Abbott Named VaSID Rookie of the Year, Four on All-State Team

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Freshman Andrew Abbott (Halifax, Va.) was named the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Rookie of the Year as announced by the organization on Tuesday. Teammates Derek Casey (Mechanicsville, Va.), Andy Weber (Aurora, Ohio) and Daniel Lynch (Henrico, Va.) earned All-State honors.
 
The three First Team selections in Casey, Abbott and Weber were the most of any Virginia school. Casey, Lynch and Weber were recognized by VaSID for the first time in their careers. Abbott is the first Cavalier to win the state’s Rookie of the Year award since Pavin Smith won it in 2015.
 
Abbott, a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-American, and ACC All-Freshman Team honoree appeared in a team-high 24 games this season. In three of his club-best six saves, he logged three innings or more. Abbott was also on the mound for four of the team’s seven shutouts on the year and boasted a 3.18 ERA while striking out 78 batters in 51 innings pitched. He fanned a season-high six batters twice, including six of the seven he faced against Clemson on April 27. He struck out five or more batters in nine of his 24 relief appearances.
 
Casey was taken in the ninth round (278th overall) of this year’s MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He served as the team’s Friday night starter for the majority of the season and boasted a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts as a senior. The right-hander fanned a career-high 106 batters in 95.2 innings pitched. He struck out a career-high 12 batters in back-to-back starts against Eastern Kentucky and Yale earlier in the season. Casey led the team in quality starts, posting seven of his nine against ACC opponents.
 
Lynch was one of two top-40 selections in the 2018 MLB Draft for the Cavaliers after being taken 34th overall by the Kansas City Royals. Lynch developed into one of the top pitchers in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2018, boasting a career-best, 3.96 ERA. He struck out 105 batters in 88.2 innings pitched in his junior campaign, the first Cavalier pitcher to reach the 100-strikeout mark since 2015. He fanned 10 or more batters in four-consecutive starts, all against ACC opponents, from March 17 – April 6. Only Danny Hultzen, the second overall pick in the 2011 MLB draft, was able to strikeout out 10 or more in four-straight starts at Virginia.
 
Weber, a fifth-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs, led the Cavaliers in nearly every offensive category. He was an ABCA First Team All-Region and a First Team All-ACC selection as a junior. Weber ranked second in the ACC in batting average (.344) and doubles (19). racked up 72 hits (T-7th most in ACC), drove in 50 runs (team-best) and hit five home runs (team-best).