UVa tries to put together miracle run

By Jay Jenkins

Published: May 22, 2008

Kyle Werman has a jam-packed summer directing countless baseball camps at Virginia’s Davenport Field waiting.
The former Cavalier second baseman, now the program’s first-base coach, would love nothing more than to face the predicament of being forced to cancel the first session, a youth development camp.
That, of course, would entail Virginia advancing to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
For now, the Cavaliers claim to be focused merely on playing their way into the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament with a strong showing in this week’s ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.
Virginia opened play Wednesday night against third-seeded North Carolina in a game that started at 9:46 p.m., some one hour and 46 minutes later than scheduled due to a lengthy opening-day victory by Georgia Tech over North Carolina State (10-9).
What the Cavs hope to accomplish at the ACC Tournament mirrors what Werman encountered in 2005 in his final appearance as a student-athlete in the event.
That season, UVa entered the postseason event with a 38-17 record and a firm spot on the NCAA Tournament’s bubble. But that changed with three straight wins, including two over Clemson, and a ticket to the championship game, which provided an eventual 4-3 loss to Georgia Tech.
“It clicked,” Werman recounted. “That is what it takes in postseason in general. You have to get hot at the end of the year. That is part of winning tournaments.
“Hopefully, our guys can get on a roll here.”
Werman, who made the All-Tournament team in ‘05 as a senior, is quick to admit that the tournament’s old design, a double-elimination format, helped the lower seeds advance.
“It is a different format with the round robin now and you don’t really get a second chance,” he said. “You lose one game and you can be done and that is what happened last year.
“You have to get on a roll and take care of business one game at a time, but ultimately you have to win three.”
Werman said it is easy to compare the current crop of Cavaliers to his team, which featured stars such as Sean Doolittle, Jeff Kamrath and Ryan Zimmerman.
“It was definitely similar offensively,” he said. “Guys had to come up with clutch hits, the big two-out hits, and it is something that we need our guys to this week. We have done a better job of that the past couple of weeks.
“We just need our pitching and offense to click at the same time and get on a roll here.”
In his first year as an assistant coach, Werman caught himself thinking back to his time as a player in the ACC Tournament during a practice session at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
“It is fun being back, but it is different being back as a coach,” he said. “I miss playing and the competing part of it, but it is neat seeing our guys going through some of the same things.
“It is very familiar since we are staying in the same hotel and have the same arrangements.”
Extra bases
Virginia will get a day of rest today as it awaits Friday’s contest with second-seeded Florida State. The teams will play at 5 p.m. The Cavaliers are scheduled to practice today at 3 p.m. at Florida Community College of Jacksonville, the junior college home of former Cavalier catcher Matt Bernstein.