UVa Tops Florida State 4-2 to Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/14/2009

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season, topping No. 16 Florida State 4-2 Thursday afternoon in a round of 16 match at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (32-0) also tied the school record for wins in a season with the victory.

“This was a great college tennis match,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “It was the third time we played Florida State this year and it is always hard to beat a team as good as they are three times. We have so much respect for them and we knew it was going to be a challenge. I was pleased with how we played, how prepared we were, and how we handled the conditions.”

The Cavaliers opened doubles play by scoring an 8-3 win at the No. 1 position. No. 12 Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) broke Vahid Mirzadeh’s serve three times to record the win over No. 20 Mirzadeh and Jean-Yves Aubone. Florida State drew even as Clint Bowles and Chris Cloer topped Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) at the No. 3 position. With the opening point on the line, No. 13 Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) topped No. 74 Drew Bailey and Maciek Sykut 8-6. The Cavalier duo went up a break at 6-4 and held serve to win, which avenged a loss when the teams met in the ACC Tournament.

“We have had a lot of success in doubles this year,” said Boland. “We have won the doubles point in 30 of 32 matches this year. We have had a lot of matches like this one where it is really a team effort in doubles. It seems like if one team struggles, the other two teams pick up their level. Somehow, we always seem to play well in two of three and every once in a while we have all three play well.”

In singles, the teams played even at the beginning with each team winning three first sets. Virginia extended its lead to 2-0 as Courtney scored a 6-4, 6-2 win over Bailey at No. 5 singles. The Seminoles cut that advantage in half, 2-1, when Aubone defeated Inglot 6-4, 6-3 at the top position. Singh extended the Cavalier lead to 3-1 as he topped Bowles 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2 singles. Florida State drew within one again at 3-2 when Mirzadeh topped Barrick 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 4 position. The final two matches went three sets. Shabaz jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set at No. 3 against Sykut, only to drop the first set 6-4. Shabaz answered by winning the second set 6-3 to force a decisive set. In the third set, Shabaz broke a 1-1 tie by breaking Sykut’s serve and rolled off four straight games to take a 5-1 lead. After Sykut won a pair of games to close within 5-3, Shabaz broke Sykut’s serve to close out the win. At No. 6, Singer led Cloer 3-1 in the third set when the match was abandoned.

“In the first set, I went up 2-0, but then didn’t make enough first serves and he came back and took the first set,” said Shabaz. “It was similar to our match at the ACC Tournament. In that match I lost the first set, won the second, and was in position to win the third before it got stopped. I tried to stay steady in the third set (today) and used my legs to make him work. I made enough balls and put enough pressure on him to win the set.”

With their 32nd consecutive win, the Cavaliers tied the school record win streak set last season. The victory also extended the Cavaliers’ win streak of 47 consecutive wins against ACC opponents (regular season and tournaments).

“I didn’t see this as a No. 1 vs. No. 16 type of match,” said Boland. “There is so much parity in college tennis. So far today there has been two 4-2s and two 4-3s in the round of 16. You just have to get through and move on to the next round. We are looking forward to playing Southern Cal on Saturday.”

Virginia will meet No. 8 seed USC in the quarterfinals on Saturday. That match is slated for 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

No. 1 Virginia 4, No. 16 Florida State 2

Doubles
1. #12 Inglot/Shabaz (UVa) def. #20 Aubone/Mirzadeh (FSU) 8-3
2. #13 Barrick/Singh (UVa) def. #74 Bailey/Sykut (FSU) 8-6
3. Bowles/Cloer (FSU) def. Courtney/Singer (UVa) 8-6

Singles
1. #20 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) def. #14 Dominic Inglot (UVa) 6-4, 6-3
2. #26 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. #58 Clint Bowles (FSU) 7-5, 6-3
3. #27 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. Maciek Sykut (FSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) def. #70 Houston Barrick (FSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Drew Bailey (FSU) 6-4, 6-2
6. #90 Lee Singer (UVa) led Chris Cloer (FSU) 7-6(6), 3-6, 3-1 DNF

Order of Finish
Doubles: 1,3,2
Singles: 5,1,2,4,3








Cavaliers stop Seminoles in NCAA tournament
By Richard Croome
Published: May 15, 2009

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Some early preparation made for a strong finish in Virginia’s 4-2 victory over Florida State on the first day of the NCAA men’s tennis championships.

Virginia arrived on Sunday, four days before its round of 16 match at the Mitchell Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M. UVa coach Brian Boland said the victory justified the early arrival.

“Absolutely, I think that helped,” he said. “We wanted to get here as quickly as we could after playing North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. We had never been down here — it was new to us, so the sooner we could get acclimated, used to the environment, the better.

“It should be an advantage throughout the tournament.”

The tournament continues for the No. 1-ranked Cavaliers at 1 p.m. Saturday when they play No. 8 Southern Cal, a 4-2 winner over Pac-10 rival Stanford.

Sophomore Michael Shabaz clinched Virginia’s 32nd victory in as many matches, outlasting No. 16 Florida State’s Maciek Sykut, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

“I broke him and I had the wind and I knew if I could get up on him early, I thought I could roll,” Shabaz said of the deciding set. “I got up 5-1 and then just kept plugging away. Any third set, if you can get up early, it’s just going to give you a lot of confidence.”

With Lee Singer having just lost 6-3 in the second and Shabaz at 1-1 in the third, Boland said he was confident with his No. 3, despite the fact he was playing the Seminoles all-time winningest player in Sykut.

“Michael’s fitness level is unbelievable,” Boland said. “I’ve trained with him over the last few weeks and he’s unbelievably fit, playing well and moving his feet. When you go into a third set you feel pretty good when you have Michael Shabaz on the court.”

Shabaz broke Sykut three times in the final set, with all three games ending with an unforced error by the Noles’ senior.

“It was tough conditions with the wind swirling,” Shabaz said. “I tried to stay steady toward the end, use my legs a little bit to make him work, and I guess I made enough balls and put enough pressure on him to win the set.”

After winning two of the three doubles matches for the first point, Virginia went up 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory by Drew Courtney over Drew Bailey.

Courtney held his serve throughout to end Bailey’s eight-match win streak and extend his own run to 10 match victories.

“Drew has been great a freshman from the state of Virginia that’s been a reliable point for us,” Boland said. “He gave us a big boost there. I thought that was a momentum-changer that we needed at the time. The match was getting close and Drew helped us out getting that second point.”

Florida State notched its first point on No. 1, with 20th-ranked Jean-Yves Aubone taking out No, 14 Dominic Inglot 6-4, 6-3. Aubone took the season series 2-1 between the two No. 1s. He closed out the first set with a break of Inglot and had a net cord on his serve to close out the match.

Sanam Singh put the Cavs one step away from the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-2 victory at No. 2. Singh closed out Clint Bowles with a break of serve for his ninth straight victory.

“One key was, they won two matches somewhat handily and we really only won one that way,” Florida State coach Dwayne Hultquist said. “What makes Virginia so good is its No. 3 player is ranked No. 27 in the country and [its] doubles and 2 and 3 are a good strength for them.”

FSU remained in the match at No. 4 with Vahid Mirzadeh winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 to close the gap to 3-2. The first set was a marathon, with Mirzadeh getting a break at 4-2 in a game that reached double digits in deuces.

Mirzadeh finished off Houston Barrick in the first set at love and then went up two breaks in the second set.

At No. 6, Lee Singer and FSU’s Chris Cloer split sets and were at 1-1 in the third when Cloer started suffering leg cramps.

The Cavs won the doubles point with wins on the Nos. 1 and 2 line. Inglot and Shabaz cruised to an 8-3 victory, breaking Mirzadeh three times at No. 1. Barrick and Singh won 8-6 at No. 2 after Bowles and Cloer won for FSU at No. 3.

It was Virginia’s third victory of the season over the Seminoles, who are one of only five teams to push the Cavs to 4-3.

“It’s tough to beat a team three times in a year, as good as Florida State is. We’re proud of it,” Boland said. “We have so much respect for them. We knew it would be a tremendous challenge, and it was.”








Ghitelman gets his NCAA shot
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 15, 2009

When you consider that just one goal separated Virginia and Johns Hopkins when they last met during the regular season, it’s a near certainty that one of the most important players on the field for the rematch this Sunday in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals will be the smallest guy.

That would be UVa sophomore goalie Adam Ghitelman, generously listed at 5-foot-9 and 186 pounds.

“He’s a charismatic kid, a smart guy and just helps our team defense a great deal,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia, whose squad beat Johns Hopkins, 16-15, in Baltimore on March 21. “You feel like he’s already a leader for us back there. I think as his confidence has grown, he’s become a really important component for us. We would expect him to play well on Sunday.”

Last season was something of a rollercoaster for Ghitelman. As a freshman, he began the season as the starter. But after a rough outing in his home debut versus Stony Brook, the former two-time Nassau County player of the year on Long Island, N.Y., gave way to fifth-year senior Bud Petit. It was the first time Ghitelman had ever been benched during a game.

Ghitelman bounced back with a strong string of performances, but was eventually replaced by Petit, who led Virginia to the Final Four.

This season, Ghitelman has played like a guy who isn’t looking over his shoulder.

“I’m just having fun this year,” Ghitelman said. “I’m having a good time. It just helps all around to be able to go out there and not worry about anything else except just playing and trying to win.”

Following Virginia’s exhilarating 10-9 win over Maryland in seven overtimes on March 28, Ghitelman was named national player of the week by Laxnews.com, as well as ACC player of the week.

The sophomore from Syosset, N.Y., turned in one of the best games of his career in helping UVa win the longest game in Division I history (85 minutes).

The Cavaliers fought back from a three-goal deficit in the final six minutes of regulation before winning on Brian Carroll’s goal one minute into the seventh overtime.

Ghitelman made 22 saves, the most by a Virginia goalie in five years. Six of his saves came in the seven overtime periods (on 13 Maryland shots) and included several from point-blank range.

“I think he has a great deal more confidence than he did last year,” said Virginia junior defender Ken Clausen. “I think playing [on the United States Under-19 team] over the summer helped him a lot, and I just think the difference between freshman year and sophomore year is a huge difference.

“You’re not coming in brand new. You’re used to everything and know what to expect.”

Ghitelman doesn’t seem like just a sophomore who will be starting only his second career NCAA game, Starsia said.

“I don’t really think of Adam as an inexperienced goalie until somebody brings it to my attention,” he said. “This morning we had a conference call and somebody said Adam was in his first playoffs, but I just don’t think he carries himself that way.”

In the first-round thrashing of Villanova last weekend, Ghitelman brought his ‘A’ game. He didn’t allow a goal in his 39-plus minutes of action.

Of course, the caliber of competition will be jumping a couple of notches on Sunday.

“We’re definitely confident going in — knowing that we got a ‘W’ the first time we played them,” Ghitelman said. “But this is going to be a totally different scenario this time around.

“Both teams have gotten better throughout the year.”

Ghitelman is certainly glad not to be playing at Hopkins’ Homewood Field again. In the night-game win in March, he had trouble picking up the ball.

“Being at a neutral site should serve us well,” he said, smiling, “and getting away from those Hopkins lights will serve me well, too.”







UVa Finishes First Day of NCAA Regional Play in 3rd Place
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/14/2009

Galloway, NJ – The Virginia men’s golf team got off to an impressive start during the first round of play at the NCAA East Regional Championship. The Cavaliers, seeded ninth in the 14-team field, shot 14-over 298 on the very tough Galloway National Golf Club course to finish the opening day in third place. Virginia trails No. 20 Tennessee by two shots and is a single-stroke behind No. 27 Wake Forest. The top five teams from the three-day tournament will advance to the NCAA Championships.

UVa junior Kyle Stough is tied for second after the first round at 1-over 72. He and Wake Forest’s Lee Bedford and Clemson’s Kyle Stanley trail Tennessee’s Darren Renwick by one shot at the top of the leaderboard. No player in the 75-man field managed to break par. Stough stood 3-over after his first eight holes and then managed to fire off three birdies over a four-hole stretch to get back to even. He bogeyed No. 13 before finishing with five straight pars.

Cavalier freshman Ben Kohles also had a solid first day finishing with a 3-over 74. He is tied for seventh place on the leaderboard. Senior Conrad Von Borsig is in 14th place with a 75 while Will Collins round out the UVa scoring with a 77 to figure 23. Bruce Woodall shot 87 and is in 68th place.

"I'm really proud of our guys because for the first 14 holes today, they played as well as any team in the country," said UVa coach Bowen Sargent. "They played with poise and they gambled when the opportunities were there. We leaked some oil coming in on those final four holes, and that's disappointing, but that is a really tough stretch and the winds were picking up a lot as we were finishing today. For the first day, we put ourselves in a good position."

Par proved to be a good score on the par-71, 7,022-yard Galloway National course. Virginia and Wake Forest managed 12 birdies each, the most of any of the teams in the field. The Cavaliers managed to finish above six teams currently ranked above them in the Golfstat rankings including No. 10 Alabama (303), No. 15 Illinois (307) and top-seeded Clemson (310).

The Cavaliers will tee off at 9:40 a.m. for their second round in the 54-hole event. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com.

In addition to the East Regional, there are five other regional sites that will fill the field for the NCAA Championships.

NCAA East Regional Championship
Galloway National Golf Club
Galloway, NJ
Par-71, 7,022 yards
First Round Results

Team Results
1. Tennessee (20) 296
2. Wake Forest (27) 297
3. Virginia 298
4. Alabama (10) 303
5. Illinois (15) 307
6. Clemson (3) 310
7. Colorado State (34) 311
8. Kent State (39) 312
9. Minnesota 314
10. VCU 315
11. Penn State 319
11. Coastal Carolina (47) 319
13. Sacred Heart 322
14. Columbia 355
Number in parenthesis is Golfstat ranking

Individual Leaders
1. Darren Renwick Tennessee 71
2. Lee Bedford, Wake Forest 72
2. Kyle Stanley, Clemson 72
2. Kyle Stough, Virginia 72
5. Brendan Gielow, Wake Forest 73
5. David Holmes, Tennessee 73
7. Spencer Cole, Alabama 74
7. Dustin Groves, Wake Forest 74
7. Hunter Hamrick, Alabama 74
7. Ben Kohles, Virginia 74
7. Scott Langley, Illinois 74
7. Garrick Porteous, Tennessee 74
7. Dan Woltman, Wisconsin 74

Virginia
2. Kyle Stough 72
7. Ben Kohles 74
14. Conrad Von Borsig 75
23. Will Collins 77
68. Bruce Woodall 87




UVa Insider, The Column
I can’t remember the last time I had spoken to Roanoke Catholic boys’ basketball coach Joe Gaither before I called him today.

Gaither has been the most prominent figure in inner-city Roanoke basketball for the past 25 years and he asked me, “What went wrong with Dave Leitao?”

Early in his tenure, Leitao came to Roanoke to speak at the Roanoke Catholic boys’ basketball banquet and I’m sure Gaither always appreciated that.

I’m not sure what went wrong with Leitao, or if anything went wrong. I think he was pretty much the same coach in Year 4 that he was in Year 1, except that he behaved a lot better.

Leitao was ejected after picking up two technical fouls in the seventh game of the 2006-2007 season and I’m not sure he had another technical until this February at Clemson, when he was whistled for being about 5 feet onto the playing floor. I had a pretty good view of the play that led to the technical – a no-call when the Cavaliers’ Jeff Jones was knocked to the floor – and would say that Leitao had every right to be irritated.

But, in the second half of his tenure, he was less abusive to the officials and less abusive to his players. He had been cautioned by his superiors and had taken their advice. He was criticized by the father of senior forward Mamadi Diane for poor communication with the player and his family, but I’m not sure that Diane, himself, felt Leitao was some kind of ogre.

There has been very little Leitao-bashing from his former players; in fact, I can’t think of anything the least bit incendiary.

Maybe that’s because most of them got a fair shot. Take Diane or Jeff Jones or Sammy Zeglinski or Mustapha Farrakhan, any of the players whose playing time yo-yoed up and down. If they were honest, each of them would have to admit that they had their shots and didn’t make the most of it.

Some would blame Leitao’s downfall on recruiting. But, I challenge somebody to take Virginia’s 2008-2009 roster and list all of the offers received by Virginia’s scholarship players. Then, do the same for Clemson or Boston College or Maryland – everybody but the Big Two of North Carolina and Duke.

I would say Virginia’s players were just as heavily recruited as anybody’s but UNC’s, Duke’s and possibly Wake Forest’s or Georgia Tech’s. But, hey, Georgia Tech finished behind the Cavaliers. Wake continues to recruit better than Virginia, most recently taking Travis McKie out of Richmond, and that shouldn’t happen.

Others might blame Leitao’s downfall on his staff. Previous regimes fell apart after Jeff Jones lost Dennis Wolff and Pete Gillen lost Bobby Gonzalez and Tommy Herrion, but did the departure of ex-Leitao aide Rob Lanier really make that much of a difference? Florida hasn’t really taken off since his addition, but don’t bet against the Gators.

IN THE END, Leitao lost his job because his superiors could see the apathy that was beginning to envelop the program. The apathy came from losing, but why were they losing?

For one thing, Leitao didn’t have a system or scheme to hang his hat on. He received input from ex-Williams coach Dave Paulsen and tried to install the motion offense, but that didn’t work. His teams regularly ranked at the bottom of the ACC in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense.

But, I keep coming back to “roster management,” and that’s what I told Gaither. Leitao almost always was at the 13-scholarship limit and, in 2007-2008, he had the equivalent of 15 scholarship players considering that Ryan Pettinella and Calvin Baker were paying their way.

Counting two fall signees and 11 scholarship underclassmen, Virginia seemingly did not have any more grants for 2009-2010 but Leitao continued to pursue players for that season. I can’t remember a single player that Leitao “ran off,” but why not leave yourself with some options and not assume somebody is going to leave?

Do players pay attention to the numbers crunch? Maybe not. If they did, it might drive them nuts.

Players like Diane and Jones and Farrakhan had their opportunities, but what if they’d had a little longer leash? Would UVa have been better in the end? Ultimately, Leitao had too many players with similar skills. He had a lot of options, but not enough good ones.

BENNETT WAS IN Roanoke on Tuesday night for an annual spring social put on by the Virginia Athletics Foundation and if there was one word to describe him, it would have been “genuine.”

Bennett spoke for 10-15 minutes before taking questions and was followed by head football coach Al Groh, who estimated that he has been to Roanoke nearly 20 times and must enjoy the experience because he spoke for about 30 minutes.

It seemed that a crowd of approximately 150 appreciated Bennett’s relative brevity. He took several questions about his “pack” theory of defense and said that three of the cornerstones of his system are not giving up transition baskets, avoiding careless turnovers and not giving up offensive rebounds.

ONE NOTE OF CAUTION for Virginia basketball is the qualifying status of fall signee Jontel Evans, a point guard for Bethel High School. Evans still has not qualified for freshman eligibility, although it is believed he is close.

It is unlikely that Evans would have started but his reputation as a defender seemingly would endear him to Bennett.








Virginia Tech Hits Walkoff HR in 10th, Tops No. 10 Baseball

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Austin Wates hit a walkoff home run with one out in the 10th inning to lift Virginia Tech to a 5-4 victory over the No. 10 Virginia baseball team Thursday at English Field. The Hokies’ win breaks their 12-game losing streak to Virginia which dated to the 2003 season.

UVa had trailed the game by two in the sixth inning, only to rally on a solo home run by Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) and a ninth-inning solo blast by Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.).

Playing in their first extra-inning game of the season, the Cavaliers suffered their seventh one-run loss in ACC play and the ninth by three runs or fewer.

Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) pitched the final 3.1 innings for UVa and dropped to 6-3 with the loss. He struck out seven batters and was dominating until Wates’ long ball. Ben Rowen (4-2) did not allow a run over the final two innings for the Hokies to earn the victory.

Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) started for Virginia and pitched six quality innings, allowing four runs (two earned), five hits and three walks while striking out five. Virginia Tech starter Rhett Ballard worked into the ninth inning, giving up four earned runs, nine hits and four walks while fanning nine. He pitched to the first two batters in the ninth before Rowen came on to relieve him.

The bottom third of the Cavaliers’ batting order had a big day, combining to go 6-for-10. Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) and Valdes each had a pair of hits for the Cavaliers (38-11-1, 15-10-1 ACC). Werman went 2-for-3 with a walk and now has reached base in eight of his last nine plate appearances.

Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) also homered for the Cavaliers. He launched Ballard’s first pitch of the game over the left-field wall to give UVa a quick 1-0 lead. The leadoff homer was Parker’s fifth this season and his 15th home run overall.

In the third inning, Virginia Tech (31-20, 11-16) scored twice to take the lead. Ronnie Shaban drew a walk to lead off and moved to second on a single up the middle by Klint Reed. Steve Bumbry sacrificed the runners over, and Shaban scored on a Packer wild pitch. Anthony Sosnoskie then lifted a sacrifice fly to center to give the Hokies the lead.

UVa tied the game in the fifth inning. The Cavaliers loaded the bases with none out on consecutive singles by Cannon, Valdes and Werman before Parker struck out looking. Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) then hit a slow grounder to first to plate Cannon and knot the score.

The Hokies got the lead back in the fifth inning, taking advantage of three Cavalier errors to score twice. Tony Balisteri reached on an error to lead off. Shaban then hit a dribbler down the third-base line for a single. Third baseman Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) slipped as he threw the ball to first and the ball went down the first-base line, allowing Balisteri to score from first and Shaban to move to third. Packer struck out the next two batters, but Shaban scored on a throwing error by Proscia on the potential third out.

The Cavaliers got a run back in the sixth when Grovatt led off the inning with an opposite-field home run over the left-field wall. It was Grovatt’s sixth home run of the season.

UVa tied the game in the ninth when Valdes led off with a home run to left field – his fifth homer of the year. Wates turned the tide in the 10th when he cranked a one-out offering from Wilson to straightaway center field to end the game.

The teams will play the second game of the series at 5:30 p.m. Friday.









Wates’ homer lifts Hokies past Cavs
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 15, 2009

BLACKSBURG — Baseball coaches know the impact of a home run.

With two teams all but living on the long ball Thursday, the most powerful swing in the game ruled the roost.

Virginia Tech, fighting to remain alive for ACC tournament consideration, walked off with a 5-4 victory in 10 innings over No. 10 Virginia after Austin Wates connected on a solo homer.

The win snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Cavaliers for the Hokies (31-20, 11-16 ACC).

“Wates is a good player and he put a good swing on a fastball,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “The game was pretty much won by home runs and they hit the most important one.”

Virginia (38-11-1, 15-10-1) used a solo homer from catcher Franco Valdes in its half of the ninth to keep the contest alive.

Tyler Wilson, who came in out of the bullpen for starter Matt Packer, let the game slip away on a one-out offering to Wates.

Virginia certainly had its chances long before Wates ended the contest — the Cavaliers stranded nine runners on base.

UVa also committed three errors behind Packer, who started in place of Danny Hultzen as O’Connor looked to save the rookie for the ACC tournament and get extra work in for Packer.

“He pitched pretty good,” O’Connor said. “I just wanted to change things up and we were playing one day sooner than we normally do in the league.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win the game because we didn’t make all the plays we needed to in the field.”

Virginia took a 1-0 lead on the first pitch of the game as Jarrett Parker connected on his team-leading 15th homer of the season.

Virginia Tech — which needs a sweep and three losses by Duke against Georgia Tech to make the postseason — rallied back ,scoring two in the third and a pair of opportunistic runs in the fifth after third baseman Steven Proscia was charged with three errors.

The Cavaliers added lone runs in the fifth and sixth but failed to score again until Valdes chased Virginia Tech starter Rhett Ballard from the contest with his leadoff homer in the ninth.

The two teams will play again today at 5:30 p.m. in the second game of the series.








ACC ignores NCAA flag ban
League says policy is ‘unfair’ in awarding baseball tournament to Myrtle Beach
By PAUL STRELOW - pstrelow@thestate.com

CLEMSON — Calling the policy “unfair” to South Carolina, the ACC decided this year it no longer would mimic the NCAA’s ban on predetermined championship events being held in the state, a league official said Thursday.

On Wednesday, the ACC announced Myrtle Beach had been awarded the conference’s baseball tournament for three years, beginning in 2011. The league also considered a bid from Greenville among the five finalists.

The NCAA’s ban is in place so long as the Confederate flag continues to fly on the grounds of the state capitol. It began in 2001.

Both the ACC and SEC quietly fell in step with college athletics’ governing body, although the SEC held its women’s basketball tournament in Greenville two years ago when Atlanta withdrew as the planned site.

But Davis Whitfield, ACC associate commissioner and director of championships, said the league chose to quit punishing prospective host sites if they could produce a proactive plan for handling the flag controversy should their site be picked.

“For a while, we tried to take the same stance with the flag issue and predetermined sites,” Whitfield said. “But as this issue has gone on, we looked at it and felt it was a bit unfair to South Carolina.

“Obviously it’s a South Carolina issue, and one that has not necessarily been at the forefront the last few years. It wasn’t something we spent a lot of time on, I would say. ... It certainly is still an issue. But both sites did a good job of addressing the issue in a manner we’re comfortable with.”

Myrtle Beach’s bid was spearheaded by North Johnson, general manager of the city’s Class A minor league baseball team, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

Johnson said U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the nation’s highest-ranking black congressman, wrote a letter to the ACC endorsing Myrtle Beach’s candidacy.

Should the flag controversy stir locally come tournament time, Johnson said the city’s chamber of commerce has enlisted a public-relations firm to help resolve any issues that arise.

“We don’t fly the flag here at the ballpark; that was our first comment to the ACC,” Johnson said. “It’s not on any of our public buildings.

“We’re understanding of the situation, but we’re not overly concerned about it. We’ve taken all steps necessary to ensure the ACC it won’t be an issue.”

Lonnie Randolph, state president of the NAACP, said he planned to contact the ACC on Thursday to ask why it was moving “backwards.”

As the flag debate has quieted in recent years, Randolph said he has spoken with the SEC more frequently than the ACC about the NCAA’s ban.

“We have not had a lot of communication with (the ACC), unfortunately,” Randolph said. “The SEC has shown a lot more interest.

“(SEC commissioner) Mike (Slive) has been very receptive to at least listening to our concerns. The ACC has not been as receptive, but we still will communicate.”

Randolph was at the NCAA’s Indianapolis headquarters last year to meet with NCAA president Miles Brand and the organization’s executive committee regarding the flag issue.

“They said their support will continue until such time they are told it is no longer needed,” Randolph said.

Economics had little to do with the decision to eschew the state ban, Whitfield said. He said the choice came down to the logistical advantages Myrtle Beach afforded.

One Clemson administrator, speaking on condition of anonymity, believed Myrtle Beach was attractive to ACC officials because it was centrally located within the conference’s geographical map, offering a trip that would be more attractive to fans in what still could be a difficult economic time.

After luring a record crowd of 73,215 in 2006, Jacksonville’s attendance slipped to around 55,970 last year.

The tournament will be held in Durham, N.C., next week and Greensboro, N.C., in 2010.

Charleston also contacted the conference with interest in serving as host for the baseball tournament, Whitfield said, while Aiken pursued — to no avail — the ACC’s rowing championships a few years ago.