Honoring a Virginia legend
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: April 25, 2009

As far as George Welsh was concerned, the practice field was hallowed ground, and you had darned well been ready to take care of business when you stepped upon it.

No foolishness allowed.

Anything other than pure focus and a player was bound to feel George’s wrath.

“If you weren”t ready to practice, George would throw your (expletive) off the football field,” said Shawn Moore, who quarterbacked Welsh’s Virginia Cavaliers to a national No. 1 ranking in 1990. “There were times where he would throw the coaches off the field, too, because he didn’t feel they were ready.”

The 74-year-old Welsh, who will be inducted into the state of Virginia Sports Hall of Fame tonight in Portsmouth, believed that practice made perfect.

In fact, he said Friday that he borrowed his favorite phrase about practice from the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, a precision flight demonstration team.

Can’t flip a switch

“You play like you practice and you practice like you play,” Welsh preached to his teams. “That saying came out of the Blue Angels, who used to say, ‘Fight like you train and train like you fight.’”

It was a mantra developed during his days as a young assistant coach for Rip Engle and Joe Paterno at Penn State.

“Practice was very much emphasized even before Joe took over,” Welsh said. “Coach Engle had his own way of doing things and Joe was a lot tougher as a head coach. The emphasis was on practicing hard. I wonder how some of these college teams can go out there today and not hit hard during certain times during the week because I think it translates to Saturdays.”

Certainly, practicing hard was one of the building blocks Welsh used to make both his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the University of Virginia program into winners.

Resurrecting the dead

In 19 years at UVa, Welsh did the unthinkable. He became the winningest football coach in UVa and ACC history, compiling an astonishing record of 134-86-3, including a conference record 80 ACC victories, two conference championships, 12 bowl appearances, and 13 consecutive seasons of at least seven wins from 1987-99.

He was voted ACC coach of the year a record five times and was a three-time national coach of the year, leading to his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

“Practice was the most important thing to George,” said longtime assistant coach Danny Wilmer. “He honestly felt that if you practiced every play like you’re in a game, you would win.”

“And he would throw anybody out of practice,” Wilmer added, “including Tiki Barber, anybody. Once, he threw both teams and the coaching staff off the field and make them stand on the sidelines.”

This columnist, who unknowingly walked into a closed Welsh practice at Scott Stadium early one Saturday morning and took a seat in the stands, saw for himself what Moore and Wilmer were talking about.

After the center/quarterback exchange was fouled up over and over again, Welsh finally boiled over and abruptly ended practice. He not only threw the teams out of the stadium, but threw the coaches out, too.

As the coaches trudged their way up the stadium steps, Tom O’Brien spotted me and said, “What the hell are you doing here?”

I told him I was supposed to talk to Welsh after practice.

O’Brien, now the head coach at N.C. State, didn’t even look up.

“Lots of luck on that,” he said.

I decided to wait and give Welsh a cooling-off period, and later, he was fine. Hey, I’m not stupid.

“Yeah, I used to send [players or coaches] over to the sidelines and tell them, “When you’re ready to practice, you can come back on the field,’” Welsh said Friday from his home in Crozet. “It didn’t take long. I’d tell them, ‘I’ll wait for you because I don’t have anything else to do tonight.’”

Some of Welsh’s worst moments weren’t limited to throwing players out of practice, but memorable events in practice.

Ask any UVa coach and they’ll break up laughing telling about the time that giant tackle Ray Roberts got into a fight with another player in practice and Welsh attempting to break it up.

“George went running out there and jumped up on big Ray’s back,” Wilmer chuckled. “He looked like an ant on an elephant. He was smacking Roberts with his hat, trying to get him to stop fighting.”

Welsh recalled the moment with some embarrassment.

“I remember jumping on [Roberts’] back,” Welsh said. “I don’t know why I did that. I was stupid. But after I broke my leg in practice in 1986, I was very careful. I didn’t demonstrate any more. Instead, I stayed 15 yards behind the ball to make sure I didn’t get hit.”

In that ’86 practice, Welsh was demonstrating a quarterback technique (he was third in the 1955 Heisman Trophy balloting as Navy’s quarterback) on the old, rain-soaked Astroturf at Scott Stadium.

“I didn’t have the right kind of shoes on for a slippery surface, and I took the ball from center and made a fake and was going to roll out and show the quarterback what I wanted,” Welsh recalled. “When I pivoted and made the fake, the guard was pulling as part of the deception, and stepped on my ankle and broke the ankle. I didn’t demonstrate anymore.”

Not long after that, Welsh made history when he and North Carolina coach Dick Crum, who had also broken a leg, met on the field for a post-game handshake — both of them on crutches.

All of Welsh’s exploits could fill a book. Everyone associated with the program during that era has a jillion memories.

“Ask any player and their stories will be very similar in that George was the best preparation coach they ever played for,” Moore said.

“George had a singleness, a purpose,” Wilmer said. “He always talked about being on an even keel, never getting too high or too low. And, he was such a smart man. His ego was almost non-existent.”

Gerry Capone, who came to UVa with Welsh in 1982 and remains as the Cavaliers’ director of football administration, said he was always amazed at how Welsh always kept focus.

“I don’t know whether it was his military background (Welsh was a naval officer), or what, but he was always disciplined,” Capone said. “He always managed to block out most of the world and all of the distractions to stay true to the task. He never waivered.”

Capone said that Welsh’s great leadership ability also allowed the head coach to keep the rest of the staff and players focused every day.

“When he was introduced as Virginia’s coach, his mantra was ‘Why not Virginia?’” Capone said. “Why couldn’t Virginia be a winner? He took over in a negative environment about UVa football in terms of the community, the state and nationally. We had stadium problems and training facility problems, but, again, he never lost focus on the goal.”

Wilmer said that every time he drives by Scott Stadium, he purposely holds his head up high, because he is one of few people that truly understand what Welsh accomplished here.

Damn near a miracle.

That’s why Welsh is a new member in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

 

George Welsh's induction past due

George Welsh's induction into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame tomorrow night in Portsmouth is longer overdue than Michael Vick's car payments.

Welsh has merited the recognition since 2000, when the University of Virginia bull-rushed him into retirement as the Cavaliers' football coach. He is, simply, the most influential figure in state college sports history.

More influential than any athlete -- sorry, Ralph Sampson. More influential than any coach -- sorry, Frank Beamer.

Before then-athletic director Dick Schultz lured Welsh from Navy following the 1981 season, Virginia football was a crimson-faced embarrassment. The Cavaliers had suffered 12 losing seasons in the previous 13 years, and in 29 seasons of ACC competition had won 33 conference games.

That's barely more than one league victory a year.

Never had Virginia played in a bowl. Never had Virginia captured the ACC title. Moreover, the notion of either was preposterous.

The reversal that Welsh and a staff of assistants that included Tom O'Brien and Danny Wilmer authored was "nothing short of a miracle," Schultz once said.

Indeed, in Welsh's 19 seasons, Virginia won 85 ACC games, shared two conference championships and earned 12 bowl invites. For two weeks in 1990, the Cavaliers sat atop the national rankings.

Most important, Welsh's program made college football matter in the state. Virginia's exponential progress raised eyebrows at Virginia Tech -- the Cavaliers were 8-4 against the Hokies from 1987-98 -- where the Hokies were treading water.

Under Beamer, Tech has since lapped Virginia. But the national aspirations, expanded stadiums and demanding fans that mark both programs are rooted in Welsh's success.

So, too, is the state's recruiting dynamic. Long a goldmine of high school talent, Virginia no longer is an easy mark for outside programs -- the best prospects often elect to play close to home.

Think about the homegrown talents Welsh and his staff signed. The Barber twins, Chris Slade and Terry Kirby; Marques Hagans, Thomas Jones and James Farrior; Aaron Brooks, Jason Wallace and Antwoine Womack.

No telling where they might have headed had Virginia not been a credible option.

Welsh's Virginia teams were 134-86-3, and in his last 14 years the Cavaliers had no losing seasons. His record at Navy was 54-46-1.

Welsh, 75, a native of Coaldale, Pa., and a former All-America quarterback at Navy, entered the College Football Hall of Fame five years ago. About time the Virginia hall followed suit.

Posted by David Teel
 

Cavs’ Monroe following a well-worn path
By Jeff White
Published: April 25, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE From the University of Virginia came the fourth player taken in the 2006 NFL draft -- D'Brickashaw Ferguson -- and last year's second and 15th picks: Chris Long and Branden Albert, respectively.

It shouldn't take long for another former Cavalier's name to be called today.

Offensive tackle Eugene Monroe may well go second, to the Rams, or third, to the Chiefs, on the opening day of the NFL draft. On either team, Monroe would be reunited with a former U.Va. teammate Long in St. Louis, Albert in Kansas City.

No matter where he lands, Monroe is projected to be one of the first 10 players chosen. And at least four other players from U.Va. linebacker Clint Sintim, tailback Cedric Peerman, tight end John Phillips and wide receiver Kevin Ogletree are likely to be selected before the end of tomorrow's seventh and final round.

"It's a really a nice story in the case of a player like Eugene, who clearly was a heavily hyped player coming out of high school and immediately showed that he had certainly a top level of ability," Cavaliers coach Al Groh said.

"And to see at the end of his career that he has fulfilled his potential and became everything there was anticipation he could be, that's a really nice confirmation of what the player put into it and how he did in fact live up to that.

"At the other side of it, it's a very positive and a nice story to witness and be part of to see [players such as Sintim, Peerman, Phillips and Ogletree], who had a good ability level but who wouldn't necessarily have been cited coming in as, 'This guy for sure is going to have a chance to play [in the NFL].' And they've developed their talents to the point that they're going to have that opportunity to do so."

Moreover, two other former U.Va. players -- linebacker Antonio Appleby and wideout Maurice Covington -- have been mentioned as potential picks this weekend.

"With 32 teams in the league, it only takes one to turn a player from what might have been a free agent into a draft choice," Groh said.

The 2001 season was Groh's first as coach at his alma mater. Since then, U.Va. has had 24 players drafted: three in '02, two in '03, one in '04, seven in '05, six in '06 (including the supplemental draft), two in '07 and three in '08.

At Virginia's pro timing day last month, Monroe talked matter-of-factly about the drills NFL representatives had just put him through.

"A day like today is nothing major," said Monroe, a second-team All-American in 2008. "It's not a major departure from anything we've done. I was familiar with everything. It was easy for me."

Groh coached for 13 seasons in the NFL -- the first 12 as an assistant -- before returning to Virginia, where he'd played in the 1960s. Virginia's 2008 media guide includes a quote from Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, who starred for Groh.

"His NFL mentality helps players to be successful on the next level," Schaub said.

When he took over at U.Va., Groh says, he didn't "set out to say, 'OK, we're going to run an NFL program here.' We haven't done that."

He acknowledged, however, that his program is based on principles he learned working with such coaches as Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick in the NFL.

"It wouldn't have been very smart to deviate dramatically from that," Groh said, "but it certainly does parallel what they're going to experience [in the NFL], and it is reinforcing that so many of them come back and say, 'I was just so well-prepared that nothing was a real big surprise,' or that they were able to deal with a lot of things that seemed to throw some kids kind of off track for a while."

 

Virginia's Eugene Monroe: Best yet to come in NFL draft?
Eugene Monroe is projected to be possibly a top-5 pick.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Eugene Monroe arrived at Virginia as the No. 1 prospect in the country, according to at least one service, and will depart as one of the top 10 choices -- maybe a top-five pick -- in this weekend's NFL Draft.

The legacy he leaves at Virginia is a little more murky.

"My career took me through a long journey," said Monroe last month at UVa's pro timing day.

Monroe, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound left tackle, received the Jacobs Blocking Trophy this past season as the ACC's top offensive lineman and he was a first-team All-ACC selection. The best he had done previously was honorable mention in 2007.

"The feeling here among those of us who have been around him every day is there's probably two [or] three more years' growth in Eugene's game," UVa coach Al Groh said.

Monroe played in every game as a true freshman in 2005, but he was the back-up to senior D'Brickashaw Ferguson at left tackle and did not start a game.

"We saw Eugene as the natural heir apparent," Groh said. "Behind 'Brick,' he was only going to play so much, but he was going to get a taste of it and be ready to go.

"Then, the second or third day of his first spring practice, he dislocated his knee. So, he missed the whole spring and was severely impeded by it over the course of the next season."

Monroe was so ineffective early in the season that he lost his starting job to Zak Stair, although he got his job back for the last month of the season and started six games overall.

Doctors had cleared Monroe to begin the 2006 season, "but, frankly, if we had a way to look into the future and known how much he was going to be impeded, we probably wouldn't have played him," Groh said.

Of course, the chances of Monroe returning for a fifth year probably would have been remote.

He started 29 of a possible 37 games during his final three seasons. After a knee sprain sidelined him for two games during a 2007 season, he had postseason shoulder surgery.

"Not a major operation; they just cleaned out some particles," Groh said, "but he missed spring practice. So, that's two spring practices he missed and there were a lot of other [in-season] practices. That's why we think there's a lot of room for growth."

Monroe hardly missed a down this past season, although there was some Internet chatter over the winter that he might have some injury issues. Pro scouts were relatively confident that he was injury-free, but he faced questions nonetheless.

"One team just continuously pounded the question of, if I ever used drugs," Monroe said, "and that was kind of weird for me. They kind of knew about the town that I'm from [Plainfield, N.J.] and the things that go on in there."

Monroe has required little maintenance since his arrival at Virginia and made sure that he graduated before leaving for the NFL. While Groh has cautioned players about getting caught up in the hype surrounding the NFL Draft, there was no chance of that with Monroe.

"His response to this is very similar to the way he was in recruiting," Groh said. "All the brightest lights were recruiting him -- USC, Ohio State, Texas, wherever -- and that didn't make any difference to him. His whole thought process was about his relationships with the people, where they were going to take the best care of him and what the best plan was.

"He was the same way here. The fellow he hired to be his agent is a young guy, a start-up guy [Sunny Shah] and not one of the name agents. Eugene wasn't going to be wowed by all of that. He was going to make his own decision."

When asked how high he might be drafted, Monroe responded last month, "one." It was unclear whether he thought he would go to the Detroit Lions, who own the first pick, or whether he was just speaking in hypothetical terms.

Don't expect Monroe to drop below the top 10 and he could go as high as No. 2, which is where he was projected in Friday's edition of USA Today. If he goes either second or third, he would be rejoining a former Cavalier teammate, Chris Long in St. Louis or Branden Albert in Kansas City.

Chances are, Monroe will become the fifth first-round pick from Virginia since 2005, including fellow offensive linemen Ferguson and Albert. Offensive tackle Jason Smith from Baylor, rated ahead of Monroe in some mock drafts, is considered a better blocker. Monroe is seen as a superior pass blocker.

"That's what the word is," Groh said, "and that's the single most important factor. If a guy misses a block on a running play, now it's second-and-10. If he misses a block on a pass play, the quarterback gets hit in the back, maybe he fumbles the ball [or] maybe he's out for the season."

"He and Brick were very similar. That was the strong suit of Brick's game."

Groh has a collection of NFL contacts but doesn't profess to have any inside information.

"Players want to know where they're going to play," he said, "but I caution them against getting overly excited or discouraged unnecessarily. The only information that's out there is dis-information. Almost more sacred to teams than their playbook is their draft board.

"The last time I talked to 'Gene, his attitude was, 'How can it not work out?' Whether he's [pick No.] 2, 3, 4, 6, he's looking at long-term remuneration over a significant time span."
 

Preserve, protect: the goal of draft-worthy left tackles
By Tom Robinson
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 25, 2009

Tweak that career goal, kid. You don't just want to grow up to be a pro football player. You want to grow up to be a left tackle. You want this because left tackles in the NFL now are almost as golden as quarterbacks.

Left tackles are important. Left tackles get paid, second behind quarterbacks in fact, as discussed in writer Michael Lewis' book from a couple years ago, "The Blind Side."

Of the record eight tackles taken among the first 26 picks in the 2008 NFL draft, six were left tackles - including Michigan's Jake Long, who went No. 1 overall to Miami.

At least five or six more, Virginia's Eugene Monroe among them, are expected to go in this year's first round, which begins today in New York.

Most quarterbacks are right-handed. Their back, their blind side, faces left as they set their feet to throw. The last thing a team needs is for those feet to be knocked out, or a knee injured, by an end or linebacker the quarterback never saw.

The left tackle prevents this, but there are so few tall, strong and nimble enough - Monroe is 6-foot-5, 309 pounds with notably long arms and quick feet - to handle the job consistently well.

And although a good left tackle always has been critical, the necessity has soared because of an emphasis on passing. And because there are so few quarterbacks who handle their job consistently well that when you have one, you'd better keep him upright.

"We put the premium on quarterbacks, corners, left tackles and pass rushers," Baltimore Ravens general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome said at February's NFL scouting combine. "For the most part, those are the guys that are going to come off the board early."

Monroe will go perhaps as early as No. 2, but almost certainly within the first 10 picks, according to most draft watchers. Look for tackles Jason Smith (Baylor), Andre Smith (Alabama), Michael Oher (Mississippi) and Eben Britton (Arizona) to be first-rounders as well, and perhaps Connecticut's William Beatty.

"We say the same thing here," said Al Groh, Monroe's coach at U.Va, and once the coach of the New York Jets. "For all the need to run the ball, if a lineman - particularly a tackle - is a real road-grader as a blocker but a real liability as a pass protector, boy, you're really playing the odds to put that guy in the game."

This is nothing new, really. A decade ago, star tackles like the Rams' Orlando Pace, the Ravens' Jonathan Ogden and the Seahawks' Walter Jones arrived with superior protecting skills that markedly reduced the need for double-team blocking and freed up passing games.

But fortunately for NFL teams in need, the spread of four- and five-receiver sets in college has allowed more tackles to enter the league game-ready.

As Sports Illustrated notes, tackles are among the "safest" picks in which to invest; seven of last year's eight first-rounders were starting early last season. And Long made the Pro Bowl.

"There's more quantity and quality," Kevin Colbert, the Pittsburgh Steelers director of football operations, told SI.

Consider joining that path, too, kid, because remember: when it comes to protecting the blind side, NFL teams need to go on a whole lot more than blind faith.

 

Awaiting the call
By Norm Wood | 247-4642
April 25, 2009

Since that February weekend in Indianapolis, Kevin Ogletree and Cedric Peerman have had their heads spinning from all the possibilities that could come out of this weekend's NFL draft.

They know the work they put in at the NFL combine probably increased their chances of hearing their names called this weekend by a man at a podium in Madison Square Garden. What they don't how is long they'll have to wait, which teams want them the most or whether they'll have to pack for cold or warm weather.

Still, for a couple of guys who had large chunks of their college careers at Virginia marred by injuries, just knowing a potential future in the NFL awaits relieves some pressure. Ogletree and Peerman have been proactive and, in so doing, improved their draft stock.

"The more pressure you put on yourself, the more of a hole you put yourself in," Ogletree said regarding the pressure of draft preparation.

"This is what you've been doing all your life. If you feel pressure, or uncomfortable, I think that's not where you should be. This should be your comfort zone. ... It's an interview, so you should be comfortable with your training and what you do."

Unlike former U.Va. teammates Eugene Monroe and Clint Sintim, neither Ogletree nor Peerman figure to get drafted today in the first two rounds, according to most projections. Ogletree and Peerman probably will have to wait until Sunday. Ogletree is projected to be a fourth-round selection, while Peerman is considered a potential third- or fourth-round pick, according to the nfldraftscout.com Web site.

Peerman, a 5-foot-10, 216-pound running back from Gladys, has done plenty to put himself on the radar of some NFL teams.

In February, he went to Indianapolis and ran the 40-yard dash at the combine in 4.45 seconds, the fastest time among all running backs.

"It was a good day," said Peerman, who won state Group A high school outdoor championships in the 100-meter dash in his junior and senior seasons at William Campbell High.

"I thought I was going to run a little faster, but you can't complain about having the best time there."

His time was faster than that of Connecticut's Donald Brown, Georgia's Knowshon Moreno and Ohio State's Chris Wells, all of whom are expected to be selected in the first two rounds. Peerman also had the second-best vertical jump (40 inches) among running backs, and the fourth-best bench press (27 lifts of 225 pounds) in the running-backs category.

It was the kind of effort scouts needed to see from Peerman, who struggled with injuries. In 2007, a Lisfranc foot injury required him to have surgery and miss the last seven games of the season. It was awful timing for a guy who was leading the Atlantic Coast Conference with 585 rushing yards after the first six games of the season.

After making a full recovery and posting 774 rushing yards and seven touchdowns last season to go along with 44 catches for 193 yards, he's ready for the next phase of his football career. At the end of last season, he was projected to be a fifth- or sixth-round selection, so his prospects definitely have risen.

"The only round I haven't heard is the first round, and that's the one you want to hear," Peerman said. "I've heard everything."

Ogletree, a 6-1, 196-pound wide receiver from Queens, N.Y., has bounced back from a similar career derailment. After leading U.Va. with 52 catches for 582 yards and four touchdowns in '06 as a sophomore, he lost his entire '07 season when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in spring practice.

He returned last season and logged a team-high 58 catches for 723 yards and five touchdowns. Ogletree was one of 26 players in ACC history to have two 50-plus-reception seasons. He decided to turn pro after his junior season.

With just two seasons as a college starter under his belt, Ogletree had a lot to prove at the combine. He made a solid impression by posting the best 20-yard shuttle time (4.08 seconds) among receivers and the fourth-best three-cone drill time (6.67) among receivers. He had a 40-yard dash time of 4.46 seconds, which was 11th among receivers.

When the draft opens today with the Detroit Lions' first selection, the nail-biting will begin for Ogletree, Peerman and hundreds of other potential draftees. Peerman said he may spend today at home in Gladys. Ogletree said he'll probably be on the golf course near his home in New York.

No more worries. At the very least, they realize they've done everything they can to help themselves in the draft.

"I would be lying if I told you I know where I'm going to go," Ogletree said. "It depends who you hear it from. Someone has to take me. I think I helped myself out at the combine and (at U.Va.'s pro day) running drills, just showing my quickness and my hands and technical stuff. I'm looking forward to it."

 

Cavs seeking early calls
April 25, 2009 12:35 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

The University of Virginia has produced 24 National Football League draft picks since Al Groh took over the program in 2001. Three of those picks have been first-round selections, including two in the top four.

But the Cavaliers haven't had three players taken in the first three rounds of a draft since 1997.

That could change in the 2009 draft, which begins today.

Left tackle Eugene Monroe is a likely top-10 selection. Outside linebacker Clint Sintim is projected as a second-round choice. And running back Cedric Peerman could hear his name called in tomorrow's third round.

The Cavaliers didn't have much success on the field last year in a 5-7 campaign, but their players are still attractive to NFL teams.

"They're big, athletic guys with a lot of upside," said Tony Pauline, an NFL draft analyst for cnnsi.com. "[The Cavaliers] get premier athletes, but they also get premier athletes that don't always play up to their potential."

Pauline said that's been the case at the college and professional level. He cited tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who he said "hasn't been what the [New York] Jets thought he was going to be."

Pauline said Monroe has an opportunity to change the perception that Virginia players underachieve.

Monroe (6-foot-5, 309 pounds) has been listed on Internet mock drafts as high as the No. 2 overall pick to the St. Louis Rams. The lowest he's expected to go is sixth to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Monroe, who will be at the draft in New York City today, said he's not worried about where he'll be selected.

"Ultimately that's not my decision," he told USA Today. "All I can do is prepare myself. Everybody knows about Eugene Monroe and what type of player and person he is."

Monroe should become the Cavaliers' third offensive lineman to be chosen in the first round in the past four years, joining Ferguson (fourth in 2006) and Branden Albert (15th in 2008 to Kansas City).

Monroe served as a backup to Ferguson as a freshman in 2005. He and Albert formed a dominant left side of the line in 2007.

"I think Monroe has the possibility to be the best [of the three]," Pauline said. "He's bigger than Ferguson. He's as athletic as Albert. He's got the potential to play left or right tackle. I think in the long run, he's got the most upside."

Sintim has upside as well. But he has received mixed reviews from draft experts.

Pauline said he'll likely be taken in the middle of the second round.

Pauline said teams like Sintim's size (6-foot-3, 256 pounds) and ability to play in the 3-4 scheme, the same one Groh uses at Virginia.

Sintim said he can play in the 3-4 or 4-3.

"The biggest thing that will stand out for me is my game tape," Sintim said at the Cavaliers' pro timing day. "When push comes to shove, are you a football player or not? I think over the last four or five years, I've proven I'm one of the better football players."

Sintim led the Cavaliers with 11 sacks last season. Still, Pauline said, the Woodbridge native and Gar-Field High grad is "slightly overrated."

Pauline said Sintim has a "good athletic skill set and good size" but he struggles in coverage, something that will be exposed in the NFL.

Pauline isn't quite sold on Peerman, either.

Peerman's stock has risen the most among Virginia's draft-eligible players since the end of the college season.

"The only round I haven't heard is the first round," Peerman said.

That rise is because Peerman performed well at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds.

Pauline said Peerman can be a valuable all-around contributor, but not a featured running back.

"He does what he does well, but he's basically a straight-ahead runner," Pauline said. "He's not a real creative runner. I don't know that he's ever going to be a feature back at the next level."

 

Players to learn NFL fate
By Jay Jenkins
Published: April 25, 2009

Eugene Monroe is living large in more than one way.

Other former Virginia players will spend the weekend squirming on the edge of their respective seats.

As the NFL draft opens today at 4 p.m., the lives of numerous players that once wore a Cavalier uniform will be altered in various ways.

Monroe, of course, is projected to be the first former Virginia player selected, perhaps in a fashion that would pair the massive left tackle with a former teammate.

He could be picked No. 2 by St. Louis, matching Monroe with former All-American defensive end Chris Long.

He could also land at No. 3 with Kansas City with former guard Branden Albert, which could give the Chiefs a pair of tackles from Virginia.

Others will wait — perhaps to the bitter end — and later play phone tag with prospective franchises.

Those expecting a shorter window of wait include wideout Kevin Ogletree, tailback Cedric Peerman and outside linebacker Clint Sintim, all of which hope to be selected today during the draft’s first two rounds.

Other draft hopefuls include linebackers Antonio Appleby and Jon Copper, wide receiver Maurice Covington, safety Byron Glaspy and tight end John Phillips.

As they did during their careers, each will be watching with excitement, cheering on the others.

“Those are my guys. Those are the guys that I went to war with,” Ogletree said. “If they are doing well then I am doing well. I love seeing them succeed and that’s what we went to Virginia to do.

“We went to get our degrees, play football and build that bond. Everybody is going their separate ways now to venture their dream too and wish the best for them.”

And then there is Kevin McCabe.

Once anointed the starter at quarterback for Virginia and later snubbed by offensive coordinator Mike Groh, McCabe completed his final year of eligibility at California (Pa.) University with gaudy stats.

McCabe, like other former Cavaliers, could be in limbo during the two-day draft and may be waiting for an audition merely as a free agent.

He said he will watch with friends and family in Pennsylvania with his cell phone and agent close by.

“It is a lot of energy that is stagnant because it is out of your control,” McCabe said. “You are just waiting around on everybody else and letting them have their time.

“You just hope for the best and it doesn’t matter if it is the first round or if it is as a free agent. I am just going to be blessed that I am going to be able to play.”

If Monroe is selected in the first round, as projected, he will become the ninth Virginia player taken in the opening round in the past 11 years and the third in the past fourth since 2006.

As the draft rolls into the sixth and seventh rounds Sunday, public perception is that it is better to go undrafted.

Glaspy, once a walk-on at Virginia, sees both sides of the argument.

“I have heard that it might be better if you are chosen in the later rounds and I have heard that it might be better if you go as a free agent to go to team that has a need at your position,” Glaspy said. “But I still think that it would be exciting to hear your name called.”

McCabe added: “They always say, ‘You don’t want to be picked up in the sixth or seventh round so you have options,’ but in reality everybody wants to hear their name called on draft day.”

Ogletree, in New York with family this weekend, expects his name to be called late today or early Sunday.

It is a moment that he dreamed of long before he submitted his name for the draft, thus bailing on his final year of eligibility at the college ranks.

“I am real excited. I can’t remember being this excited in my entire life,” Ogletree said. “It is fun man. I know someone will take me and that is the best part. I know I will get a chance to live out my dream and play in the NFL, so I am happy about that.

“That is the most assuring and comforting thing, knowing that the chance that I have waited my whole life for is coming on a professional team. All this hard work is going to put me in a position where I can make something.”

Can spread offense affect recruiting?
Hokies entertain prize basketball recruit
By Doug Doughty

What is it about elite in-state quarterbacks and their seeming indifference for Virginia Tech and Virginia?

The Hokies and Cavaliers signed the top two quarterbacks in the state in 2006-2007, Tyrod Taylor and Peter Lalich, but have been snubbed the past two years.

Actually, they were snubbed twice last year, when Tajh Boyd and Kevin Newsome committed to West Virginia and Michigan originally, then decommitted and signed with Clemson and Penn State.

More recently, the state’s No. 1 prospect for 2009-2010, quarterback Phillip Sims from Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, committed to Alabama.

Oscar Smith coach Rich Morgan said that Sims found Alabama to be “the best fit.”

Since Virginia had signed a pair of players off Oscar Smith’s Group AAA Division 5 champions, wide receiver Tim Smith and linebacker-running back Perry Jones, I wondered if the Cavaliers were experiencing some sort of backlash from their move to a spread offense.

Morgan describes Alabama’s offense as a “multiple pro set.”

“Nick Saban, coming from the NFL, tries to prepare his guys for the next level,” Morgan said. “They’re very multiple and do a lot of things with the quarterback that needs to be done at the next level.

“It’s not always going to be the shotgun. It’s not always going to be the spread because nobody runs that at the next level. They’ll go anywhere from ‘I’ formation to an offset ‘I,’ and then they will do some three- and four-receiver stuff.

“And, they are adding some new packages. I was there for some spring practices and I’ve seen some of the packages they’ll add for the future. It’s all pretty similar to what we do here at Oscar Smith.”

I asked Morgan if Sims was turned off by the spread and if he thought other quarterbacks might feel the same.

“It didn’t really turn him off at all,” Morgan said, “but there is no such thing as a spread offense in the NFL. Never has been, other than the Houston Oilers running the run-and-shoot 20 years ago.

“I do think a lot of kids want to feel comfortable that it will translate to the next level. Colleges have to win with the athletes they’ve got. You’ve got to run a system that’s good for you.

“The spread offense is a way to get good athletes the ball early in space. If you don’t have the same athletes as the guy on the other side, it’s a way to level the playing field.

“A lot of those schools that pass every down, their quarterbacks go to the combines and they don’t have the best feet. They haven’t made a lot of the NFL-type throws and they kind of get lost in the shuffle.

“Mark Sanchez and the guy from Georgia [Matthew Stafford] come from the same offenses that Alabama runs. And, those are the top guys two being picked in the draft. But, the guy coming from a Texas Tech, you don’t hear about him.

“He’ll get a look later on but he’s not going to be there [in New York] because he doesn’t have the feet and the arm strength of some of these other guys.”

VIRGINIA COACH AL GROH has put a few guys in the NFL and may have as many as five or six players selected this weekend. Predictably, he doesn’t think that the spread would hinder a college quarterback’s chances in the pros.

“If they perform well, quarterbacks who exhibit the things that NFL teams are looking for – and it’s a different game – get drafted no matter what system they were in,” Groh said. “Why isn’t Chase Daniel, who was a highly productive quarterback in college, being drafted early? Because he’s a 5-foot-11 or 6-foot quarterback with average arm strength.

“What [Missouri’s] style of offense did is take a kid who might have had a much-lesser career in other circumstances and made him a college star. If you’d have put Mark Sanchez or the kid from Georgia into the Missouri offense, they would have been tremendously successful and been highly drafted. It’s [the stigma] a lot of nonsense.”

Groh said that the input he has been getting from returning assistant Ron Prince, who was the head coach at Kansas State for the past three seasons, is that as many as 50 percent of the high school teams in Texas and California are using spread offenses.

“I think that would make [the spread] attractive to an awful lot of quarterbacks, which is why Kansas had a real good team and Missouri had a real good team,” Groh said. “If your quarterback has a high-level year, you’re probably going to win a lot of games. These kids have been playing in these offenses since the eighth grade. They know the systems. They go to schools because of it.

“Frankly, for all of the talk about all our offensive linemen and tight ends who have gone to the NFL, the real high-water mark will be when we have a quarterback who’s rated the same way. We would fall all over ourselves to get the next Matt Schaub to run this offense. The No. 1 criterion to make this offense go is a player’s ability to pass the ball.”

GROH IS NOT PERMITTED to speak about an unsigned player like Sims but he feels that the exodus of in-state players like Sims, Boyd and Newsome is pretty easy to explain. They perceive programs like Alabama’s to be more big-time, which Morgan alluded to in one of his quotes.

“They needed a quarterback, one,” Morgan said. “Number two, [Sims] felt good about the coaching staff and the system they were running. And, number three, it’s Alabama [with] 12 national titles and one of the best programs in the country. It’s kind of hard to find anything that isn’t good about it.

What a Virginia Tech fan might ask is, “What have they done lately?”

Despite losing its last two games, the Crimson Tide was 12-2 last year. Saban first Alabama team went 7-6 in 2007.

Alabama is 41-23 over the past five years, compared to the Hokies’ 52-15. Over the past 10 years, the Tide is 75-50 and Tech is 100-30.

TECH IS EXPECTING as many as 60 prospects for today’s spring football game. And that’s just the football prospects.

Visitors will include basketball prospect DeShawn Painter, a 6-foot-9 post player from Hargrave Military Academy who will be on an official visit.

Painter, released from a letter-of-intent he signed with Florida this past fall, has two cousins on the Hokies’ football team (Vinston Painter and Marcus Davis). DeShawn Painter, originally from Booker T. Washington in Norfolk, also plans to visit Maryland and North Carolina State.

Visitors for football will include five of the state’s top six juniors as rated by The Roanoke Times. The top player on that list was Sims, followed by Brookville defensive end Zach McCray, Fork Union offensive lineman Mark Shuman, Lake Taylor linebacker Travis Williams, Ocean Lakes wide receiver Justin Hunter and King William defensive lineman Nick Acree.

Shuman and Acree have committed to the Hokies, and Shuman will be joined by his Fork Union offensive linemate Russell Bodine. If Bodine were to pick Tech, it would give Virginia one more reason to rue its short sighted decision not to offer Shuman’s older brother, Ryan, in 2003.


 

Virginia Falls to Duke 16-5 in ACC Championship Semifinals
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/24/2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Duke continued its mastery of Virginia with a 16-5 win over the Cavaliers in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The win is the Blue Devils second of the season over Virginia and seventh in a row in the series dating back to 2005.

Duke advances to Sunday’s championship game to face North Carolina for the league title. North Carolina defeated Maryland 16-10 in today’s first semifinal contest.

The top-ranked Cavaliers are now 13-2 this season with both losses coming to the Blue Devils. Duke, ranked sixth, is now 11-3.

Ned Crotty, the ACC Player of the Year, led the way for Duke with four goals and four assists as 10 different players scored.

Shamel Bratton was Virginia’s leading scorer with two goals. Danny Glading had a goal and an assist. His assist was the 100th of his career as he became only the sixth player in ACC history with to score at least 100 career goals and add 100 assists.

Glading helped the Cavaliers take a lead 11 seconds into the contest by taking a feed from Steele Stanwick on a fast break off the opening faceoff.

Duke responded with a fast break goal of its own on the ensuing faceoff as C.J. Costabile fed Crotty eight seconds later. The Blue Devils scored on their first three shots of the game and built a 4-1 lead less than six minutes in.

Bratton scored just before the horn to end the first quarter but it was the Cavaliers’ final goal until midway through the fourth quarter.

Duke scored twice in the second quarter to take a 7-2 halftime lead. The Blue Devils stretched their lead to 11-2 with a four-goal third quarter.

The Blue Devils scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter before Bratton tallied an extra-man opportunity with 7:46 remaining. Bratton’s goal ended a scoring drought of more than 37 minutes for Virginia. For the game Virginia was one-for-seven on extra-man opportunities.

The Cavaliers will now await an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. Bids will be announced Sunday, May 3 at 9 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPNews.

Virginia 2-0-0-3—5 record: 13-2
Duke 5-2-4-5—16 record: 11-3

att—3675

Scoring (G-A)—V: Shamel Bratton 2-0, Danny Glading 1-1, Chris Bocklet 1-0, Steve Giannone 1-0, Garrett Billings 0-1, Rhamel Bratton 0-1, Steele Stanwick 0-1. D: Ned Crotty 4-4, Zach Howell 3-2, Will McKee 2-1, Mike Catalino 1-0, Stephen Coyle 1-0, Jay Jennison 1-0, Sam Payton 1-0, Brad Ross 1-0, Robert Rotanz 1-0, Steve Schoeffel 1-0, Max Quinzani 0-2, C.J. Costabile 0-1, Justin Turri 0-1.

Goalie Summary— V: Adam Ghitelman 50:36 mins., 9 saves, 14 goals allowed; Mark Wade 9:24 mins., 0 svs., 2 GA. D: Rob Schroeder 52:14 mins., 7 saves, 3 goals allowed; Sean Brady 7:46 mins., 3 svs., 2 GA.

Shots: V—34, D—44
Ground Balls: V—34, D—37
Clearing: V—15x16, D—20x21
Faceoffs: V—13, D—11
Penalties: V—3-2:30, D—7-5:30
EMO: V—1x7, D—1x3

 

Cavaliers bow out of ACC tournament
By Bart Isley
Published: April 25, 2009

BLACKSBURG — With freshman Brittany Dipper in goal and an NCAA berth wrapped up, No. 2 Maryland seemed ripe for the picking against a frustrated, hungry Virginia in need of a big win in Friday’s ACC semifinal.
A monster second half said otherwise.
Maryland stayed undefeated and advanced to the ACC championship game with a 15-7 victory in the tournament semifinals, pulling away after the break to leave Virginia perilously close to missing out on an NCAA tournament berth.
There are eight automatic bids to the NCAA field and eight at-large bids. With two other ACC squads, as well as a Big East squad and defending champ Northwestern, likely to earn at-large bids, the invitations left up for grabs are going to be few and far between. Conference tournament upsets could potentially leave Virginia on the outside looking in.
“It depends to some extent what other teams do,” Myers said. “But I think we should be okay in terms of getting a bid.”
Virginia will discover its fate May 3 when the tournament field is announced. Friday’s loss was a near-repeat performance of Virginia’s 17-11 loss to the Terrapins on March 6 when the Cavaliers (11-7) struggled to possess the ball and, in turn, got out of rhythm offensively, trying to do too much through one-on-one play. That fact wasn’t lost on Myers.
“I’m sick of it,” Myers said, referring to the same struggle dooming the Cavaliers against the Terrapins. “But Maryland’s good — they play without any fear. They feel like they can beat anybody and it shows in the way they’re playing.”
Maryland (17-0) had its usual balanced offensive attack going, with Caitlyn McFadden, Laura Merrifield and Brittany Jones all notching hat tricks, while Karri Ellen Johnson and Sarah Mollison chipped in with a pair of goals each. Jones, Merrifield and Mollison strung together three unassisted goals right out of the gate after halftime, swinging the momentum back to Maryland in a huge way after the Cavaliers reeled off a 4-1 run to end the first half.
“That was a momentum-changer,” said Maryland coach Cathy Reese. “We were coming up with draw controls and we were able to possess the ball and find open looks to the goal. Overall, it was a really strong performance from us.”
It was Dipper, though, that stymied Virginia with 11 saves on 24 Virginia shots, including several impressive stops in crucial situations. After the three-goal explosion to start the second, Virginia cut the lead to 9-6 on one of Kaitlin Duff’s four goals, and appeared set to make a run. But a goal by McFadden and Merrifeld, as well as two big stops by Dipper, left Virginia with little time on the clock and a five-goal deficit.
“It was probably [Dipper’s] best game,” Myers said. “Our shooters didn’t do a great job — we settled for less than we wanted and made a lot of her saves pretty easy but I give her credit for making those saves.”
Maryland’s defense held Virginia All-Americans Ashley McCulloch and Blair Weymouth in check, much like they did in the regular season, with the tandem combining for just one assist.
“They’re so good — they’re such good players — but Katie Gallagher played great on McCulloch,” Reese said. “We prepared for them and we focused on the entire Virginia offense because they’re all very patient, but all of them can score.”
Virginia and Maryland traded runs during the first half, with Maryland first leaping out to a 5-1 advantage on the strength of a pair of McFadden goals. Then Virginia responded with their 4-1 run to close the Maryland advantage to just a single goal at the break.
The Cavaliers tried to knot the game by killing nearly four minutes of clock before Blair Weymouth was unable to connect with less than 30 seconds to play. Maryland gathered in the ensuing loose ball, but failed to capitalize after racing the length of the field, forcing a shot wide as time expired.

 

Cavaliers Fall to Top-Seed Maryland in ACC Semis
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/24/2009

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team dropped its first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament game since 2005 Friday afternoon, falling to undefeated No. 2, and top-seed, Maryland, 15-7, at Thompson Field on the campus of Virginia Tech.

Junior All-ACC Team member Kaitlin Duff led the Cavaliers with four goals and four ground balls, while senior All-ACC honoree Jenny Hauser had a goal and an assist. Redshirt junior Whitaker Hagerman and freshman Julie Gardner each had a goal and senior Blair Weymouth added an assist.

For the Terrapins, Caitlyn McFadden set the pace with three goals and two assists, while Laura Merrifield added three scores and won three draw controls. In goal for Maryland, Brittany Dipper stopped 12 shots.

Maryland started the scoring, firing a goal at 28:24, before Hauser found the back of the net at 27:11 to even the score.

A four-goal run by the Terrapins gave Maryland a 5-1 lead by 16:03, but the Cavaliers worked to cut their deficit to one with seven minutes remaining, off two goals from Duff and one from Hagerman.

The Terrapins nipped the streak with a goal at 6:45, before Gardner converted a free position shot to conclude the first half scoring and cutting Maryland’s lead to one, at 6-5.

Maryland opened the second half with three-straight goals, before Duff scored her third of the day at 19:42, bringing the score to 9-6.

The Terrapins added two more goals before Duff could fire her fourth at 7:13, making it 11-7.

The lead was too much though and Maryland used the momentum to tack on four more scores to take a 15-7 win and advance to Sunday’s championship game.

The Cavaliers will now await word on their postseason fate. The NCAA Tournament selection show will air Sunday, May 3.

Cavs’ coach, players receive ACC honors
STAFF REPORTS
Published: April 25, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Virginia men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia was named Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year. He holds an overall 298-109 career record and a 197-63 mark in his 16 years with the Cavaliers.

Duke's Nad Crotty earned ACC player of the year. He is currently the top scorer in the league and ranks second in the nation in assists per game.

Joining him on the postseason team are Virginia's Shamel Bratton, Brian Carroll, Danny Glading and Mike Timms. U.Va. attackman Steele Stanwick was named the freshman of the year.

In women's lacrosse, All-ACC honors were awarded to Virginia's Kaitlin Duff, Jenny Hauser, Ashley McCulloch and Blair Weymouth. Virginia Tech's Rachel Culp also received the honor.

ALL-ACC MEN

Ned Crotty, attack, North Carolina; Max Quinzani, attack, North Carolina; Dan Groot, midfield, Maryland; Max Schmidt, defense, Maryland; Ryan Young, attack, Maryland; Billy Bitter, attack, North Carolina; Shane Walterhoefer, Midfield, North Carolina; Shamel Bratton, mid field, Virginia; Brian Carroll, midfield, Vir ginia; Danny Glading, attack, Virginia; Mike Timms, midfield, Virginia

Player of the year: Ned Crotty, North Carolina

Freshman of the year: Steele Stanwick, Virginia

Coach of the year: Dom Starsia, Virginia

ALL-ACC WOMEN

Kristin Igoe, Boston College; Katie Monaghan, goalie, Boston College; Sarah Bullard, midfield, North Carolina; Caroline Cryer, attack, North Carolina; Carolyn Davis, midfield, North Carolina; Karri Ellen Johnson, attack, Maryland; Brandi Jones, midfield, Maryland; Caitlyn McFadden, midfield, Maryland; Laura Merrifield, midfield, Maryland; Sarah Mollison, attack, Maryland; Megan Bosica, midfield, North Carolina; Amber Falcone, defense, North Carolina; Logan Ripley, goalie, North Carolina; Jenn Russell, midfield, North Carolina; Kristen Taylor, attack, North Carolina; Kaitlin Duff midfield, Virginia; Jenny Hauser, attack, Virginia; Ashley McCulloch, attack, Virginia; Blair Weymouth, attack, Virginia; Rachel Culp, attack, Virginia Tech



 

Virginia sweats details in win
By Jay Jenkins
Published: April 25, 2009

Virginia has found its 1-2 punch on Friday night.

With the powerful arm of starter Danny Hultzen leading the way and stellar relief work from Tyler Wilson, the 11th-ranked Cavaliers upended N.C. State 6-2 at Davenport Field in front of 2,268 fans.

Virginia (33-8-1, 12-7-1 ACC) certainly had some help — the Wolfpack committed a season-high nine errors and the Cavaliers failed to score an earned run.

“It wasn’t a great win but when you play 56 games you know that there will be games like this,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “I was proud of the way that our guys hung in there and stuck it out tonight.”

Hultzen (6-0) fanned nine batters in 5.1 innings of work and allowed two runs (one earned), before giving way to Wilson (3.2 inning pitched, 0 earned runs, 3 strikeouts).

“I felt awesome tonight,” Hultzen said. “I trusted my stuff and tried to throw strikes.”

Virginia gave Hultzen more than enough run support in the third inning as it scored three runs.

After the team’s exchanged runs in the fifth, N.C. State inched closer with a lone run in the sixth.

The Cavaliers answered in the bottom half of the sixth, plating a pair of runs.

The teams will meet again today at 1 p.m.

 

No. 11 Baseball Wins 6-2 Over NC State

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 11 Virginia baseball team opened its three-game ACC series with NC State with a 6-2 victory Friday night at Davenport Field. Despite tying a season low with five hits, the Cavaliers took advantage of nine Wolfpack errors, which led to all six UVa runs.

Virginia starter Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) earned the win after pitching 5.1 innings and giving up two runs (one earned), five hits and two walks while striking out nine. The freshman improved to 6-0 this season. Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) shut the door on a sixth-inning NC State rally and pitched the final 3.2 innings to earn his first career save.

Jimmy Gillheeney (5-3) started for NC State and pitched well but was victimized by the defense behind him. In six innings, he allowed six runs, but none were earned. He allowed four hits and a walk and struck out six, but the Wolfpack made all nine of their errors during his six innings.

Virginia (33-8-1, 12-7-1 ACC) scored its first three runs in a crazy fourth inning that featured five NC State errors. With one out, Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) reached on a miscue by shortstop Dallas Poulk. Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) then got on because of a Gillheeney throwing error. The two then combined for a double steal as John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) struck out.

Jared King (Fr., Radford, Va.) hit an infield single to score Grovatt, and second baseman Andrew Ciencin, after smothering the ball to keep it from going into center field, had Proscia picked off third base but made an errant throw and third baseman Drew Martin compounded matters by firing wildly to the plate to allow the run to score and King to move to second. Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) followed with a grounder that was booted by Poulk, allowing King to score the third run of the bizarre inning.

NC State (19-23, 7-15) posted a run of its own in the fifth inning off a Virginia error. The Wolfpack loaded the bases with two outs and Drew Martin hit a grounder to third, which was misplayed by Proscia to allow Ciencin to score.

Virginia scored a run in the bottom of the fifth. Grovatt singled with two out, moved to second on a wild pitch and then advanced to third on a throwing error by Martin at shortstop. Grovatt scored when Gillheeney tossed his second wild pitch of the inning.

NC State rebounded for a run in the sixth inning. Devon Cartwright led off with a single and advanced one out later on a Harold Riggins single. Cartwright scored when Ciencin singled up the middle.

Virginia countered with a pair of runs in its half of the sixth, taking advantage of two more errors. Valdes singled to lead off and Barr reached on an error by Martin at third base after attempting to sacrifice. Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) successfully sacrificed to move the runners up, and Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) followed with a fielder’s choice grounder to score Valdes. Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) then hit a high chopper to score Barr despite the infield being pulled in, giving UVa a 6-2 advantage.

The teams play the second game of the series at 1 p.m. Saturday. It will be Fan Appreciation Day, as well as an ‘Orange Out.’ Fans are encouraged to wear orange to the game.