Cav amazes with his glove
His catches in ACC tourney make top 10 "SportsCenter" plays
Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 12:06 AM

U.VA. VS. UCLA
NCAA baseball
When:Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where:Fullerton, Calif.

By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- David Coleman flipped on ESPN last weekend and saw himself featured -- in two different video clips -- on "SportsCenter."

He wasn't the only one watching.

"I got a lot of texts and voice mails about that," said Coleman, a freshman right fielder for the University of Virginia baseball team.

U.Va., the No. 6 seed, advanced to the ACC tournament's championship game, thanks in no small part to the play of Coleman, a graduate of Richmond's Trinity Episcopal School. He was the only Cavalier named to the all-tournament team.

In four games in Jacksonville, Fla., Coleman went 5 for 13 to help U.Va. knock off North Carolina and Florida State, two of the nation's premier teams. But it was his prowess in the outfield that left observers marveling.

Of ESPN's top-10 plays from Friday, Coleman was responsible for Nos. 5 and 1.

On the former, Coleman dived to catch a ball hammered into the gap in right-center by Florida State's Dennis Guinn.

On the latter, Coleman raced toward the foul line to track down a fly ball. At nearly full speed, he made the catch an instant before hitting the wall and tumbling into the stands. The ball stayed in his glove.

"I was just keeping my eye on the ball, and all of the sudden my legs just came out from under me," Coleman said Tuesday night.

"I actually [landed] right in between the wall and the front row. It was pretty nice how I didn't get hurt or anything."

Coleman went 3 for 5 against the Seminoles as well.

"That was great," U.Va. coach Brian O'Connor said. "A game like that can do an unbelievable amount for a player's confidence."

Coleman is batting .278 this season, and he hopes to raise his average in the NCAA tournament. The third-seeded Wahoos are in Fullerton, Calif., where they'll open tourney play tomorrow night against No. 2 seed UCLA.
 

Roommates square off in regional
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 29, 2008

The storyline seems too good to be true.

Imagine Virginia clinging to a one-run, ninth-inning lead in Friday’s regional-opening contest with UCLA. Go further, picturing the bases loaded.

That would almost certainly warrant leaving the ball in the right hand of Virginia closer Michael Schwimer.

Take the hypothetical situation another step by placing UCLA’s shortstop supreme Brandon Crawford at the plate with a 3-2 count.

Should the events unfold in such fashion, Schwimer has the perfect attack pitch in mind.

“I know exactly how to go after him,” the Cavalier senior said. “I have a complete plan.”

Schimwer’s confidence prior to the potential showdown does not place him in the over-the-top John Rocker mold. In fact, Schwimer and Crawford are close friends.

That process started last summer when the two players from opposite coasts and different worlds became roommates while playing for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod League.

Crawford, without a car, forced something early upon UVa’s reliable reliever.

“He didn’t like my taste in music so much, so he burned me a CD that I had to play on the way to the stadium,” Schwimer chuckled. “He made me listen to his music in my car, but we hit it off really well.”

The friendship led to a series of text messages Monday after the Cavaliers landed in the Fullerton regional with host Cal State Fullerton, UCLA and Rider. Play begins Friday at 4 p.m. when the higher-seeded Bruins battle Virginia.

Another Cavalier, left-handed pitcher Pat McAnaney, also played in Orleans with his teammate and Crawford.

“Brandon had played for Team USA his first summer so we had heard a lot of great things about him before he came into Orleans,” McAnaney said. “I liked him a whole lot, and he was very reliable and he has a cannon for an arm. He is very quick and he covers a lot of ground. He gets to balls that a lot of shortstops can’t get to.

“I have been lucky as a pitcher. I had Brandon at shortstop during the summer and I had Greg Miclat this season here at UVa. With those two guys, I have had some pretty good shortstops behind me.”

McAnaney left the same impression on Crawford, who enters the regional hitting .298 with five homers and 45 RBI.

“P-Mac mixes speeds, throws pretty hard from the left side and hits his spots pretty well,” Crawford said. “I liked playing defense behind him. He kept a good tempo and it was always fun.”

The long-standing relationships will be placed on hold Friday — at least temporarily — as an expected date with Fullerton awaits Saturday in the pivotal winner’s bracket title game.

“I actually talked with [Schwimer] earlier this week on the phone and there wasn’t a lot of trash talking,” Crawford said, “but we may slip a few jabs in during the game.”

Schwimer added: “It will be clean — for the most part. But this regional really proves how small a world college baseball is. I lived with this guy for three months and now I am traveling across the country to face him in the most meaningful game of the year. It’s pretty funny and it should be an awesome game.”

Extra bases

Virginia landed safely in California Wednesday evening, but coach Brian O’Connor said he was still unsure about his opening-game starter. O’Connor has narrowed his choices and will decide between right-handers Andrew Carraway and Jacob Thompson.

Cavs hope for good times
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

One aspect of opening NCAA play in California doesn't concern Virginia baseball coach Brian O'Connor.

"We've been playing on West Coast time for a week already," said O'Connor, whose Cavaliers reached the ACC championship game Sunday before losing to Miami 8-4 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, Fla.

O'Connor thought a Virginia victory Sunday would have resulted in a No. 2 seed, but the Cavaliers (38-21) got a No. 3 seed and will meet second-seeded UCLA (31-25) at 7 p.m. Friday in Fullerton, Calif.

"The only difference between the No. 2 seed and the No. 3 seed is that we'll be the visitor in the first game," O'Connor said.

It will mark the first time that Virginia has played a game in California or against a California team. Host Cal State Fullerton (37-19) will face Rider (29-26) in Friday night's second game.

Virginia is making its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, no small feat in a year when reigning two-time champion Oregon State and perennial invitee Clemson did not make the field.

"It puts us in pretty elite company," said O'Connor, who in 2004 took over a program that had made three NCAA appearances in its history.

O'Connor thought Virginia had clinched an NCAA bid even before the Cavaliers posted back-to-back ACC tournament victories over No. 1-ranked North Carolina (8-7) and No. 3 Florida State (5-3), but the season hasn't always gone smoothly.

UVa needs to win at least two games this weekend to clinch a fifth straight 40-win season.

Hopes for an extended postseason run rest on the shoulders of veteran pitchers Jacob Thompson and Patrick McAnaney, who have been erratic down the stretch.

Thompson, who went 11-0 and had a 1.50 earned-run average in 2007, goes into this year's NCAA Tournament with a 6-4 record and 4.40 earned-run average.

After beating Virginia Tech on March 28 to go 4-0, Thompson gave up 46 hits in 3413 innings over his next seven starts. He had a 6.30 ERA over that span.

Thompson got credit for the victory when UVa beat Florida State in the ACC Tournament, but McAnaney, a senior left-hander, had a nightmarish outing against Miami in the ACC final.

McAnaney had an 18-2 career record going into an April 25 game at Miami, where he pitched a complete-game six-hitter in a game the Cavaliers lost 1-0.

McAnaney twisted his right knee on his final pitch against the Hurricanes, didn't pitch for another 15 days and has had a horrendous May. In his first 10 starts of the season, he had a 2.11 ERA; in the last three, he has given up 20 hits in 1023 innings and has a 14.34 ERA.

"Obviously, he had a sub-par outing in the conference tournament," O'Connor said. "He was pitching our best baseball until he tweaked his knee at Miami. He's healthy now. I believe he'll get back on track. He pitched a really good game in the regional last year against Oregon State."

Late hours

McAnaney already was back at the hotel Saturday night, resting up for his Sunday start, when the final putout of the UVa-Wake Forest game was recorded at 1:09 a.m.

That wasn't even the longest game of the week for the Cavaliers, whose first-round game with North Carolina had lasted until 1:26 a.m. Thursday. In that case, UVa had time to recover because it did not have another game until Friday night.

In the championship game, UVa met a Hurricanes' team whose Saturday game with North Carolina State had ended at 4:41 p.m.

"I don't think [the late finishes] had an effect," O'Connor said. "They're 18 to 22 years old. They don't need much sleep. They operate all year on not a whole lot of sleep.

"I think that pool play -- the way we operate the tournament -- is the right way. Maybe there's a way we could tweak it so teams aren't playing late into the night, but they do it in every conference tournament."

Recruiting

The Parade All-America boys' soccer team announced Sunday included three players who have committed to Virginia. They are forward Christopher Agorsor from Severn, Md.; defender Shawn Barry from Miramar, Fla., and defender Hunter Jumper from Plano, Texas.

UVa women's soccer signee Lauren Alwine, a forward from Elizabethtown, Pa., was named to the Parade girls' team. Another UVa signee, Katie Starsia from Rockville Center, N.Y., is the niece of UVa men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia.

n Franklin County track coach Jeff Johnson said that senior Erin Patterson, who won the girls' pole vault at Group AAA Northwestern Regional, plans to compete for UVa next season.

 

UVa Golfers Battle to 21st Place During 1st Round of NCAAs
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/28/2008

West Lafayette, IN – The Virginia men’s golf team shot 24-over 312 to stand 21st after the opening round of play at the 2008 NCAA Golf Championships. The 30-team field struggled in extremely tough and windy conditions at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Only co-leaders USC and UCLA managed to post scores below 10-over par. The Trojans and Bruins finished at 9-over 297.

“When you are having a national championship, it should be difficult, but they might have overdone it a bit with this rough,” said Cavalier coach Bowen Sargent. “If you drive it off the fairway, its bogey. If you drive it too far off the fairway, you might was well tee up another. It was something else.”

The 30th seed, in the tournament that runs through Saturday, the Cavaliers had a rough start playing in the cold, windy conditions. Virginia’s five golfers shot 29-over on the front nine, but regrouped and finished the back nine at 11-over. The four players who posted the team’s counting scores were 5-over on the back nine.”

“They did a nice job on the back side,” Sargent said. “That was probably one of the better efforts of any team today over that stretch of the course. We’re all right, we’re just a couple of strokes from the cut line.”

Following Friday’s third round, the field will be trimmed to 15 teams for the final 18 hole of play. The Cavaliers finished the first round just three strokes out of 12th place, where four teams are tied at 309.

UVa freshman Kyle Stough had the Cavaliers best day. He finished at 3-over 75, including a 1-over performance on the front nine. He enters the second round in 23rd place. Senior Greg Carlin used a pair of back nine birdies to finish at 5-over 77. Freshman Will Collins wrapped up his round at 6-over 78 after finishing his front nine at 5-over. Carlin is in 53rd place and Collins is 70th.

Sophomore Steven Rojas, who entered the NCAAs as UVa’s leader in stroke average this year, managed just one par on the front nine and made the turn at 10-over on his way to a first-day score of 16-over 88. Freshman Amory Davis did not record a non-bogey until the eighth hole when he made his first par. He finished the front nine at 8-over but played much better over the back nine to finish at 10-over 82.

“Kyle played solid and made a lot of four-, five- and six-foot putts which is something you have to do on a tough condition day,” Sargent said. “He was never out of position and was able to chip and putt well. Steven will rebound for us. He was just a little off today. His demeanor after the round was fine. You would have thought he had shot 74 or 75. He handled having a bad day really well.”

Sargent said the winds, which blew from the east on a course where the majority of the holes run north and south, made for a long day for most of the teams.

“It makes it harder to put the ball in play,” Sargent said. “The wind died down in the afternoon, so those teams had a little bit of an advantage over those of us who started in the morning.

UCLA’s Kevin Chappell leads the field at 3-under 69. He was one of just three players to break par. Only three more in the field of 156 competitors managed to shoot par.

“At this tournament, you want to identify the best teams,” Sargent said. “The course is hard, but it is hard for everyone. You want to be able to identify the best teams. This is what the U.S. Amateur or British Amateur or any other major championship is like. You want a good test. This is the way it should be.”

Virginia is scheduled to start its second round Thursday at 1:47 p.m. Links to live scoring of the tournament are at VirginiaSports.com and Golfstat.com.

 

Houston's Matt Schaub Looks To Improve In Year 2

HOUSTON (AP) ― Matt Schaub had more than a little bad luck in his first season as a starter.

The Houston Texans quarterback had helmet-to-helmet hits in consecutive weeks that led to a hip injury and a concussion before missing the last four games with a dislocated shoulder that required surgery. When he was on the field, he was often without his starting running back and top receiver.

As he prepares for year two, he's got to assume things will get a little easier.

Not that his first year in Houston after spending three years as Michael Vick's backup in Atlanta was all bad. The 26-year-old threw for 2,241 yards with nine touchdowns in 11 games.

Perhaps more importantly, Schaub established himself as a leader of a young team. It's a job he has taken seriously since arriving in Houston last spring.

"He's sharp. He knows what he's doing," coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's more familiar with this football team. I see him taking even more of a leadership role because he's so much more comfortable with what he's doing."

Kubiak often praised Schaub's poise and confidence. Despite a strong showing from backup Sage Rosenfels late last season, the Texans believe Schaub is their quarterback of the future.

He got off to a great start last year and led the Texans to the first 2-0 record in franchise history. Countless hours of offseason work equaled a great rapport with Andre Johnson and the two combined for 262 yards and three touchdowns in the first two games.

That pairing combined with two solid games from Ahman Green had the Texans offense looking more potent than ever. Things quickly changed for the team and Schaub when both Johnson and Green were injured.

He prefers not to talk about what could have been last season if the trio would have remained healthy, instead focusing on 2008.

"We don't like to look in the past and talk about things that already happened," he said. "We talk about what we can do in the future and what we're looking forward to getting done this season. We're just working on getting better and improving our game."

Though Johnson's injury was difficult to deal with, Schaub said it allowed him to get to know his other receivers better.

"For the other guys like Andre' Davis and Jacoby (Jones) to step in there and play well for us and see what they could do, they really rose to the occasion and played well," Schaub said. "It gave us the confidence that if that kind of thing happens, we're ready."

Schaub has recovered from the surgery to repair his non-throwing shoulder. He said he feels great and he looks good in the Texans offseason practices. Those sessions are conducted without pads and with no contact though, so he's eager to see how he feels after taking some hits.

He doesn't have any specific areas he wants to improve on this season but rather hopes to elevate his overall game.

"Just more growth," he said. "To keep going in the right direction. Get more in-depth in the offense and understand what the coaches are looking for from me. I want to be out there on the field playing consistent."