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After a 2011 season that saw VMI feature four seniors in its starting lineup, 2012’s tale for VMI baseball will hinge on two things – youth and pitching. The Keydets have 12 incoming freshmen on the squad this year, three of whom are projected as probable starters, while several of the freshman pitchers could play important roles as well. The pitching staff as a whole, however, is laden with veterans, and should be the strength of a team looking to improve upon a 27-24-1 2011 season.
VMI opens the year, for the second straight campaign, with a three-game set at a team ranked in the top-10 nationally. This year, it is #2 South Carolina, the two-time defending College World Series champions, as VMI goes to Columbia Feb. 17-19. Other highlights of the schedule include two games against Old Dominion, now coached by former Keydet skipper Chris Finwood, a trip to nationally-ranked Virginia and a two-team set of games May 18 at The Diamond in Richmond. There, VMI will take on both East Carolina and VCU.
The Keydets will take the field this year with a new pitching coach, as Travis Beazley joined the staff over this past summer. Prior to working at his alma mater, Randolph-Macon, last season, Beazley spent three seasons in the Boston Red Sox farm system after being selected in the 2006 MLB Draft.
This year’s Big South Championship is set for May 22-26 in High Point, N.C.
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 For the second straight season, VMI's starting pitching depth is among the strongest in the region. The rotation will lead with junior Coby Cowgill, who rose from bullpen and possible mid-week starter, to Friday night ace last season, and did not disappoint. Along the way, he posted a 4-3 record and a 3.73 ERA, while opponents hit just .233 against the hard-throwing right-hander. That batting average against figure ranked 10th in the Big South.
Slated to pitch behind Cowgill is left-hander Campbell Henkel, who enters his sophomore campaign. Henkel made one start last year, but pitching out of the bullpen for the remainder of his 30 1/3 innings, made a solid impact as a true freshman. Over 13 outings, opponents hit just .216 against the Richmond native, while compiling a 3-0 record.
The slate behind Cowgill and Henkel becomes particularly intriguing, with right-hander Jeremy Brown expected to slide in behind the front two. Brown served as a true bulldog in the Keydet rotation last year, posting a 4.33 ERA while serving as both the #2 and #3 starter at different points throughout the season.
Lurking in the shadows is 6'5" right-hander Adam Lopez, VMI's Friday night starter early last year. Lopez worked into early March, striking out 13 in ten innings with a repertoire including a low-to-mid 90's fastball. He then suffered an arm injury and missed the rest of the season. His rehab, however, continues to progress and early reports indicate he's on schedule.
Slated to potentially see mid-week starts is a cast of talented pitchers, including John Garrett, Travis Thomas, Reed Garrett, Jonathan Kelley and Connor Bach. Kelley and Reed Garrett are talented freshmen, while Bach looks to make an impact in his sophomore season. John Garrett hopes to expand upon last season's starting experience, while Thomas has been a mainstay of the VMI bullpen during his two years on Post, and in fact, pitched in the fifth-most games in VMI history last season (28). The amount of time this group of five sees as starting pitchers, however, may depend on the health status of Lopez.
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Should the starting pitching tire, the VMI bullpen could contend to be the best in the Big South this year. At the back end are two hard-throwing senior right-handers, Michael Devine and Alan Watts.
Watts emerged last year as a true force out of the 'pen, posting a 2.64 ERA in 44 1/3 innings, which came over 26 games. Those 26 outings were the seventh-most in the VMI single-season annals, but what was particularly notable was his 37-4 strikeout to walk ratio. In fact, Watts did not walk a batter until April 16 of last season, a run that spanned his first 15 appearances of the year.
Devine was tabbed for the Stopper of the Year Watch List prior to 2011, and went on to compile a 3.26 ERA with five saves. Those five saves gave him 12 for his career, leaving him four shy of VMI's all-time leader in the category. Devine also ranks 10th in career appearances at the Institute, with 64. The Cheswick, Pa. native struggled a bit in the middle portions of the season, due in large part to a nagging ankle injury, but recovered late in the year and ended it strong, capping 2011 with 5 1/3 scoreless innings over his three outings.
Two right-handers from the junior class may also see significant bullpen time in the aforementioned Thomas and Garrett. Garrett became VMI's primary mid-week starter over the final six weeks of last season, and picked up four wins in the process, leaving him just three shy of VMI's all-time top-10 list. Thomas spent the majority of 2011 in the bullpen (as noted above), picking up three saves en route, but has made a single start in each of his first two seasons on Post. Senior Andrew Deal also returns for his final collegiate campaign, while Miles McQuaig rejoins the squad after missing the 2011 season.
Behind those upperclassmen, sophomores Bach, a left-hander, and Rian Ellis, a righty, will vie for time, as will a cast of freshmen. That listing will include lefty Kelley, a Wilmington, N.C. native who has impressed the staff with his pitchability early on, as well as right-handers Reed Garrett, Andrew Woods and Tyler Lighton. The variety of depth could increase even more, should Lopez successfully rejoin the weekend rotation.
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The Keydet infield will be anchored at the corners by first baseman George Piccirilli and third baseman Chase Worthington. Piccirilli broke out last season, hitting .332 in the process while playing in all 52 games. The now-senior also had four home runs and drove in 34, all while hitting in the middle of the lineup, a role he will assume again this season.
At third base, Worthington is the incumbent starter. Worthington struggled last season, hitting just .211, but did show well on several occasions, including going 7 for 13 in a series against Charleston Southern in mid-April. He also had a strange game April 8 against Radford, when he tied the school record for sacrifice bunts, putting down three in that contest against the Highlanders.
Cody Holder will provide depth at first base, third base and shortstop, after seeing action in 23 games as a true freshman. Across the diamond, redshirt freshman Cameron Walter could also see time at either first base or designated hitter.
Last season, the Keydet double play, keystone combination was comprised of two seniors, but this year, two freshmen are likely to get the call at second base and shortstop. Thomas Stallings, out of Charlottesville, Va., is the early favorite for the second base job. Stallings was Second Team All-State last season, while his possible partner up the middle, Drew Bryan, had a strong season as well. Bryan took part in more double plays than he had errors committed, and also led his team with 10 doubles, three triples and 30 RBI.
Fellow freshmen Nick Dwyer and Michael Donovan will provide depth up the middle as well. Dwyer is a strong defender on the left side of the infield, while Donovan's athleticism allowed him, a traditional second baseman, to play shortstop for three years at Western Branch High School.
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The three outfield positions are some of the most flexible on the field, returning two starters. Returning center fielder Rob Dickinson, the team's only starting left-handed hitter, remains relatively entrenched in his position. Dickinson rebounded from a poor start to 2011 to close well, as after hitting .195 through his first 14 games, he raised his average nearly 80 points over the next 12 days. The now-junior wrapped up the season hitting .274, and played his above-average center field defense throughout his sophomore campaign.
The other returning starter is senior Jacob Morley, who returns as one of the squad's veteran leaders, having been a three-year regular for this Keydet squad. He hit .295 last season as the regular right fielder, and was second on the team in stolen bases as well. The senior could see time at any of the three outfield positions, between LF, RF and DH.
The players who will join the two upperclassmen will come from a group including sophomore Jordan Tarsovich and freshman Gary LeClair. LeClair enters VMI with quite the pedigree, having been named All-State following both his junior and senior seasons. LeClair hit .543 last year for the Steward School, and is touted for both his ability as a contact hitter and his defensive prowess. Tarsovich saw a fair amount of action in his first season on post, and while most of it did come as a defensive replacement, he did hit .261 in 23 at-bats, striking out just twice.
Also bidding for outfield playing time will be sophomore Eric Mayers, who saw action in 13 games last season, as well as a cast of freshmen, including Brandon Angus, Brandon Diamond and early signee Sheldon Shifflett, who comes to VMI from Saint Anne's Belfield in nearby Charlottesville. The large number of young players may provide more flexibility than the team has had in past years.
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Following the graduation of longtime starter Alex Haitsuka, VMI will be breaking in a new starting backstop in 2012. The positional battle is between redshirt freshman Matt Winn, sophomore Berkley Hawkins and returning junior Andrew Montague.
Montague hit .234 last year in spot duty, and had an interesting summer as well. Over the summer, Montague teamed with first baseman Piccirilli (and early in the year, reliever Thomas) to lead the Rockbridge Rapids to their first-ever berth in the Valley League Championship.
In fact, Montague pitched the final innings of the semifinal game that sent the Rapids on to the Championship. Montague's pitching skills will likely be used by VMI this season, as the junior has worked on the mound during fall practice.
Winn, a former All-District catcher at Richmond's JR Tucker high school, is regarded as a strong receiver behind the plate, and possesses a strong arm as well.
Finally, Hawkins, the starting Keydet first baseman early last season, came into VMI as a well-regarded catcher, and will be working to see time at his original position this season.
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