U.Va. freshman has starred at plate, on mound

VIRGINIA VS. LSU
College World Series
Saturday:7 p.m., ESPN

By Paul Woody
Published: June 10, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE Danny Hultzen's record as a pitcher is impeccable -- 9-1 with a 2.09 earned run average.

His record as a hitter is equally impressive -- .333 batting average with 33 RBI.

Those aren't bad numbers for a seasoned Atlantic Coast Conference veteran. They are even more impressive for an ACC rookie.

Hultzen is a freshman for the University of Virginia Cavaliers. He is a primary reason the Cavaliers are playing in the College World Series.

The CWS is an eight-team, two-bracket, double-elimination tournament in Omaha, Neb. The survivors of each bracket play a best two-out-of three series for the national championship.

U.Va. (48-13-1) is making its first appearance in the College World Series. It is only the second team from the state to play in the CWS. James Madison in 1983 was the first.

Virginia is in bracket one and plays five-time champion LSU (51-16) on Saturday night.

Chances are good Hultzen will be on the mound.

"He's been our Friday night [No. 1] starter the entire year in the ACC, which is incredible," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "To do that, you not only have to have great stuff and great ability, you also have to have all the intangibles. "This kid has that. That's what separates him from other people. He's got a lot of guts. He's been a difference maker for us all year long. He's very calm and very confident. He doesn't say a whole lot, but when he's on that mound or in that batter's box, he's a warrior."

Hultzen, 6-2, 190, was a 10th round draft choice of the Arizona Diamondbacks. That's an honor, but the 10th round is not where the money is. The Diamondbacks made it relatively easy for Hultzen, a native of Bethesda, Md., and a standout player at St. Albans School, to chose college over the pros.

"The money was not really the issue," Hultzen said. "College was really important to me. Getting my education was one of big factors in deciding to come here.

"I thought the whole experience of college was important before I went on to or thought about professional baseball. You grow up."

Hultzen has started 14 games this season, pitched 86 innings and given up 76 hits, struck out 95 batters and walked 27. Teams are hitting .242 against him.

"He has great velocity on his fastball; great command of his change up and slider," said Cavaliers catcher Franco Valdes. "He even throws a curveball every once in a while. To be so young and have great command of four pitches is something you don't see very often."

Andrew Carraway is in his fourth year as a pitcher for the Cavaliers. He remembers his freshman year well.

"I was just trying to make the travel squad," he said. "What Danny has done is amazing."

O'Connor finds Hultzen as amazing off the field as on.

"If I say, 'Hey we need to get the field picked up or pick up the cups in the dugout,' he's there picking them up," O'Connor said.

"After one of our games late in the season, he was one of the players picked to do the post-game interview. I was getting on the elevator as he came out of the clubhouse, and I said, 'Hey, Danny, jump on the elevator with me.' He said, 'Coach, no thanks. I take the stairs.' As a coach, you're like, 'Oh, my word.' Most players would take the easy way and take the elevator.

"This kid has never taken the elevator upstairs. That's just a small story that tells you what this kid's made of and what separates him from other people."

Hultzen smiled when he was told the elevator story.

"Yeah, I remember that," he said. "I don't know what to tell you. After taking the stairs all year, it would have felt weird to take the elevator."

Hultzen could feel weird about pitching in college while some of his friends are playing in the minor leagues. But he doesn't.

"That's their decision," he said. "I have no regrets about my decision."

Nor do the Cavaliers.
 

Cavs' home away from home
Doug Doughty - Roanoke Times

Mississippi may have been the host team for the Oxford Super Regional, but Virginia was the home team for two of its three games with the Rebels.

UVa coach Brian O'Connor knew Thursday that the Cavaliers would have the last at-bats, if needed, if a best-of-three series went to a third game.

Home games are alternated in the NCAA tournament to minimize the advantages for a host team.

Virginia would have been the host team against Cal-Irvine if the Irvine Regional had gone to a third game. At Mississippi, Virginia closed out the Rebels 5-1 and didn't need to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Cavaliers (48-13-1) advanced to the College World Series, where they will meet LSU (51-16) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

Mississippi was the home team for Game 1 and UVa was the home team for Game 2.

O'Connor said a flip took place Thursday night, at a pretournament coaches' meeting on the eve of the Oxford Super Regional.

"I didn't win it," O'Connor said. "Ole Miss lost it. Because [the Rebels] were the higher seed, they got to call it.

"In the sport of baseball, there's a pretty significant advantage to being the home team. You can manage a game differently being the home team, versus the visiting team, late in the ballgame.

"I think it was a big coin flip. If it would have been a 4-3 [third] game, it would have mattered a lot more. But, then, if you're the visiting team, maybe you can strike first and put the other team back on their heels."

O'Connor 'a bust'

O'Connor, who played at Creighton University in Omaha, served as the model for one of the figures in a sculpture that sits outside Rosenblatt Stadium, site of the College World Series.

"I'm not sure how long the sculpture has been up," said O'Connor, who was told at a Tuesday news conference that it was 1999.

"My father owns a company in Omaha called J.F. Bloom and Co. They manufacture marble and granite and things like that.

"The NCAA wanted to build a sculpture in front of Rosenblatt Stadium. There was a sculptor who was contracted to do it. He works with my father. He contacted my father about getting baseball celebration photos to make the faces in the sculpture.

"As the story goes, one of the faces in the sculpture was made off of me."

Frequent flyers

Virginia, which will be playing on the road for the fifth straight weekend, has traveled approximately 5,754 miles to get to the College World Series, counting trips to California and Mississippi.

That's the greatest distance traveled by a CWS participant in the 11 seasons since the NCAA went to a 64-team format in 1999. UC-Irvine, with trips to Texas and Wichita State in 2007, held the previous record at 4,758.

Travel party

The NCAA limits rosters to 25 players for the postseason and the school is allowed a 35-member travel party, which O'Connor has filled partly by taking seniors Brad Grove and Will Campbell on each of its three trips, although they aren't in uniform.

Eighteen of the 25 active players are in their first or second year in the program. Nine of those are freshmen, including Jared King, a reserve infielder from Pulaski County. UVa has 32 players on its permanent roster. Players who are not in the travel party are allowed to receive free tickets from the team but not accommodation.

By the numbers

Virginia is one of three teams to reach the CWS this year without serving as a host for the regionals or Super Regionals. The other two are Arkansas and Southern Miss. Only nine teams had accomplished that feat in the previous 11 years. ... UVa continues to rank third in Division I with a 3.19 ERA. The Cavaliers trail only Arizona State (2.79) and Texas (2.89). ... UVa has a 1.45 ERA in six NCAA games and the bullpen allowed one run in 16 innings in the Oxford Super Regional.
 

Cavaliers Coach Heading Home to Meet Old Friend
By Sean Ryan
CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

Brian O’Connor (left) doesn’t remember the first game he saw at Rosenblatt Stadium.

And even though he watched many a College World Series game, the Virginia baseball coach doesn’t recall having a favorite player, but he does remember following the Texas Longhorns because they visited Omaha so often.

“My dad started taking me and my brothers at a very young age,” said O’Connor, who grew up just across the border from Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and pitched for Omaha-based Creighton University. “I’m sure I have some very old game programs from the mid-70s. It’s more the experience of going to the game…taking your glove to the game and trying to catch a foul ball.”

O’Connor is heading home this week after leading his Cavaliers to their first trip to the College World Series. He’s sure to encounter countless friends, family and well-wishers.

But there’s one close friend he’d rather not see: LSU coach Paul Mainieri (right).

“We were hoping this day would never come,” O’Connor said. “But if it has to happen, there’s no better place than Omaha.”

O’Connor spent nine seasons (1995-2003) as Mainieri’s top assistant at Notre Dame, joining the Fighting Irish when he was all of 23 years old. Together, they helped Notre Dame reach the College World Series in 2002.

“He gave me my big break,” O’Connor said.

When Mainieri took over the LSU program three years ago, he and O’Connor agreed not to schedule each other and would play only in the NCAA tournament.

On Saturday, it goes beyond pupil against teacher. It’s friend against friend.

“When you work with someone for nine years and you do everything together, you develop a very close relationship,” O’Connor said. “My friendship with him is the best relationship I have in baseball.”

The coaches talk three or four times a week, and when the Tigers advanced to their second straight College World Series by beating Rice, O’Connor placed a congratulatory call. After Virginia knocked off Ole Miss on Sunday to reach Omaha, the friends talked again.

They agreed to meet for a steak dinner when they arrive in Omaha.

O’Connor likely can offer plenty of choices.

Besides growing up a short drive across the Missouri River from Omaha, O’Connor spent his college days pitching for the Creighton Bluejays.

He was on the mound when Creighton lost to Wichita State 3-2 in the 12th inning in the 1991 College World Series – a game the Omaha World Herald ranked as the third-best game in CWS history.

“At that time, people called it the best college game in history,” said O’Connor, who went 20-13 with seven saves at Creighton and was a 29th-round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies.

And now he returns to Rosenblatt Stadium with a gritty group that captured the ACC Tournament title, beat the nation’s top pitcher and twice beat the nation’s top-ranked team in the NCAA Regionals and won on the road at Ole Miss in the school’s first Super Regional.

“When you grow up around town, you kind of take it for granted,” O’Connor said of the College World Series. “When you come back, you see what a great event it is.”



 

Series of emotions
By Norm Wood | 247-4642
June 10, 2009

 CHARLOTTESVILLE - Despite his best efforts, Brian O'Connor didn't sleep a wink last Sunday night. He tossed and turned, thinking about the meeting that he'll have this weekend in Omaha, Neb.

On Saturday, he'll meet LSU coach Paul Mainieri at Rosenblatt Stadium's home plate before Virginia's first game in the College World Series. O'Connor's anxiety is borne out of anticipation of a handshake he has waited all his professional career to have, but the lump in O'Connor's throat might be more overwhelming than the grip of a handshake.

Mainieri represents more than just a mentor to O'Connor, U.Va.'s coach. Mainieri is O'Connor's adviser in all things baseball, his professional guru.

O'Connor was an assistant coach from 1994-2003 on Mainieri's staff when they were at Notre Dame. O'Connor and Mainieri spoke Monday, the day after U.Va. (48-13-1) locked up its College World Series spot with a 5-1 win at Mississippi, and O'Connor couldn't put his head on the pillow.

"I told him, 'Paul, I couldn't sleep (Sunday) night,' " O'Connor said. "I got two hours of sleep Sunday night, and I told him why. That was because I could not stop thinking about Saturday and that they do the lineups for the first game of the College World Series and it's like the all-star lineups. Everybody lines up on the baseline. Well, I will be the last one introduced for our program. Then, they'll introduce LSU, and coach Mainieri will be the last one introduced, and then those two managers shake hands at home plate. I just can't imagine the emotion that I'm going to have.

"You know, here's the guy that's meant everything to me in my coaching career that I'm shaking hands with him, or I might be hugging him, I don't know, at home plate on the biggest stage in your coaching career."

O'Connor will share that stage with many of his family members and childhood friends looking on. He grew up in Council Bluffs, Iowa, less than 10 minutes from Rosenblatt Stadium. He played baseball in Omaha at Creighton, pitching in the '91 College World Series.

Though O'Connor told his team what to expect in Omaha — fans taking more than a week off from work so they can go to every game, standing ovations when players walk into restaurants, greeters at the airport, constant autographs — he can't begin to prepare himself for his own experience.

"It's probably going to be the most emotional thing that I've had to go through as a player or a coach — without question," O'Connor said. "This guy, Paul Mainieri, means everything to me ... (U.Va. athletic director Craig) Littlepage took a chance on a 32-year-old that had never been a head coach when he brought me here (in '04). Paul Mainieri took a chance on a 23-year-old to be his top assistant at the University of Notre Dame when he hired me there. I'm forever grateful for that."

Jim Hendry, the vice president and general manager of the Chicago Cubs, played a big role in O'Connor getting the Notre Dame job. Hendry is Mainieri's best friend. Hendry also was O'Connor's coach at Creighton.

When Mainieri took the Notre Dame job, his first call was to Hendry to talk about how Mainieri should fill out his staff. Hendry's recommendation was quick — O'Connor, who was the pitching coach at Creighton in '94. Hendry was impressed with O'Connor's maturity and knowledge beyond his 23 years. Within five minutes of meeting O'Connor, Mainieri said he knew he wanted to hire him.

"I don't think there's ever been a better relationship between a head coach and an assistant coach than that relationship that Brian and I had for those nine years," Mainieri said. "We were on the same page mentally about everything — philosophically and mentally — everything we looked at was the same. It was just such a great working relationship. We had fun. We trusted each other totally. His loyalty to me when he was my assistant was exemplary."

With Mainieri and O'Connor on the staff, Notre Dame won six Big East championships and went to six NCAA tournaments. O'Connor, who was Notre Dame's lead recruiter and pitching coach, was responsible for recruiting future major leaguers such as Brad Lidge and Aaron Heilman.

Littlepage called Mainieri in '04 to inquire about O'Connor. Over the 45-minute conversation, Mainieri made O'Connor sound like the second-coming of Casey Stengel, but Mainieri hated losing O'Connor more than anything.

"It was like I had my right arm cut off my body," Mainieri said.

"I root so hard for Brian and his team to win every game, and I want to see Brian have a successful career … When I was watching the game the other day, (U.Va.'s) final game against Ole Miss, I was sitting on the edge of my couch. My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour. My hands were sweating. When the last strike was made, I jumped off the couch with my arms straight in the sky and my fists clenched and I yelled 'Yes!' Then, about 15 seconds later, I said to myself 'Oh, dog-gone it. We've got to play them now.' "

Before Saturday's game, O'Connor said he and Mainieri will share a steak dinner together in Omaha. After the first pitch, O'Connor said he'll do his best not to even look in Mainieri's direction during the game. There's a good chance the teacher will know exactly what the pupil is thinking.

"Did I learn a lot about him from a manager's style as a coach? No question — from an inside-the-game standpoint," O'Connor said. "What I'm grateful for learning from him is nobody does it classier than this guy. I think he's the best in college baseball …

"What I learned from him was how to deal with players the right way. How to treat them like men. How to handle them. How to develop them. I was fortunate for nine years to be able to witness it and work right alongside him. So, is it going to be emotional? No question. The guy is my best friend."
 

Cavs' tale wouldn't be complete without O'Connor
June 10, 2009 12:36 am
CHARLOTTESVILLE--

Brian O'Connor knows a good story when he sees one--even if it involves himself.

He's fully aware that the spotlight at the College World Series will shine directly on him rather than on his University of Virginia players, even though they're making the first appearance in school history.

He'd rather not be the focus, but he understands. He hails from Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across the border from Omaha. He pitched in the 1991 College World Series for Creighton University, and was Notre Dame's associate head coach when the Irish made the CWS in 2002.

Oh, and the Irish's head coach that year? It was Paul Mainieri, whom O'Connor calls "my best friend." Mainieri's now the head coach at perennial power LSU, which happens to be Virginia's first opponent on Saturday.

What's more, there's a sculpture outside Rosenblatt Stadium of players celebrating. One of the faces was modeled after O'Connor's.

Other than that, nothing much to write home about.

"It's like the perfect storm, really," O'Connor said yesterday before adding: "It's really, really special."

Yes, but it often takes a special person to make such a special event occur.

O'Connor didn't get a single hit or record a single out during Virginia's remarkable postseason run, which included a clean sweep through the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, a 3-0 mark in the "Region of Death" in Irvine, Calif., and a come-from-behind triumph at last weekend's Super Regional in Oxford, Miss.

But his leadership and attitude have been even more important to Virginia's success than Stafford County native Jarrett Parker or freshman phenom Danny Hultzen.

Said sophomore right fielder Dan Grovatt: "I wouldn't want to play for anyone else."

In six years at Virginia, O'Connor has proved himself adept at such necessities as recruiting and handling pitchers. He turned Ryan Zimmerman into the No. 4 pick in the 2005 draft and has assembled a team with several more future big-leaguers.

Still, his best asset may be demanding big-league expectations and accountability from his players.

When Virginia--fresh off an ACC title--was sent 3,000 miles west to face Steven Strasburg and No. 1 Cal Irvine, O'Connor never complained--publicly or privately.

"I truly felt this was a tremendous opportunity for our team," he said. "Sometimes teams make a big, big mistake at tournament time, dwelling on what is said or where they're sent. I was so proud of the way we handled it."

The Cavaliers handled it by handing the allegedly invincible Strasburg his only loss of 2009, beating the Anteaters twice--then rallying from a game down to beat Ole Miss in Oxford. And, to hear Parker tell it, they took their cue from their coach.

"That's the vibe he's always given us, and it's helped us," Parker said.

O'Connor expects a lot from his players, on and off the field.

From the day he arrived in 2003 as an unproven 32-year-old with no head-coaching experience, he's stressed accountability. While other schools need lawyers and spin doctors to handle their athletes' off-field issues, O'Connor's trust has been rewarded.

"In my six years as coach at Virginia, I've never checked rooms on the road," he said yesterday. "I've never had a curfew; I don't believe in it. I'll suggest at times an itinerary for when it would be best for them to be in. But I've never had a problem in six years of a player not being ready to play, or a player getting in an altercation on the road."

Said senior pitcher Andrew Carraway: "He's a very smart guy, a very honest guy. He treats us like the men we're going to have to become in the years ahead."

In return, O'Connor said he promises every player he recruits that "I'll only bring players into that clubhouse that they'll enjoy being around. You can be the greatest player in the world, but if it's about him and not the team, I won't bring him into that clubhouse."

So far, it has worked. O'Connor has led a program that was in danger of being demoted to club status in 2001 because of financial concerns to six straight NCAA tournaments. A recent $250,000 gift from Zimmerman will improve an already impressive home ballpark.

And the Cavaliers will be on college baseball's center stage this weekend.

It's about time, huh?

Well

"It didn't happen fast enough for me," O'Connor said. "I thought we'd be having this press conference in year 3 or 4. My expectations are pretty high."

So is his success rate.

LSU ready for 'business trip' to Omaha
LSU News
Written by Ken Trahan
Tuesday, 09 June 2009 04:08PM

At Alex Box Stadium Tuesday afternoon, it was business as usual. That was the sense you got from the LSU baseball players and coaches. While all are clearly excited about a return trip to the College World Series in Omaha, this team has the feel of having been there, done that, fully confident. Going to Omaha will be a business trip for this group.

Experience counts

The experience of 18 current LSU players participating in last year's College World Series in Omaha is an important factor this year, both on and off the field, according to Tigers Head Coach Paul Mainieri.

"I always hear these coaches saying it but now I really know what they mean. It's really hard to prepare for what to expect when you've never done it before. Now that we've done it before, I've just got to feel that the players are a lot more confident, relaxed, a lot more in the know of what to expect. Not that we're any less anxious, we're just as excited.

Obviously, the goal is major and it's right out there in front of us. But when we walk into the stadium, I don't think anybody's going to be intimidated by the surroundings. I'm really anxious to see how the kids react to it. I honestly feel that the greatest pressure is to get to Omaha. Once you get to Omaha, you'll be fine. You know you're playing seven great teams and anybody can win it. If your goal is to win it, there's pressure there but you can go into the games and really just enjoy the games and I think then you play better. When you're there for the first time, it's so unique, that sometimes it's hard to feel like its normal. I think this year we'll feel a lot more normal," said Mainieri, who will be coaching in his third College World Series, having taken Notre Dame to Omaha in 2002.

Sophomore second baseman D.J. LeMahieu, who made the transition from shortstop to second base seamlessly and unselfishly, is ready for the challenge and says that experience does matter in Omaha.

"Yes, I think so, I mean last year, we were just happy to be there and this year, I think we can definitely make some noise. Almost everyone on our team has been there already. We know what it's all about. Hopefully, we'll make a run. I think this team is at an all-time high confidence-wise. We've played great but I think we all still believe that we can play better. Obviously, winning it all is our number one goal right now," said LeMahieu.

Junior designated hitter Blake Dean says playing in Omaha last year cannot hurt this year. "Maybe in a way but I don't think there's much of an advantage. Most of the guys know the atmosphere and all the activities that go along with it but ultimately, you just have to go up there and play and whoever plays the best wins."

Dean says he is not concerned about left-handed pitching. "A pitcher is a pitcher. We've faced some pretty good lefties this year, probably a few first-rounders. It doesn't matter what we face. We've just got to play our game and hit the ball, lefty or righty, same difference. This year, we have more talent. Last year, we just scrapped. This year, I think it's more like go and just do what we've been doing," said Dean.

Sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs says LSU has unfinished business in Omaha: "This time, we're going to go up there and take care of business. Last year, we just kind of wanted to take everything in. We also tried to get the job done but this year, we're more focused," said Gibbs. The switch-hitting Gibbs says he's ready to hit from either side of the plate but that he is a tad more comfortable from the left side, given that he has gotten more opportunities from that side this year.

Gibbs added that he relishes the challenge of facing a Virginia squad that has stolen 116 bases, including 12 in three games at Oxford against Ole Miss last weekend: "I love that challenge. I'd rather play a team like that than a team that doesn't steal very many bases. With them, you know that when they get a guy on first, they can steal anytime. That kind of keeps me on my toes."

Just getting to Omaha is not going to get it this year, according to SEC Pitcher of the Year Louis Coleman. "Exactly. We're glad to be back but at the same time, anything short of a national championship is short of our goal because of the way the guys have been carrying themselves, the way they've been playing. All of the seven other teams are excellent ball clubs with excellent pitching, excellent hitting, but at the same time, I think ours is a little bit better which gives us a chance to go a long way. "This time, we'd like to come back with a ring instead of a participant trophy," said Coleman.

Coleman says the experience of being in Omaha in 2008 is important but cannot be overstated: "It does help that we've been there but the younger guys have to experience it for themselves. I can tell them about how big the crowds are and how big the stadium is, but until they experience it for themselves, it really doesn't do it justice. The composure they've had the whole season is the same composure they will need in Omaha. It's just a bigger stage," said Coleman.

Helinihi to start

To that end, LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri will go with experience at third base, starting senior Derek Helinihi over freshman Tyler Hanover. "I just felt that Tyler, as a young kid, sometimes they get a little nervous and sometimes you see an error when you don't really want to see an error made. Sometimes a veteran player has a little bit more calmness and self-assuredness because of his experience. I'm going to give Derek a shot. Tyler has a great future with our program."

Mainieri is undecided on whether to start Leon Landry in center field with Ryan Schimpf at first base and Mike Mahtook in center or Schimpf in left field, Sean Ochinko at first base and Mahtook in center. If today's scrimmage was any indication, look for Ochinko to get the nod at first with Mahtook in center and Schimpf in left. That's the way the first squad lined up:

"A lot of that will depend on what pitcher we're facing," said Mainieri. "It looks like there's going to be a lot of left-handers from some of these teams in the College World Series. I saw this coming. That's why I made this decision to move some guys around with 16 games to go. We need to be prepared to handle those left-handers and use the lineup that goes in there and gives us the best chance," said Mainieri.

Big leadoff

Mainieri said he is likely to once again use D.J. LeMahieu in the leadoff role: "I think he's 6'4, every bit of it. When he made that great catch against Rice and he came running off the field, the players were slapping him on the back telling him, 'great catch.' When he got to me, I said, 'way to be tall.' He'll probably leadoff again. I think it will depend on who is in there on the mound. I like to leadoff Jared sometimes if the other team doesn't have a lot of left-handers coming out of the bullpen. I don't like to leadoff Jared when they've got a lot of lefties. It is an invitation for them to bring a guy out of the 'pen to face Jared, Schimpf and Dean in a row so I try to break those guys up."

"D.J. does a lot of good things as a leadoff hitter. He led off his whole high school career, if you can believe that," said Mainieri. "He had to be the largest leadoff hitter in captivity! We'll probably stick with it."

Coleman respects Virginia. "To be able to go to Ole Miss and win two out of three against what was an excellent ball club this year shows a lot about their team."

Ranaudo expected to start

While Mainieri was non-committal on who will start Saturday evening against Virginia, Coleman sounded like he knew the answer. "I think I'll probably get it (the ball) in game two. I'll probably be out of the 'pen in game one in case I'm needed." Dean went a step further: "I'm sure Ranaudo's going to start."

Either way, LSU will be in good hands with a good, proven arm. They will be in good shape with Matty Ott ready in the bullpen late. They have talent, experience, and confidence to make this business trip a successful one. Mainieri again reiterated the goal of why he came to LSU. "You come to LSU to compete for and win the national championship." LSU has competed well getting to Omaha. Now, they will attempt to get the winning part down.


 

Valdes provides spark for UVA

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Franco Valdes' numbers are not glossy. His .288 batting average is the lowest among Virginia's starters, and his 41 RBIs are fifth on the team.

Look through the Cavaliers' postseason performance as they prepare to head to Omaha and their first appearance in the College World Series, though, and Valdes' influence is everywhere.

He was the most outstanding player of the Irvine Regional when Virginia handed pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State his first loss in 14 decisions and then beat top-ranked UC-Irvine twice on its home field. Valdes had only three hits in the super regional at Ole Miss, but all three drove in runs, including the go-ahead single in the decisive third game.

Oh, and he's also guided a young pitching staff to remarkable highs. Virginia allowed just two runs in three games at Irvine, and then just eight runs in three games in Mississippi.

When Virginia (48-13-1) opens the CWS on Saturday night against LSU (51-16) at Rosenblatt Stadium, the Cavaliers will look to Valdes for his leadership once again.

"He's the spark," senior captain Andrew Carraway said of his 5-foot-11 batterymate. "And then it just moves throughout the dugout."

Teammates describe Valdes, in his second season at Virginia, as the guy who keeps everyone on the team loose before a game with his antics or odd mix of music in the locker room. But when it comes to his role as field general, he is all business.

Carraway, for example, was facing a tight spot in Virginia's third game at Irvine. The Anteaters trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, but had runners on second and third with just one out when Valdes asked for time and trotted out to speak with the righthander.

"I came up to him and I said, 'You get these two guys out, we win the game,"' Valdes said of the visit. "And then I left."

Carraway chuckles at the memory, but not the result.

"He might have thrown a couple of extra words in there that you can't go in an interview, and he walked back to home plate," he said. "A guy says that to you that confidently, you believe him and whatever my focus might have been -- 'It's a close game. If I give up this run ...' -- that all shuts itself off and you just listen to the guy behind the plate."

Carraway struck out the next batter, got the next to ground out and Virginia scored two more runs in the top of the ninth to win a regional for the first time in its history.

What Valdes didn't say is that the Cavaliers' 2-1 lead at the time of the visit to the mound was courtesy of Valdes' RBI-double in the fourth and his RBI-triple in the sixth.

"The guy's clutch," said freshman Will Roberts, who was 4-0 in 11 appearances, including six starts, this year. "He lives for that moment when the game's on the line and we need him."

It's that reliability in the clutch that the Cavaliers have come to count on, too.

"If you look at his average in the eighth and ninth innings or the postseason, it would have to be around .800," Carraway said. "If you asked anybody on the team if there's a guy you want at the plate in that situation, it's got to be Franco at this point in the season."

And offense isn't even Valdes' biggest asset, pitcher Tyler Wilson said. The sophomore (9-3) worked 3 1-3 scoreless innings in relief in the Cavaliers' 5-1 clincher at Ole Miss.

"Very good catchers can pull pitchers through situations," Wilson said. "If a pitcher gets in a deep situation that may seem tough to get out of, he can pull us through and get us out of it. ... A leader like that is the one that's going to pull through when you need it."

Robert Morey, who outdueled Strasburg in Virginia's 5-1 victory to open the NCAA tournament, said Valdes' presence behind the plate boosts the confidence of all the pitchers.

"You know that you can throw a breaking ball in the dirt with a guy on third and he's going to block it," Morey said. "He gives you the confidence to throw any pitch in any count."

From the dugout, coach Brian O'Connor knows his staff is in good hands.

"You don't have a great pitching staff without a quality catcher behind there, but it's not only a quality catcher with ability, it's somebody that has leadership capabilities," O'Connor said. "It's like another coach out there. He's running the game, he's in control of it, so you need somebody out there who has those leadership qualities, and Franco has those."


 

LSU Won't Have It Easy Against Virginia On Saturday.
by Richard Pittman on Jun 9, 2009 6:33 AM CDT in Baseball 4 comments

Brackets have been announced for the College World Series. LSU will be playing in the Saturday/Monday/Wednesday set, with bracket championships on Friday for both brackets. The best-of-three championship starts on the following Monday and runs for 3 consecutive nights. The spread out format makes for some very interesting pitching decisions, which we'll get to another day. Today, we focus on our first opponent, the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

The key to this game will be our matchup against this man, left-handed freshman ace Danny Hultzen. Our struggles against left-handed pitching have been well-documented. We kill righties, but we're barely above .500 against left-handers all year. The last time we faced a left-handed starting pitcher, Southern held us down and made a game against us through 7 innings. The time before that, Vandy's Mike Minor frustrated us and pitched a complete game, allowing only one run.

The scouting report on Hultzen is this:

This time last year, Hultzen was a pitchability left hander with a mid 80's fastball. While that made him a desirable college prospect, it wasn't enough to gather much professional interest. That has changed this spring, mostly thanks to an 8 to 10 mph jump in his fastball, which now gets into the low 90's. He spins a tight breaking pitch, and also mixes in a changeup and a split finger pitch as well.

That's from before the 2008 major league draft, in which he was drafted in the 10th round, and probably only that low because he made it clear he wanted to go to college.

Opponents are hitting .242 against Hultzen, and his ERA is 2.09 in 86 innings with 95 strikeouts and 27 walks. In his last game, he went 5 1/3 against Ole Miss and held them to 2 runs in a loss. If you're looking for a soft spot against Hultzman, that factoid points to one of them. He doesn't often go deep into games. He's averaging 6 innings per appearance, but then again in his previous start in the regionals against UC Irvine, he went 7 1/3 innings, pitching a 3-hit shutout. The other soft spot is the fact that he's a freshman who has never been on a stage quite like this.

Normally, I would say that the key to facing a pitcher like Hultzen is to make him throw pitches, get his count up and get into the bullpen. Virginia's bullpen is very good though. Tyler Wilson is a right-handed pitcher who has made 28 appearances and pitched 62 innings, almost all in relief, with a .238 batting average against. Kevin Arico is their closer, and hitters are faring .183 against him.

Virginia is quite a challenge for us, especially with a really good lefty on the mound. I think this is the time to tell Jared Mitchell to wait for a while and put in Derek Helenihi instead. It's a hard decision, because Mitchell is one of our best overall players. He's our best defensive outfielder, our only real threat to steal a base, and he's 4th on the team in slugging percentage. Lefties are really tough on him, though, and this is no ordinary lefty. Helenihi is not a slouch hitter. He has a .506 slugging percentage himself. I think we should start Helenihi in right, and then when we get into the bullpen, we should bring in Mitchell and move Helenihi to 3rd base for Hanover. I would also consider splitting up Schimpf and Dean in the lineup, rather than hitting them 2nd and 3rd like we usually do. I say we should leave Schimpf in the 2-hole, but move Dean down to #5.

Offensively, Virginia is good, but they lack a superlative offensive player. They're much like us in that respect, I suppose. Their best hitters are Dan Grovat and Jarrett Parker. They hit cleanup and leadoff, respectively, and they're hitting .365 and .364, respectively. Strangely enough, their leadoff hitter is by far their leader in slugging percentage at .685, while Grovat (the cleanup man) is slugging at a .524 clip. As a team, they don't hit a lot of home runs. Parker is their leader with 16, and no one else has more than 9.

They win games with pitching, and we have our work cut out for us against a guy like Hultzen. I hate to say it, but the key here may be to manufacture runs and hope that Anthony Ranaudo or Louis Coleman (whoever starts) can shut down the Virginia lineup.

 

Stolen bases play key role for Cavs
By Jeff Byrd
Published:
Monday, June 8, 2009 1:12 PM CDT

OXFORD — Virginia literally stole its way to Omaha.

The Cavaliers swiped six bases in Sunday’s decisive 5-1 win in Game 3 of the Oxford Super Regional.

Five of the thefts came in the two key innings that helped Virginia turn a 1-0 deficit into a commanding 4-1 lead.

“They were super aggressive the last two days, and maybe it was more of a surprise since they didn’t try that many attempts in the first game,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “But it is something they do well. They came in here with over 100 stolen bases.”

In the last two games of the super regional, Cavaliers were 11-for-11 on steal attempts.

“The stolen bases played a huge part in our game the last two days,” said Virginia’s Steven Proscia, who had two on the day to go with his three hits.

“When we get runners moving, things seem to happen for us. It’s going to take us to Omaha,” Proscia said.

Phil Gosselin, who stole both second and third in the fourth inning, said the Cavs took advantage of Ole Miss’ left-handed starters, Drew Pomeranz in Game 2 and Nathan Baker in Game 3.

“We were able to get a pretty good jump on the lefty. He was a little slow to the plate and we just seemed to guess right,” Gosselin said.

Bianco agreed, saying the Rebels didn’t do a good job on the defensive side.

“A lot of times they went on first moves,” Bianco added. “At times we had an opportunity to stop it. We threw down one time, and it was a close play. That is something we’ve normally been good at during the season, controlling the other team’s speed.”

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said the emphasis on the steal is a new strategy for this year’s College World Series-bound team.

“Our style changed this year. We were a team that bunted a lot. This year we didn’t bunt much, mainly because we weren’t good at it. But in the evolution of things, you change things. We had better swingers of the bat and we can steal bases,” O’Connor said.


 

Mike Timms, Danny Glading Named Scholar All-Americans
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 06/09/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Virginia men’s lacrosse players Mike Timms and Danny Glading have been named Scholar All-Americans by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA).

This is the fifth year in a row Virginia has had at least one player named to the team, the longest active streak among Division I schools.

Timms received his degree in economics last year and competed this past season as a graduate student enrolled in a master’s of commerce program in UVa’s McIntire School of Commerce. He was named to the ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-District III At-Large squad last month. Timms has been named to the ACC Honor Roll four times and to the ACC All-Academic men’s lacrosse squad twice; this year’s honors are yet to be announced.

A Virginia Beach, Va., native, Timms was one of the longstick midfielders in the country and shutdown virtually every midfielder he was matched against this spring. He snared 60 ground balls and caused 31 caused turnovers for the Cavaliers and received honorable mention All-America recognition for the third time.

He is currently studying in Europe as part of his master’s degree requirements and has accepted a position with Merrill Lynch in New York City that starts next month.

One of the outstanding attackmen in school history, Glading graduated last month with a degree in economics. He was a first-team All-American and was named All-Atlantic Coast Conference for the third year in a row this season. He led Virginia with 63 total points and ranked 11th nationally in scoring. He also led the team with 31 assists and was third with 32 goals. He and Syracuse’s Kenny Nims were the only two players in the country to score at least 30 goals and add at least 30 assists.

Glading finished his career ranked in the top 10 in UVa history in goals (seventh), assists (tied for fifth) and points (tied for fifth). He finished his career with 119 goals and 104 assists to become only the sixth player in ACC history to reach 100 goals and 100 assists in a career.

He was selected by the Washington Bayhawks with the fifth overall pick in last month’s Major League Lacrosse draft and scored a goal in his debut last Thursday against the Toronto Nationals. Glading is currently attending tryouts for the U.S. National Team that will play for the world championship next summer in England.

“There are events in college athletics that happen away from the ‘maddening crowd’ of competition that may, in fact, truly define the soul of a program,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “The day after our win over Johns Hopkins in the NCAA quarterfinals, our 10 seniors received their diplomas in a special ceremony on the Lawn. The same 10 who walked in together four years prior all graduated on this same memorable day.

“It is in this context that we are proud of Mike and Danny for having been selected as USILA Scholar All-Americans. Two of our finest representatives, on and off the field, in an out of the classroom, these two young men define the ideals of a University of Virginia student-athlete. We are as proud of our present record of leading the country in consecutive years with a Scholar All-American selection as we are of our successes on the field.”

To be eligible for USILA Scholar All-America recognition a player must be a senior named an All-American or who played in the North-South all-star game, in addition to maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA.