GWS757

If Hankins is legit, there may be more infield talent than our boys can get on the field and in the lineup at one time.

If Evan Hankins pans out at first base, will they move Ethan Gibson to third? I'm making that scenario up, of course, but I dunno if anyone saw Ethan Gibson ending up at first base last season, let alone finding himself at the center of VT's remarkable turnaround. Anyway, that dude's too good not to be playing every game somewhere. Meanwhile, where does Clay Grady fit in? (Plus a good word for Owen Petrich. He served us all well for a year.) ** Edited by GWS757 at 7/16/2026, 9:58:01 AM

He turned out to be better than I ever anticipated.

And during the postseason Oklahoma beat ACC champion Georgia Tech twice (in Atlanta, no less) and SEC champion Georgia twice. Along the way they also destroyed Alabama 9-0. Baseball is a streaky game. Throughout June 2026 — when it mattered — I think Oklahoma can rightfully claim to have been the best team in the nation. If you think it's someone else, then, by all means, feel free to explain to the rest of us who it is. ** Edited by GWS757 at 6/24/2026, 9:39:50 AM

Let's say VT had beaten Cal Poly (because, as we came to see, they really actually that good, but they had a great run in L.A.). So then let's say VT followed with a win over St. Mary's to advance to the final. Then ... Do you really think VT would have had enough pitching left on Sunday/Monday to win one more line, likely against UCLA?

Who even saw that move coming early in the season? I'd kinda like to know what Ethan Gibson thought about it at the time, although I think I already know how he'd have replied (quite appropriately): "I just want to play and help the team any way I can." You gotta wonder, though. Anyway, slotting in Gibson at first was one of the key moments in the turnaround, although I doubt many people realized in the moment. Assuming everyone comes back next season who's eligible to come back, and then assuming that newcomer Evan Hankins works out at first, I suspect Ethan Gibson could play anywhere in the infield, including at third. He's just a great guy to have. ** Edited by GWS757 at 6/9/2026, 11:55:42 AM

Fairly or not, lots of people are gonna remember him for that above anything else. ** Edited by GWS757 at 6/6/2026, 12:31:21 PM ** Edited by GWS757 at 6/6/2026, 1:12:14 PM

Walks and strikeouts eat into one's pitch count. But it was a great recovery just the same.

But he sucked today. These things are all a matter of timing.

First base was an unsettled position until Ethan Gibson (unexpectedly) settled there, and the fact that French apparently didn't get much consideration registered with me. As for Gibson, I swear to you it mighta gone like this one day at practice: "Hey, Ethan! ... No, not you, that Ethan! (*Points.*) ... You ever played first base? .... Try on this mitt."

Do you think he would have competed for the catcher or first-base spots next season? For the second half of this season, he was invisible.

It's happened three of the past four years ... ** Edited by GWS757 at 6/3/2026, 1:04:22 PM ** Edited by GWS757 at 6/3/2026, 1:04:53 PM

There were opportunities there that we just didn't see coming (and certainly didn't capitalize on).

That kid Griffin Naess was gonna be hard for anyone to beat that night. It's the nature of baseball. I'm actually disappointed that Cal Poly and UCLA didn't meet. 'Course Cal Poly would not have had Naess on the mound.

You never know what you're gonna get with VT's best pitchers. Meanwhile, there was one thing I was certain of: Renfrow was not gonna be sharp, because of ... wait for it ... too much time off (for whatever reason).

Fingers, toes, everything crossed. ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/30/2026, 3:55:38 PM

And I knew I wrote it backward. I just never circled back to fix it. I have another post that shows the lines for Renfrow's last five starts (in correct order). Doesn't change a thing — as I wrote then, Renfrow hasn't pitched since May 14, and no matter how you look at it, that's a less-than-ideal stat approaching an elimination game. ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/30/2026, 3:38:55 PM

When pitchers have long layoffs, it's common for them to lack sharpness, mostly location. A short outing is a realistic possibility, and, trust me, the VT coaching staff knows it.

Imagine how Daniel and Petrich felt. 🤦🏻‍♂️ ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/30/2026, 12:59:35 PM ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/30/2026, 12:59:57 PM

It'd be unfair to expect him to be sharp, but who knows? I always remember the 1996 World Series. Game 1 got pushed back by rain, then Andy Pettitte started Game 1 on a full week's rest (too much) and got bombed out. Pettitte pitched the pivotal Game 5 four days later and threw the best game of his entire career. The rhythm of pitching remains a mystery, employment of a "lab" notwithstanding. ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/30/2026, 1:29:02 PM ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/30/2026, 1:29:43 PM

We can't argue that this much time off is normal, though. We do know that, during the Great Renaissance Period of 2026, Renfrow's performance went up, as did, logically enough, his pitch counts. Pitt, 04/17:  6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 105 P NCST, 04/24: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 108 P Cal, 05/01: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 112 P UNCG, 05/09: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 26 P Clem, 05/00: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 104 P That kinda high-stress work (discounting UNCG, which was most certainly planned) can add up. That one inning against UNCG was probably intended to get Renfrow some work against hostile opposition while, at the same time, giving him some recovery between conference starts. If I had to guess — and it's just speculation, same as everyone else here — it'd be that Renfrow experienced some abnormal soreness after the Clemson start. But I am open to other theories. Two last points: 1. Man, when I lay out Renfrow's final four ACC lines like that, they look even better than I thought. 2. We probably agree that the Yankees' mismanagement of Joba Chamberlain was monumentally inept. They in effect used him as a guinea pig before we had much data analysis to go by. ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/30/2026, 12:49:03 PM

The blues band. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. That needs to be adopted as theme music for when a game goes badly. You pick yourself up and play again the next day. 'Cause that's how baseball works. Oh well indeed.

Renfrow hasn't had a regular start in more than two weeks (May 14 against Clemson). Since then, his only appearance has been for one inning (the Saturday UNCG debacle), where he threw 26 pitches. Then he disappeared. Pitching is about steady rhythm, and even if Renfrow does start today, I don't expect him to be sharp. That's just how pitching usually works. The Clemson series was huge, and Renfrow threw 104 pitches. If there's a fitness problem (and I think there is), then it probably traces back to that.

Until I see Renfrow out there, I'm assuming Szefc is saving him for the super regionals.

Use your Howard Cosell voice.

Holy freaking hell what an opportunity. 😲

One inning, eight hits, six runs. Man, you never know in college baseball. 🤷🏻‍♂️

UVA finished poorly (something we have seen a lot from VT in recent years), and they look vulnerable. On the other hand, Southern Miss is likely underrated. Now I really wanna pay attention to Jacksonville State as one of my sneaky underdogs. ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/29/2026, 12:34:17 PM

So I went back and looked at the NCAA Baseball regionals for the past five years (post-pandemic shutdown), compiling the regional winners by seed. No. 1 regional seeds do well (as you might expect), but they're not unassailable. Meanwhile, No. 1 national seeds have advanced to the super regionals four of those five years. (Vanderbilt got knocked out in the regionals last year.) ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/29/2026, 2:03:23 PM

Virginia Tech didn't become a full Big East member until 2000. Florida State eliminated VT from the Metro Tournament in Tallahassee in1985. That team won 50 games, and its starting pitching was led by lefthander Thornton "Bean" Stringfellow and righthander Dell Curry. (Yes, that Dell Curry.) Their top position player was lefty irst baseman George Canale. The NCAA Tournament had 36 teams back then (no super regionals), and VT got passed over (shocker). A win or two more over South Carolina or Florida State would've made all the difference. ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/28/2026, 2:11:19 PM ** Edited by GWS757 at 5/28/2026, 2:12:47 PM

Ya know they actually pronounce that "San Lewis Obispo." I took all that college español para nada. I used to work in nuclear power, and even their nuclear power plant (Diablo Canyon) was good looking.

On April 13 (the day after the Boston College series), this team was 7-11 in the conference and 16-18 overall. Seemingly dead. D-E-A-D dead. And look at 'em now.

That suggests VT might be the last 3-line team in (and maybe last team in overall). Might not bode so well for NC State and Pittsburgh. 🤦🏻‍♂️