Virginia Names Chip Schaffner Assistant Baseball Coach, Former Player Luis Giraldo Named Graduate Assistant

Story Links

Oct. 26, 2000

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – University of Virginia head baseball coach Dennis Womack announced that Chip Schaffner has been named an assistant baseball coach at Virginia. Schaffner replaces former UVa assistant coach Steve Whitmyer, who was recently named the head baseball coach at the Naval Academy, as Virginia’s new pitching coach. Womack also announced that former Cavalier baseball player Luis Giraldo (1997-2000) was named UVa’s graduate assistant for the upcoming 2001 season.

Schaffner comes to Virginia with a wealth of baseball knowledge. Prior to UVa, he was an assistant baseball coach at Georgetown College (Georgetown, Ky.) where he worked with the pitching staff for the NAIA program. Before his coaching stint at Georgetown College, he worked with Sportsview Online, a scouting service based out of Indianapolis, Ind. from 1996-2000. Schaffner has also served as an assistant baseball coach at Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio) from 1986-1993. During his eight seasons at WSU, he coached first base and worked extensively with the Raiders scheduling and fund raising activities. Schaffner also taught a weight training course at Wright State from 1992-1996.

Schaffner, a native of Whillshire, Ohio, played baseball for one season at Michigan State University. He is a 1978 graduate of Parkway High School in Rockford, Ohio, where he earned 10 varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball. He gathered All-Ohio honors in baseball during his senior season.

Giraldo is in his first season of coaching at UVa. He joins the Virginia coaching staff with a familiar background on the Cavaliers program. Prior to graduating from UVa in 2000, Giraldo was a member of the UVa baseball program from 1997-2000. He finished his four-year career as a Cavalier having started 108 of the 138 games he appeared in. Giraldo ended his Virginia baseball career with 118 hits (29 doubles, 11 homeruns and five triples). He also recorded 94 runs, 70 RBI and was 16-20 in stolen base attempts. Giraldo also demonstrated his leadership role as a player, as he was named one of the team’s co-captains during the 2000 season.