fueled the fire because we know we are a better team than them," Chris Henderson, Tuesday's winning pitcher, told The Daily Progress. "We would beat them two out of three if we played them again ... I guarantee."

Fourth-year VMI coach Marlin Ikenberry said he had not seen the quote.

"That's the kids being kids," Ikenberry said.

Virginia saves its top starting pitchers for its three-game weekend conference series, but so does VMI. The best teams in the country are the teams that have the kind of pitching depth that enables them to win mid-week games.

"That was our first mid-week loss of the season," said UVa coach Brian O'Connor, whose team fell to 27-6. "I knew when they played at our place that they had a legitimate team."

Ikenberry played for the Keydets from 1992-95 and later served as an assistant to Tom Slater, now at Auburn. VMI has always had a core of baseball people in its athletic administration but the dedication of Gray-Minor Stadium this year has taken the program to a new level. A crowd of 1,265 watched Tuesday's affair.

"The difference is like night and day, not just for us but for college baseball as a whole," Ikenberry said. "When I was playing, I don't think anybody in the state had lights. Now, Virginia Tech gets lights, Virginia gets a new stadium, we get a new stadium, William and Mary gets a new stadium. Our atmosphere was unbelievable [Tuesday] night."

Mountaineer melodrama

Former Roanoke Times columnist Jack Bogaczyk, now writing for the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail, says there is considerable sentiment for West Virginia to hire alumnus Bob Huggins to succeed John Beilein, who resigned this week to go to Michigan.

Huggins, a former West Virginia player, might have gotten the job five years ago if not for the opposition of WVU president David Hardesty. Hardesty announced last August that he will retire in September. Huggins, who was then coaching at Cincinnati, has just completed his first year at Kansas State.

Beilein might have left for North Carolina State last year if not for a $3 million buyout clause in his WVU contract. A year later, the buyout is $2.5 million, and Beilein said Wednesday his lawyers are negotiating his payment.

West Virginia was willing to pay Beilein the same $1.3 million he will be getting from Michigan but was unwilling to strike a buyout clause from a proposed renegotiation.

Coaching carousel

Former Virginia coach Pete Gillen is a finalist at Marshall, where Florida coach Billy Donovan is expected to pitch Donnie Jones, one of his assistants, while in town for a speaking engagement this week. Both Florida and Kentucky, which is expected to woo Donovan for its vacancy, are recruiting 6-foot-8 Huntington, W.Va., star Patrick Patterson.

n One-time Virginia Tech defensive coordinator John Gutekunst has joined the football staff at his alma mater, Duke. Gutekunst spent the past three seasons at North Carolina, where he was co-defensive coordinator for one year and assistant head coach last season.

This will be the second Duke coaching stint for Gutekunst, who was at Tech from 1979-83 and later served as head coach at Minnesota for six years.

Duke had an opening on its staff after offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien left to take a position with the New England Patriots. Head coach Ted Roof already had hired ex-Notre Dame assistant Peter Vaas to coach the quarterbacks, knowing that O'Brien's move to the NFL was a possibility.

Vaas now moves up to offensive coordinator.

Recruiting

Virginia Tech signee Malcolm Delaney, a 6-3 guard from Towson (Md.) Catholic, was named Baltimore Metro Player of the Year and then led the Baltimore All-Stars to a 116-113 victory over the U.S. All-Stars on Sunday in the Charm City Classic. Delaney had six assists and a game-high 27 points, including seven during an 11-0 run after his team had fallen behind 100-96.

Delaney will be joined by fellow Tech recruits Jeff Allen, Gus Gilchrist and Dorenzo Hudson in the Capital Classic tonight at the Comcast Center in College Park, Md. Virginia will be represented by fall signees Jeff Jones and Mike Scott. All but Gilchrist will play for the U.S. All-Stars.

n North Fort Myers (Fla.) running back Noel Devine, rated the No. 2 football prospect in Florida by SuperPrep and the No. 1 all-purpose back in the country by Rivals.com, originally had planned to sign with WVU in February but reportedly was urged to reconsider by ex-Florida State and NFL star Deion Sanders.
 

UVa holds off ODU on road
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
April 5, 2007

NORFOLK - Late in the second half of Wednesday afternoon’s Virginia-Old Dominion game, a chant of “Bor-ing!” rained down from the stands.

A small number of UVa fans, who had made the 3-hour trip from Charlottesville, were reacting to ODU’s decision to play stall ball.

The Monarchs, who were trailing by a goal, were milking the clock - a perfectly legal tactic in women’s lacrosse - in an effort to slow down a Virginia offense that had scored 18 goals in its previous game against Duke.

The strategy had worked for a good portion of the contest, but with less than eight minutes left to play, it backfired.

Virginia freshman Kaitlin Duff whacked the ball out of the stick of ODU senior Ashley Stanwick. Duff, a midfielder from Bethesda, Md., scooped the ball off the turf after a couple of bounces, then sprinted all the way to the other end of the field and scored to put UVa up by two. The goal paved the way for a hard-fought 10-7 victory.

“That was one of the biggest plays of the game,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers, “along with Brittany Kalkstein’s draw control when we were up 9-7.

“I feel like everybody contributed to this win. It’s nice to be able to gut through a game where everyone is helping out.”

Kalkstein and Blair Weymouth each had two goals for Virginia (10-2, 2-2 ACC). Goalie Kendall McBrearty had eight saves.

Caroline Jacobs scored twice for ODU (3-4).

Virginia’s victory helped ease the disappointment of its loss to Duke on Saturday in which it blew a late lead and gave up a staggering 19 goals.

“I definitely think it was good for us to get back on track,” Duff said. “The last game was a heartbreaker.”

An encouraging sign for Virginia was its success in ground balls and draw controls - two areas that it didn’t fare well in against Duke. UVa also outshot ODU, 31-13 - an impressive margin when you consider the Monarchs’ very deliberate offensive approach.

Coincidentally, ODU’s coach is Sue Stahl.

“My intent was to control the ball,” Stahl said, when asked about her team’s stall tactics. “We weren’t about to get into a horse race with this team with all the All-Americans they have.”

With the game tied at 3 late in the first half, Stahl’s plan was working to perfection. However, a goal by Megan O’Malley as time expired gave Virginia the momentum going into the locker room.

A goal by Ashley McCulloch put UVa up 7-5 at the 21:11 mark of the second half.

ODU tied the game on goals by Jacobs and Stanwick, but 6 minutes later, Virginia’s leading scorer Kate Breslin - who had an unusually quiet game - scored via a crafty pass from Jess Wasilewski to put UVa back up, 8-7.

That’s when Stahl tried to really slow things down - and Duff stepped up. Duff said Virginia was never frustrated by ODU’s style.

“I think we’d rather that they were running plays,” Duff said, “but it gave our midfielders a chance to rest.”

Duff wasn’t thinking about scoring when she stole the ball.

“I was thinking of hitting our cutters,” she said, “but I was being pressured a lot from behind, and then my teammates cleared out.”

Said Stahl: “We made some crucial turnovers - and every time we did, they made us pay.”

 

Forward ready to take charge on Boo's team
Ed Davis steps into a starring role for the Boo Williams Summer League team in this weekend's Boo Williams Invitational.
BY JASON JORDAN
247-4648
April 5, 2007

NORFOLK -- This time last year Ed Davis wanted to be where he is now.

Drawing big crowds every time he steps onto the basketball court, pegged as "the guy" who can put unknown players on the map if they play well against him, sorting through the 65 daily text messages from college coaches who drool at the thought of landing him. Such is the life of the go-to-guy on the Boo Williams Summer League 17-and-under AAU team.

"It's not too bad," said Davis, a 6-foot-8 forward. "As long as I'm getting better."

On Friday at 7:30 p.m., Davis and BWSL will take on the California Hoyas at Kecoughtan High. The game will begin the AAU season in the Boo Williams Invitational, where 96 teams from across the country will play in three divisions - 15, 16 and 17-and-under - at 12 gyms throughout Hampton and Newport News.

BWSL has won the tournament for the last two years.

Last year it was led by Chris Wright and Patrick Patterson, both McDonald's All-Americans.

Now it's Davis' turn to take the lead of a program that has won seven AAU national titles and finished as runner-up last season.

Shouldn't be too difficult for Davis, rated the No. 4 prospect in the class of 2008 by Scout.com, because being the leader isn't uncharted territory. This past season he led Benedictine High School in Richmond to a 29-3 record and the Virginia Independent Schools state title by averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds. "Last year I was playing in their shadow," Davis said of Wright, who will play at Georgetown next year, and Patterson, who will choose between Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, Wake Forest and West Virginia for next season. "Now I've got to be the leader. We'll still play as a team to win, but I'm just gonna try and assert myself more. Late in a close game, I might have to be the one to take over."

That should come as second nature, because BWSL coach Boo Williams said, "It's in his genes."

Davis' father, Terry, starred at Virginia Union before a 10-year NBA career with Washington, the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat. The two work out daily, mostly concentrating on weight-lifting, trying to bulk up Davis' slim 215-pound frame.

"When he walks in the gym, he just looks like a basketball player," Williams said of Davis. "The pedigree is definitely there. That's good because he'll have to be our leader. We have the right type of players to complement his game."

Brick Oettinger, a recruiting analyst for PrepStars.com, said that Davis likely would be an NBA player like his father. Oettinger ranks Davis in the top 10 in the class of 2008.

"He just does everything really well," Oettinger said. "Offensively he is very skilled and he's a polished player. He's far beyond a good athlete and this could change, but from what I understand, Virginia is the team to beat for him."

Davis conceded that the Cavs are trying to get him, but isn't in a hurry to pick Virginia over Georgetown, Clemson, North Carolina, Connecticut and Virginia Tech.

All but UNC have offered a scholarship.

"I'm going to wait and decide in the fall," Davis said.

For now Davis will focus all of his attention on getting a strong start to the AAU season this weekend, and settling some old scores in the process. "We've got the talent to win it all and that's our goal," Davis said. "I've heard a few players talking trash about how they're gonna see us in the Boo tournament and win it and stuff. We'll see about all of that this weekend."

Freshman climbs to leader of the pack
Southpaw Matt Packer has gained a rotation spot, quickly establishing himself as one of the ACC's premier young pitchers
Eric Kolenich, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

The 2007 Cavalier baseball team has begun to rise above the pack. At 8-4 in the ACC, Virginia is tied for first place in the Coastal Division with Georgia Tech and North Carolina. Virginia already brought down UNC and will look to take Georgia Tech next weekend.

At No. 3 in the country, Virginia has climbed six spots since the beginning of the season, slowly sifting through the competition and rising above the top teams in the nation.

In the lineup and the pitching staff, which are both in the top 10 in the country, individual players are rising to the top of the roster and becoming the driving force for the Cavaliers.

Though he is just a freshman, Matt Packer has climbed his way into the rotation as the Saturday starter and set himself apart from the rest of his class.

Virginia coach Brian O'Connor and the rest of the coaching staff saw Packer rise to the top to claim the prestigious rotation spot he now holds.

As a senior in high school, Packer went 14-0 with 180 strikeouts and a 0.48 ERA in 87 innings.

That was good enough to have Virginia call his name. But his high school stats alone didn't get him into the rotation.

"We recruited Neal Davis, Matt Packer and Jeff Lorick with all the same intentions that all three of them could pitch significantly for us," O'Connor said. "Through fall ball, Matt Packer showed that he was consistent. I felt that Matt Packer had a special quality to him -- not that the other guys don't. But he's got a lot of poise and he can pitch in the clutch, and that's what you need to do to win on the weekends."

When the club returned to Charlottesville after Winter Break, Packer received the news that he would be competing with other pitchers for a weekend spot.

With one week to go before the beginning of the season, Packer was told he had won the right to start Sunday. He had one week to prove right off the bat he was everything his scouting report said he would be. But the wait was not as nerve-racking as one might think.

"[Finding out] was almost a relief," Packer said. "Because we didn't know who was throwing, and once we finally knew, we could focus on the one game."

That one game came in Conway, S.C. Feb. 17 against Coastal Carolina, which currently stands at No. 14 in the country.

Packer threw 4.2 innings in his first collegiate game, giving up two runs on seven hits; he took a no-decision in the game.

Like sophomore Jacob Thompson last season, Packer demonstrated that true freshmen can be just as effective as any other players on the field. With less physical development necessary in baseball, O'Connor said there is less of a transition period from high school to college, so freshmen are able to compete better in baseball than in other sports.

Since his first game in South Carolina, Packer has continued to improve and has moved up to the Saturday position in the rotation.

"He's bounced back from average starts to pitching very well like he did against Miami and he's going to continue to do that," O'Connor said. "He's got a lot more poise than most kids do his age."

Now with eight starts under his belt, Packer is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA. His 44 strikeouts rank sixth in the ACC.

The one stat going against him so far this season is that opposing batters hit .311 against him.

But his quality 3.12 ERA shows Packer knows how to pitch well with runners on base and reflects that his defense plays well behind him.

With about half the season remaining, the biggest games still lie ahead of Packer.

In the next three weeks, he will take on Georgia Tech and No. 18 Clemson, two strong ACC squads.

After rising through the freshman class and proving he can compete at the collegiate level, Packer can now take on the challenge of moving up in the Virginia pitching staff.

Standing alongside Thompson and junior Sean Doolittle, Packer can look to them as examples of the best pitching in the ACC.

 

Cavs gain confidence on outdoor courts
Spring brings Virginia back to Snyder; Cavs must adjust to slower moving balls, finesse hitters
Campbell Grant, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Spring is finally here and students sitting out on the quad aren't the only ones enjoying the warm weather. The men's tennis team is more than happy to have moved to the outdoor Snyder Tennis Center courts.

Since starting 0-2 on the outdoors courts against Texas and Baylor, the Cavaliers (19-3 7-0 ACC) have rolled off five straight wins in the ACC against opponents ranked no lower than No. 46 and as high as No. 12.

"We've been gaining confidence every match we've played," freshman Houston Barrick said. "We started out a little rough, especially down in Texas. We had a couple of tough matches with Baylor and Texas, but we've gained confidence from then on and we're playing really well right now."

Men's college tennis is different from most other sports in that teams change playing surfaces midseason. The indoor courts on which teams start the season are very hard courts and lend themselves to a power game. On outdoor courts, the ball bounces more and players must use more of a finesse game to try to beat their opponents.

"The courts are much slower," redshirt freshman Dominic Inglot said. "Doubles -- it's not too bad, because the thing is when you cover the court, it's a little easier. But in singles it's harder to serve and volley for myself because [my opponents] get a read on the serve much better."

Barrick also agreed that one of the aspects of the game most affected by the surface is the serve.

"On a day like today it's really windy," Barrick said. "But I think it favors us because I like my kick serve a lot and I can be more aggressive with Dom serving, so it definitely helps us."

Barrick and Inglot have thrived as a doubles team since Virginia moved outdoors, winning all five of their matches during the current winning streak. Playing singles, No. 84 Inglot has struggled a little more, dropping two out of his five matches. The rest of the team has been very strong in singles. No. 2 junior Somdev Devvarman has won all five of his matches, and No. 22 junior Treat Huey and Barrick have only dropped a match apiece.

"It's a slower serve and it's difficult for me to hit the volleys." Inglot said. "So it's not in my favor. But I know Somdev and Treat like it more outdoors so maybe for me it's not as good, but it's better for them so either way it equals out in the end."

The Snyder courts are also different from the Boar's Head Sports Club indoor courts Virginia played on earlier this season in that the seating at the Boar's Head is much more conducive to a stadium atmosphere. The roof on the indoor courts also reflects sound, giving the Cavaliers that much more of a home-court advantage.

"I think we're going to get there [with the home-court advantage]." Barrick said. "Especially next weekend with Duke and North Carolina, hopefully we'll have a lot of people out."

The ACC and NCAA championships are played outdoors, meaning teams have to adjust well to the outdoor courts to have a good chance at postseason success. The Cavaliers feel confident that they benefit from playing outdoors more than most teams and think they will be ready come NCAA Tournament time.

"This team can play as good outdoors, if not better than indoors." Inglot said "I know that the other teams maybe struggle more, therefore it gives us more confidence. I think Georgia is going to be weaker [outdoors] so I think we have a real good chance [in the NCAA Tournament]."

 

D-League Announces 2006-07 GATORADE All-League Selections

GREENVILLE, S.C., April 4, 2007 – The Colorado 14ers placed three players – guard Von Wafer, forward Louis Amundson and center Elton Brown – on the 2006-07 GATORADE All-NBA Development League First Team as voted on by the league head coaches. Rounding out the first team is Idaho Stampede guard Randy Livingston and Dakota Wizards forward Renaldo Major.