Though Virginia Tech hadn’t had the season it envisioned when it began its game against Marshall on Wednesday, it’s shown that its youth might be its greatest strength. And there’s promise in the seasons that immediately follow.
But yet, here the Hokies are, even with all of the young players in their lineup. They’re chasing a postseason berth, hoping that the next few weeks bounce their way after those first three weekends in the ACC — and the most recent one — didn’t.
They’ve done it, just as any team hoping to make the postseason has, with star power: Jack Hurley, Carson DeMartini and Drue Hackenberg. Their veteran talent has complemented that well — Chris Cannizzaro, Christian Martin, Eddie Eisert and Kiernan Higgins, just to name a few.
But there’s a common theme, and it stood out on English Field on Tuesday in Virginia Tech’s 5-3 victory over Marshall: it’s the youth Tech brings to the diamond. You see their names penciled into the lineup everyday, or they’re one of the first arms coming out of the bullpen on a weekend.
Shortstop Clay Grady, first baseman Garrett Michel, catcher Brody Donay and pitchers Griffin Stieg, Jacob Exum and Andrew Sentlinger. All six of them have seen significant action throughout Tech’s season — and they’re playing at a high level, too. That speaks volumes to Tech’s player development, its recruiting, and the trust those players put in the coaching staff.
“We try to put an awful lot of stress on [player development], it’s honest, it’s not BS,” head coach John Szefc said after the victory over Marshall. “… If you come here as a true freshman or a first-year guy, then you’ll play. We’re not holding good players back; we’re trying to put good players out there.”
Baseball recruiting is what it is. Like football or basketball, it’s not an exact science — and it might be less accurate than those two sports. Does it tell you who the best freshmen in college baseball are going to be in the upcoming year? Sure. But there are a bunch of players that slip through the cracks. That’s what allows for so much parity in the sport.
The rankings don’t align all the time with the talent level that comes in. For instance, Stieg was the only top-200 recruit Tech brought in its most recent recruiting class that’s seen significant game action.
Donay, Grady, Michel, Exum and Sentlinger all held offers from other places but weren’t as highly rated. Of the six, only Donay and Stieg had some sort of public draft consideration from professional scouts.
Drafted or not, each of those six weren’t handed anything coming into the season. Michel was the only one in the Opening Day lineup, and that was after an unofficial nine or 10 intrasquad home runs in the preseason, when Higgins began calling him “Babe Ruth.”
Grady earned the starting shortstop gig in March down at Miami, hitting .303 on the days he starts and playing shortstop really, really well. Michel, meanwhile, has started 40 of Virginia Tech’s 42 games, smashing nine homers and 12 doubles.
The two made some of the biggest impacts against Marshall — Michel doubled in the fourth and then Grady drove him in with a sacrifice fly — and they’ve been constants for the Hokies throughout the season.
Donay, like Grady, earned his starting gig in South Florida. At 6-foot-5, he’s played in 29 games, starting 25, and crushed his 10th home run of the season against the Herd with a 520-foot solo blast in the fourth inning. The Blacksburg wind helped Donay a little bit on a blast that cleared the batter’s eye, but it still would’ve been long gone even without the breeze. That’s just the type of raw power he has.
“That trio of Grady, Donay and Michel, they’ve played so much this year,” Szefc said. “They’ll be really, really interesting for people to watch next year. … They’re playing because they’ve won jobs.”
And then you have Stieg, Exum and Sentlinger, the three freshman pitchers. Wednesday marked Stieg’s first start on the mound, and while his numbers haven’t been as impressive as others, he’s had outings where he’s looked like he could mold into a solid ACC arm.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit,” Stieg said, “but I think I just needed today to feel some things out again. [I] wanted to gain some confidence back to be able to know that I can do this again.”
He stranded the bases loaded against Virginia in that Sunday series-clinching victory; on Wednesday, he tossed 2 ⅓ scoreless innings against Marshall. He’s a high-level arm that Szefc was high on coming into the season, and he proved why that’s still the case against the Herd.
“He gave us a good start,” Szefc said of Stieg. “… We wanted to get him a good start as opposed to him coming out of the bullpen. He started clean — only walked one guy. He was effective.”
Sentlinger and Exum have been two of the biggest pieces to come out of the bullpen for Tech. And due to the injury bug, the Hokies have needed the duo to put together good outings. Sentlinger threw three shutout innings on Thursday against Marshall, lowering his ERA to 2.18 in 20 ⅔ innings this season.
And after Brady Kirtner and Higgins pitched, Exum closed the door on the Herd, who made a late inning push. He looked as good — if not better — than when he tossed five innings of one-run ball against Virginia in the 9-5 loss on that rainy Friday.
Tech jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Marshall scored three in the seventh, courtesy of Donay, Grady and a solo shot from Carson Jones. And once Higgins departed after throwing two pitches (Szefc said it was precautionary and that Higgins should be back for the weekend), Exum recorded the final five outs.
“I think it’s pretty cool. I mean, we all came in not knowing where we’d be,” Donay said of Tech’s player development. “There were people in front of us, so we knew we’d have to work hard. Nothing was really given to us and we had to put it all together.”
All of that — the lineup production, the depth that Sentlinger and Exum give Tech and Stieg emerging as another arm in the Hokies’ dinged-up bullpen — gives Virginia Tech hope for the future, one that never looked bleak if you’ve been paying attention all season.
Box score: Virginia Tech 5, Marshall 3
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A really good article!
Had a very interesting conversation with my son (Christian Martin) Sunday morning at breakfast. We talked about a lot of things….the pitching struggles, the UNC dustup, the chase for the post season but he was very clear that this team is just young….. He’s a sophomore but a first year starter….hell, outside of DeMart/DB, the entire infield (and catcher) is typically 1st year starters. Fortunately, these kids no how to move and flash the leather…..hasn’t affected us defensively but to his point…..none of them are at their ceiling offensively. I told him that I though this weekend vs Carolina was the most comfortable that I’d seen him at the plate all year – responded that it just takes a $hitload of reps before most kids find that level of comfort……and he’s still not exactly where he wants to be…..and he got about 40 ABs last year. The rest of them were in high school. There is a bright future ahead – provided we can sort out the pitching command issues.
He had some insightful thoughts but unfortunately, can’t share them here….
While this year has been disappointing especially given our pre-season ranking, the future is bright. Thanks for the reminder.