Six members of the UVA baseball team were named to the 2015 All-ACC Team, which was announced Monday by the conference office after voting by the league’s 14 head coaches. Starting pitcher Nathan Kirby (Jr., Midlothian, Va.) was named to the first team, while shortstop Daniel Pinero (So., Toronto, Ontario), third baseman Kenny Towns (Sr., Burke, Va.) and relief pitcher Josh Sborz each were tabbed on the second team.
Adam Haseley (Fr., Windermere, Fla.) and Pavin Smith (Fr., Jupiter, Fla.) were named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
Kirby has missed his last three starts with an injury but is 5-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 10 starts this season. In 59 1/3 innings, he has allowed 50 hits and struck out 75 batters, which was first in the ACC at the time of his injury. He was a unanimous 2015 Preseason All-America pick and was on the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award. Kirby was named to the All-ACC first team for the second straight year.
Pinero is batting .305 in 51 games at shortstop this season. He owns 60 hits, including seven doubles and five home runs. Named to the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, Pinero leads the team in runs scored with 46. Pinero was a third-team All-ACC selection in 2014.
Sborz has had a solid year, going 2-2 with a 2.49 ERA while primarily serving as the team’s closer. He is tied for the ACC lead with 12 saves this season and is on the watch list for the Stopper of the Year Award. He also shown his versatility and has made two starts for the Cavaliers in recent weeks.
Towns is in the midst of his best season as a Cavalier. He is batting .312 with 16 doubles, four homers and 50 RBI while playing in each of the Cavaliers’ 52 games. Towns ranks eighth in the ACC in doubles and 10th in RBI.
Haseley has been a two-way force for the Cavaliers. He has started all 52 games for UVa, batting .256 with eight doubles and 18 RBI. While he primarily has played the outfield this year, Haseley also has appeared in nine games on the mound – all since April 1. The left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in 19 innings.
Primarily batting in the 3- or 5-hole for the Cavaliers this season, Smith is batting .302 with 14 doubles, five homers and 35 RBI. He is tied for the team lead with 64 hits and owns the most hits for a UVa rookie since Steven Proscia in 2009.
Virginia opens postseason play at 11 a.m. Tuesday when it takes on Georgia Tech in a play-in game at the ACC Baseball Championship.
2015 All-ACC Baseball Teams
First Team
C – Chris Okey, So., Clemson
1B – Brendon Hayden, Sr., Virginia Tech
1B – Will Craig, So., Wake Forest
2B – George Iskenderian, Jr., Miami (FL)
2B – Nate Mondou, So., Wake Forest
3B – David Thompson, Jr., Miami (FL)
SS – Sutton Whiting, Sr., Louisville
OF – DJ Stewart, Jr., Florida State
OF – Corey Ray, So., Louisville
OF – Stuart Fairchild, Fr., Wake Forest
DH/UT – Zack Collins, So., Miami (FL)
SP – Matthew Crownover, Jr., Clemson
SP – Brendan McKay, Fr., Louisville
SP – Kyle Funkhouser, Jr., Louisville
SP – Nathan Kirby, Jr., Virginia
RP – Zack Burdi, So., Louisville
Second Team
C – Andrew Knizner, So., NC State
1B – Preston Palmeiro, So., NC State
2B – Andy Perez, Sr., Duke
3B – Matt Gonzalez, Jr., Georgia Tech
3B – Kenny Towns, Sr., Virginia
SS – Daniel Pinero, So., Virginia
OF – Chris Shaw, Jr., Boston College
OF – Reed Rohlman, Fr., Clemson
OF – Jake Fincher, Sr., NC State
DH/UT – Tyler Krieger, Jr., Clemson
DH/UT – Brendan McKay, Fr., Louisville
SP – Josh Rogers, So., Louisville
SP – Thomas Woodrey, Jr., Miami (FL)
SP – Zac Gallen, So., North Carolina
RP – Billy Strode, Sr., Florida State
RP – Josh Sborz, Jr., Virginia
Third Team
C – Garrett Kennedy, Sr., Miami (FL)
1B – Quincy Nieporte, So., Florida State
2B – Logan Ratledge, Sr., NC State
3B – Kyle Fiala, So., Notre Dame
SS – Eli White, So., Clemson
OF – Steven Duggar, Jr., Clemson
OF – Willie Abreu, So., Miami (FL)
OF – Skye Bolt, Jr., North Carolina
OF – Robert Youngdahl, Sr., Notre Dame
OF – Saige Jenco, So., Virginia Tech
DH/UT – A.J. Murray, Sr., Georgia Tech
SP – Brandon Gold, So., Georgia Tech
SP – Andrew Suarez, Sr., Miami (FL)
SP – Benton Moss, Sr., North Carolina
SP – Ryan Smoyer, So., Notre Dame
RP – Bryan Garcia, So., Miami (FL)
2015 ACC Baseball All-Freshman Team
Dylan Busby, 3B, Florida State
Kel Johnson, OF, Georgia Tech
Brendan McKay, SP/UT, Louisville
Lincoln Henzman, RP, Louisville
Brian Brown, SP, NC State
J.B. Bukauskas, P, North Carolina
Brandon Bielak, SP, Notre Dame
Sean Guenther, RP, Notre Dame
Adam Haseley, OF, Virginia
Pavin Smith, 1B, Virginia
Justin Yurchak, 3B, Wake Forest
Stuart Fairchild, OF, Wake Forest
ACC Player of the Year
Will Craig, So., Wake Forest
ACC Pitcher of the Year
Matthew Crownover, Jr., Clemson
ACC Freshman of the Year
Brendan McKay, Fr., Louisville
ACC Coach of the Year
Dan McDonnell, Louisville
Share
Contributors
