Tyler Bocock, the rookie head coach of the Harrisonburg Turks, is part of a long line of college baseball players to come out of Turner Ashby High School since the 1960s. That includes his father, Mike, a former long-time coach who is in the Valley Baseball League Hall of Fame and played baseball at TA in the 1970s.
But the current Turks squad has more ties this summer to another public high school in Rockingham County – that would be Spotswood, which won the 2025 state 3A title and reached the state semifinals this spring.
One of the assistants under Bocock is Luke Keister, who starred at Spotswood before playing in college at Shenandoah and Averett. This past season for the Danville school, he started all 35 games at shortstop and hit .302.
“There are different people coming from different groups,” Tyler Bocock said in a phone interview of his roster. “The roster we had on paper looks nothing like it does now. Almost all of the Spotswood kids came from (ties) to Luke.”
Bocock has been impressed with the work ethic of Keister – who will throw batting practice for more than one hour than ask what is next.
“Luke Keister is going to be a great coach one day. Tremendously hard worker and very much wants to win,” Bocock noted.
Three players are on the Harrisonburg roster are also from the Spotswood program:
- Carter Lenz, a Southern Florida
- Andrew O’Brien, who played at Shepherd in West Virginia.
- Drew Hawkins, who pitched in six games as a freshman this past season, also for Shepherd.
“Lenz, Hawkins, and O’Brien have been solid depth additions so far. Looking for them to step up and help us down the stretch run,” noted Bocock, 33.
O’Brien hit .250 in his first seven games with the Turks this season. Lenz gave up two runs while recording one out on June 17 against Charlottesville, and he had an ERA of 13.50 in his first two outings.
Hawkins allowed three runs while recording one out on May 31 in his first game, against Waynesboro. He allowed three runs in 2.1 innings on June 18 in a 19-10 loss, again to Waynesboro.
Another local connection is pitcher Lane Duff, who pitched for JMU this past season, is from Moneta in Bedford County and starred at Liberty Christian Academy under head coach and former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Randy Tomlin – the head coach again this summer for the Charlottesville Tom Sox.
On June 14 against Staunton, Duff pitched seven innings and did not allow a run in a 4-3 loss. In his next outing, on June 20 against Covington, he yielded two runs in 6.2 innings in a victory. In his first five outings, including three starts, he had an ERA of 1.90 and has been among the league leaders in several pitching categories.
“Duff has been phenomenal thus far, has really attacked the zone and limited his walks. When he does get base runners, he is doing a nice job managing the run game. He looks very comfortable at JMU and protects the home turf well,” according to Bocock.
Bocock, after starring at TA, played in college at Stetson in Florida – just like his cousin, Brian Bocock, who would go on to play infield in the majors for the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies, then play at Triple-A in the Washington Nationals system later in his career.
Replacing the legendary Bobby Wease, the long-time head coach and owner of the Turks, Tyler Bocock has forged his own path.
His father threw out the first pitch to him in a home game earlier in the season.
“Biggest challenge for me so far has been getting familiar with the order of operations on things in a new organization. Trying to establish my own standards and routines that fit with what already exists is something I am working towards and I think it has been a success so far,” noted the younger Bocock, who ended his college career at Stetson in 2015.
Other members of the coaching staff for the Turks are Hanover High grad and former Virginia Wesleyan and Bluefield pitcher Ryan Cowell and Greg Mulhollen, the former head coach of Sarasota High in Florida.
Bocock was an assistant at Sarasota High this past spring – and the Turks roster has 12 players from Florida.
“Ryan Cowell, who also played in Woodstock, is going to be a great coach; he works really well with the pitchers. Also, Greg Mulhollen is my pitching coach, who is a coaching friend from down in Sarasota that is very good at what he does,” according to Bocock, who aided his father as a coach at Woodstock in the past.
“He is there for support,” Tyler Bocock said of his father.
The younger Bocock, who played at Waynesboro in the Valley League, hopes some of that Spotswood success can rub off on the Turks down the stretch.
Harrisonburg won eight of its first 17 games.
O’Brien was first team all-Valley District, first team All-Region and first team All-State as a second baseman at Spotswood in 2025 for head coach Marcus Davis.
His father, Kyle, played tennis at UNC Asheville, and his uncle, Aaron Lough, played baseball at TA, in college at Potomac State and in the minors with the Minnesota Twins from 1998-1999. Steve Lough, the father of Aaron, was part of a TA team that won 40 games in a row in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
O’Brien hit .325 this past season with Shepherd in 35 games, with 29 starts. Hawkins was first team All-District and hit .390 for Spotswood in 2025. His father, Andrew, played baseball at Clinch Valley from 1995-1998.
Lenz aided the Blazers team this spring that was knocked out of the state semifinal playoffs by New Kent – which beat TA for the state title June 13.
“New Kent was a very athletic team,” Bocock said.
TA head coach and William Monroe High graduate Travis Knight played in the Valley League, and his son, Thomas, a senior standout for the Knights this spring, plans to play baseball at Rutgers, according to Bocock.
The elder Knight played in college at Charleston Southern.
Verlander record on hold
With pitcher Justin Verlander still on the injured list with the Detroit Tigers, the Goochland High and ODU product remains stuck on 266 career wins in the Majors. That is tied with Hall of Famer, Culpeper native and former UVA pitcher Eppa Rixey for the most wins of a pitcher born in Virginia.
Rixey pitched and won a game on May 20, 1926, at the Dodgers for the Cincinnati Reds. Exactly 100 years later, Andrew Abbott – another lefty who was born in Virginia and played for the Cavaliers – pitched for the Reds and was the winner against the Phillies.
There is also a tie for most homers by a Virginia native among two retired sluggers: Willie Horton and Justin Upton each had 325.
MLB Draft prospects
ESPN.com had STAB infielder Will Yow listed at No. 63 on its list of top 2026 MLB Draft prospects, but it appears Yow will honor his commitment to the University of Virginia, per The Daily Progress.
Also on the list were University of Virginia products A.J. Garcia (27) and Eric Becker (33). Liberty pitcher Ben Blair checked in at 42, and Virginia Tech hurler Brett Renfrow was listed at No. 76.
Catcher Robbie Lavey of George Washington and Oakton comes in at No. 141. He played at GW for head coach Gregg Ritchie, a North Stafford High grad who is the former hitting coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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David Driver
