The Wahoo Central Chat Room with Brian O’Connor
Virginia head baseball coach Brian O’Connor chats live Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 10 a.m.
The Cavaliers open their annual Orange & Blue World Series at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Davenport Field.
Submit your questions now. Questions will not appear until the chat starts. Remember Coach O’Connor cannot answer questions regarding the recruitment of prospective student-athletes.
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Orange & Blue World Series Schedule
Game 1: Tue., Oct. 1, 4 p.m.
Game 2: Fri., Oct. 4, 6 p.m.
Game 3: Sun., Oct. 6, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Tue., Oct. 8, 4 p.m.
Game 5: Tue., Oct. 15, 4 p.m.
Game 6: Fri., Oct. 18, 6 p.m.
Game 7: Sun., Oct. 20, 1 p.m.
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Wahoo Central Moderator: Welcome everyone, we’ll have Coach O’Connor with us in about five minutes. Keep submitting your questions! |
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Wahoo Central Moderator: OK everyone, Coach O’Connor has joined us in Wahoo Central. Fire away on your questions — we’ll get started now. |
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| Tom from Charlottesville: What does this team need to do to improve on what last year’s team did? |
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Brian O’Connor: Win 2 more games in the Super Regional ha.
In all seriousness, the biggest area we need to improve on is the quality of the depth of our pitching staff. Through our recruiting, I believe this will happen.
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| Murray (Charlottesville): How do you think the freshmen will contribute to the team this upcoming season? |
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| Steven (Richmond): Coach could you talk about which first years could make an impact this season? |
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Brian O’Connor: I believe you will see significant impact from our first years. There are a few pitchers who have the ability to contribute right away along with an athletic group of position players. We are still in fall baseball – hard to say right now which players will make the impact. |
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| John….. Marstons Mills , Mass: How do you instill that winning attitude and mindset into your players? |
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Brian O’Connor: It starts with holding our players accountable to the everyday expectations our program has on and off the field. |
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| John (Richmond): What goes in to picking game day uniforms? Any new looks in 2014? Will the pin stripe return? |
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Brian O’Connor: The pinstripe will not return. Our traditional uniforms will all be worn. Rawlings is working on a couple of new uniform top options.
Coach Kirby selects the uniform of the day.
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| alan sarbin (barboursville): 1. when will the 2014 season schedule be available?2. what will be the ACC baseball 2014 division lineup? |
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Brian O’Connor: The schedule is set and it will be released sometime soon once we get all the game times established. |
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Brian O’Connor: I can tell you this – we open at a tournament at UNC Wilmington where we play Kentucky in the first game of the season.
We’re hosting East Carolina for a 3 game series the second week of the season.
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| roger forest va: HOW IS ARTIE LEWICKI’S ARM? |
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Brian O’Connor: He is progressing well through his rehab program. We will know a lot more in the next 2-3 months. |
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| Charlottesville: How do you feel your team compares to the previous season ? |
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Brian O’Connor: The 2014 team will have a lot more experience and depth in both areas of pitching and position players. We obviously need to develop a closer as Kyle Crockett was integral in our success last year. |
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| Megan (Charlottesville): What other UVA sport besides baseball do you most enjoy watching/attending? |
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Brian O’Connor: I enjoy getting out to as many as I can. The offseason sports are easier to attend because of our schedule — football, men’s and women’s basketball and women’s soccer. |
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| Jim Cezak (Baton Rouge): How would you feel about an LSU vs Virginia finals in the 2014 CWS? Is it true the coach at LSU taught you everything you know about the game of baseball? |
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Brian O’Connor: I would love to see and LSU vs Virginia final because that would mean my best friend made it to the title game. I learned a lot from Coach Mainieri in my 9 years at Notre Dame. |
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| Robin (Charlottesville): I know the caliber of players on our team, have you been surprised by any particular performance in the two games played this fall? |
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Brian O’Connor: I can tell you I’m not surprised, but very happy to see the two consistent starts that Nathan Kirby has given us. |
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| Robin (charlottesville): It would be great for fans to get a “heads up” on colors for game days so we can dress to match if desired (and so we don’t inadvertantly show up supporting the opposition!!). |
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Brian O’Connor: This is a great suggestion and something we should consider putting out on Twitter the day of the game. You know you’ll always be safe wearing orange and blue. |
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| Jimmy (Charlottesville): If you hadn’t played baseball, which sport would you have played? |
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Brian O’Connor: I played basketball and football in high school. I love football but I was way too slow. |
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Brian O’Connor: You would know it from physique. |
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| Hoos (New York City): Have been following the program since my first year in 2005. Thanks for such a remarkable job! How have you managed to keep such a strong coaching staff intact since day 1? Do you mention National Champion as an expectation for the team? |
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Brian O’Connor: We have been very fortunate to retain Kevin McMullan and Karl Kuhn on our staff for now going on 11 years. This continuity has been vital to our success. They have been loyal because they’ve been allowed to do their job, and high quality people want that responsibility. |
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Brian O’Connor: We don’t talk about a national championship as an expectation. We talk about what we have to do on a consistent basis to have that as an opportunity. |
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| Robin (Charlottesville): The schedule shows todays game at 4pm, but the article says 6pm. Which is correct? |
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Brian O’Connor: Today’s game starts at 4 pm. We hope to see you there. |
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| John Charlottesville: I have seen how Coach Kirby dresses, are you sure he is the best choice to pick the game day unis? |
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Brian O’Connor: We would wear camo every game if he had complete autonomy on uniform selection! |
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| Brian Walker(Danville): Hoo’s on first? Where all should we look for Nick Howard this year? |
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Brian O’Connor: We have a lot of options at first base. Nick Howard will certainly be looked at as an option at first and third base along with his pitching duties. |
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| Hoo baseball (cville): Has Nathan Kirby improved through last season? Is he a good candidate for a starter role? |
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Brian O’Connor: He has improved significantly since last season. You can see his confidence level on the mound – I’m not sure about his role just yet, but he will be considered for a starting role. |
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| Rick: Is Connor Jones as good as advertised? What can we expect from him this season? |
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Brian O’Connor: Connor Jones comes to UVa with a lot of talent and has shown the poise and confidence of a veteran. We’re not sure about his role at this point, but I know he will make significant contributions. He will start this Friday night in our Orange & Blue game at 6:00. |
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Wahoo Central Moderator: We have time for one more question before Coach O’Connor has to move on with his extremely busy schedule. |
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| Barry Kirby (Winston-Salem,NC: In comparison with the CWS teams of 09 and 11 what is the biggest strength the 2014 team brings to the field ? |
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Brian O’Connor: The 2014 team has the same experience and depth in position players as we did in ’09 and ’11. |
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Brian O’Connor: Thanks everyone for your questions. I hope to see you all out at the ballpark for the Orange & Blue World Series and this spring! |
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