Baseball to Play Host to Ontario Blue Jays in Sept. 21 Exhibition
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Sept. 12, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team will play host to the Ontario Blue Jays in a fall exhibition game at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, at Davenport Field. The game is open to the public, and admission is free.
“We are looking forward to competing against a team in a different uniform,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “This will be our only opportunity to do it, and it will give our new players a chance to compete at this level.”
The exhibition will be the public’s first opportunity to see the new-look Cavaliers for 2007-08. While the Cavaliers return 14 letterwinners from the 2007 squad which went 45-16 and reached the championship game of the NCAA Regional, they also welcome in 16 newcomers for the new season.
The newcomers – part of one of Virginia’s best-ever recruiting classes – are Kevin Arico (Flimington, N.J.), John Barr (Ivyland, Pa.), Tyler Biddix (Richmond, Va.), David Coleman (Richmond, Va.), Jake Cowan (Roswell, Ga.), Phil Gosselin (West Chester, Pa.), Dan Grovatt (Tabernacle, N.J.), Sean Lucas (Fishkill, N.Y.), Robert Morey (Virginia Beach, Va.), Jarrett Parker (Stafford, Va.), J.C. Poma (Glen Allen, Va.), Ryan Smith (Waldorf, Md.), Sean Tierney (Moseley, Va.), Franco Valdes (Miami, Fla.), John Weaver (Lexington, Ky.) and Tyler Wilson (Midlothian, Va.).
Virginia started fall practice Tuesday at Davenport Field and will compete for the next 45 days, culminating in the Orange and Blue World Series, which will be contested in mid-October.
“We’re excited to get fall practice started,” O’Connor said. “We have a lot of new faces, and there will be lot of teaching going on throughout the fall. The changes in scheduling that the NCAA has made will allow us to practice longer and do more teaching throughout the fall season. I’m excited about these changes, and they will give us a better opportunity to develop our young players.”
The Cavaliers lost a school-record six players to the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, but return several key players from the 2007 squad. Jacob Thompson (Jr., Danville, Va.) is back to anchor the Cavaliers’ pitching rotation after earning First-Team All-America honors last year, while Second-Team All-ACC pick David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.) is back to head up the infield, as is All-Region selection Greg Miclat (Concord, N.C.).
Virginia is seeking its fifth-consecutive NCAA tournament berth and has won 177 games over the last four years. The Cavaliers ranked among the nation’s top 20 in each of the final national polls.