Hokies Preach Patience as "Baseball Night in Blacksburg" Kicks Off Second Year of Rebuilding Effort

Few people are better equipped to preach the virtues of patience in baseball than former MLB manager Charlie Manuel.

"You've got to have some patience," Manuel said at a press conference Saturday. "Patience definitely counts."

Manuel spent nearly a decade dealing with some of the least patient fans in the nation as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, yet he also proved that patience can pay off, as he helped deliver the team's first World Series win in 28 years back in 2008.

That means his message for the Hokies' baseball program takes on a special significance after the squad finished dead last in the ACC last season.

"They had a little down year last year, but that happens all the time, that happens anywhere," Manuel said.

"A little down year" is perhaps putting it mildly. The Hokies finished 21-31-1 just one season removed from hosting a College World Series regional in Blacksburg under departed manager Pete Hughes.

Now, with the start of the season looming Friday against Mercer, second year manager Pat Mason is is looking to prove Manuel right that a little patience can go a long way.

That process got started in earnest last weekend with the team's annual "Baseball Night in Blacksburg" fundraising and fan service event held inside Lane Stadium. The program invited Manuel, who grew up in nearby Buena Vista, Va., to return to his roots to help provide a worthy kickoff to the team's new season.

"This night gets people excited about baseball season," Mason said. "We raise a little bit of money, but it's certainly not a make or break not when it comes to the existence of our program. Certainly that money will be put to good use, but more importantly it's a feel good night...it gets people a chance to meet our new players, and it's a good tradition."

This isn't the first time Manuel has been in Blacksburg specifically to see the Hokies.

"In 1982, I was a cross checker when I first got my start with the Minnesota Twins, it was kind of a major league followup. If an area scout recommended somebody, I would come in and watch him," Manuel said. "In matter of fact, I was sent to Virginia Tech to see (future 11-year MLB veteran) Franklin Stubbs."

This time around, Manuel got to swing by one of the Hokies' practice sessions before the ceremonies started in earnest.

"I saw some guys that can run, saw some guys that have a chance to hit, and in talking to Pat, I got an idea of what they hit last year, and that was good," Manuel said.

For all their struggles, the Hokies did indeed crush the baseball last season, leading the conference in batting average and on-base percentage, so it's clear that Manuel's eye for talent hasn't deserted him.

He's had plenty of chances to catch some amateur and college games since transitioning to a role as special assistant to the general manager in Philadelphia after stepping down as manager in 2013. Now he spends his days doing some scouting work, even as other teams try to lure him back to the bigs as a hitting coach (for the record, Manuel says three or four clubs have called him, but he's turned them down, wondering, "at 71 years old if I can go and work as a hitting coach, then what did I do not to be a manager?")

Manuel says even his brief glimpse at the Hokies offered him plenty of signs that a turnaround isn't far off.

"With the talent they've got on the field, and the guys that I was interested in, and meeting with the coaching staff, I can see them having a big year," Manuel said. "The way I look at things, Tech's got a chance to get back and have a big season, just like when I was here in '82."

Mason certainly hopes he's right, as he ruminates on what he could've done differently in his first year at the helm after Hughes took the head job at Oklahoma.

"I spent a lot of time reflecting upon what we could've done better, what we need to emphasize," Mason said. "They're good kids, good people, and our team never came together, so shame on me."

For a start, Mason will be examining how to improvement his team's record in one-run games. The Hokies dropped an incredible 10 games last year by just one run, a very representative mark of just how frustrating 2014 was for the squad.

"We need to better protecting the baseball," Mason said. "We need to be better defenders, especially in bigger moments of the game, and I think we need to be better strike throwers on the mound, not giving the ball away so much to our opponents."

But even for all the team's problems with pitching and defense, Mason also thinks some more pop in the lineup will help push the team over the edge when they absolutely need a hit.

"We were on base like crazy last year, we were a singling team," Mason said. "But our guys have gotten a little bit stronger, and I think that will help with our clutch hitting. Instead of trying to get a fourth single in an inning, we'll get some base hits in there, we'll have some more runs."

Part of that equation will be another big year from infielder/designated hitter Brendon Hayden. He accounted for seven of the Hokies' 12 total home runs last season, and he'll likely anchor the lineup once more, even as he hopes for a more even approach from the team.

"It's always important to provide the juice in the lineup," Hayden said. "But this year is different than last year, we have guys all over the lineup that can put the ball over the fence. I think our one through eight hitters could put a ball over the fence. I think this year there will be less focus on me, and that will help out the rest of the team."

Some of the extra pop could come from transfer Erik Payne, formerly of South Carolina. He only got limited playing time with the Gamecocks, recording a .248 average and hitting three home runs in 59 total games, but when he got hits, they tended to matter.

He most memorably hit a bases-loaded three-run triple to seal up a win for USC over Florida in the College World Series back when the Gamecocks won the whole thing in 2012, and the Hokies will need him to repeat some of that prowess at the plate to add balance to the lineup.

"He's had a great fall, great spring, he'll definitely bring a lot of power to the lineup," Hayden said.

But the team will be hamstrung early by the continued recovery of outfielder Saige Jenco, one of the team's breakout stars last season.

Jenco is still rehabbing from surgery on his left shoulder last year, and even though he's recently returned to the batting cage, Mason isn't totally sure when (and in what capacity) he'll be on the field to start the year.

"He didn't play all summer, he didn't play all fall, but he jumped in there with live at bats last weekend and really hasn't skipped a beat," Mason said. "He looks really good offensively."

Jenco may not be ready for a return to his normal spot at centerfield to open the season, but Mason does hope to at least start slotting him in at DH sooner rather than later.

"His arm is not fully recovered yet, so I think he's probably going to be more of a DH option this weekend, we'll evaluate him and see where we're at going into (the Campbell Invitational next weekend)," Mason said. "But he is sort of on pace to be able to throw to a better ability around the start of ACC play."

Yet Jenco's return won't mean much if the Hokies can't do something about the pitching staff.

The team was last in the ACC in ERA in 2014 by a mile with a 5.17 mark, with Boston College the next closest at 4.29, and that was with one of their most experienced starters in Brad Markey.

With him gone, senior Sean Keselica is the only player left on the roster with double digit starts, and Mason is counting on him to become the team's ACC ace and start the first game of any three-game series.

Beyond that, redshirt junior Jon Woodcock, redshirt sophomore Kit Scheetz and sophomore Aaron McGarity will form the backbone of the team's rotation, even if Mason isn't particularly clear on the particulars just yet.

"I think we're going to go with Sean Keselica on Friday, and the other three guys, (pitching coach Robert Woodard) and I haven't had a good conversation about it yet," Mason said. "It'll be McGarity, Woodcock and Sheetz, and of those three, two of them will start. In all likelihood, they'll be the starters for those games, but those guys will be competing for those roles up to Wake Forest."

For his part, Keselica feels confident that he can step up and provide some stability early. He got plenty of starting experience last year, as he led off in 12 games and recorded a 4.65 ERA for the year, but he's hoping some added stability to his role can help him take the next step.

"With me in a starting role last year, I got moved around, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, so it was hard to get my feet under me with my schedule," Keselica said. "But towards the end of year last year I kind of found myself and got better and better moving into the Friday role."

If Keselica can help the Hokies even approach the middle of the pack when it comes to pitching, then perhaps the team can start to reach some of the goals Mason is laying out for the new season.

"Our first goal has to be to the make the ACC tournament, because if we don't make the ACC tournament, we will not get an at-large bid (to the CWS)," Mason said. "There's 10 teams now going there in a 14-team conference, 11th place isn't going to cut it."

From there, maybe the team can think about that ever-elusive trip to Omaha.

"We have to have that clear vision of what we're trying to accomplish," Mason said. "Ultimately, it's Omaha, but we have to know the route to get there."

The surest way to book some tickets to Nebraska in the near future is to try and capture the magic the team seemed to harness back in 2013.

"Our team last year was very cliquey, classes stayed with classes, we didn't hang out much as a team off the field, so we took it upon ourselves to hang out with the team more, and it's really paying off," Hayden said. "It's starting to feel like the way it did the year we went to a regional. That team always did everything together and all the guys loved each other, so it's starting to feel like that."

If that's the case, maybe fans won't have to be so patient after all.