As a hitting coach in the minor leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system, Gregg Ritchie got to first work in 2005 with future All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen. Virginia native Ritchie would work with the outfielder several years later at a much higher level.
A Florida native, McCutchen, 39, now with the Texas Rangers, entered the 2026 season with 332 MLB career homers after playing with the Pirates last season.
“Right out of the draft all the way to big leagues,” said Ritchie, who became the Pirates hitting coach in 2011. “A lot of pride to be involved with that player. He is a special player. He is a Mount Rushmore kind of guy. He is a tremendous human being. I think you can tell that I love him.”
Since leaving Pittsburgh in 2012 as the hitting coach, North Stafford High graduate Ritchie, 62, has been the head baseball coach at George Washington of the Atlantic 10 Conference. He is the Hall of Fame at GW, where he starred as a hitter before playing in the minors for the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers.
His background as minor league player and pro coach have been helpful in the recent landscape of the NCAA transfer portal and NIL – to a certain extent.
“You still have to go and find the best players,” said Ritchie, standing behind the first-base dugout before a nonconference game in Harrisonburg against JMU. “It is as simple as that. Now you have player movement (in college), just like you have in pro ball.”
Ritchie met his wife, Kelly, at GW and two of their four children played sports in college.
A son, Logan, was a wrestler at George Mason, while a daughter, Arizona, played softball at the University of Virginia through 2022 before ending her college career at GW. Since then, she has played extensively overseas, including stints with Team Israel.
“It has taken her all over” the world, Ritchie said. “She loves to play” as an infielder. She played in high school at Brooke Point.
Ritchie relies on his assistant coaches to help him navigate the new landscape in college baseball. Sometimes keeping bright, young staff can be a challenge. One of his former assistants is Adam Dofflemyer, a Harrisonburg native who starred at Spotswood High and at Lynchburg University as a pitcher.
Dofflemyer was an assistant at Division III Mary Washington, spent a semester under Ritchie at GW and is now part of the coaching staff at Notre Dame under head coach Shawn Stiffler – who once held the same spot at VCU.
“He is a very intelligent guy that knows baseball,” Ritchie said of Dofflemyer. “He is a young guy who is a student of the game.”
Virginia ties to the Reds
Among the former GW players under Ritchie who are still in pro ball include Trevor Kuncl, the Cincinnati Reds minor league reliever of the year in 2025 while reaching the Double-A level. He was 1-1, 2.84 in his first 12 outings this year at Triple-A Louisville.
The Reds’ pitching staff has plenty of ties to Virginia – including lefty pitcher and Lynchburg native Andrew Abbott, a former star for the Cavaliers; Emilio Pagan, who played for the Harrisonburg Turks in the Valley Baseball League; Kyle Nicolas (minors), a former Pittsburgh hurler who appeared in the Valley League with New Market; and Graham Ashcraft, an ex-hurler in the Valley League with Waynesboro.
Nicolas was with Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
Another pitcher with the Reds, Rhett Lowder, played in the Valley League with Woodstock under Mike Bocock, a former standout at Turner Ashby High and a member of the Valley League Hall of Fame.
GW alums
Another former pitcher for the Revs under Ritchie is Harrison Cohen, who saw action in spring training for the New York Yankees after reaching the Triple-A level last season. Cohen also pitched for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year and was 1-1, 5.40 in his first nine appearances at the Triple-A level this season in the New York farm system.
GW signed several players for the class of 2030, and two were from Virginia high schools: outfielder Cameron Duke of Portsmouth and Churchland High; infielder Aidan McKeating of Virginia Beach and Princess Anne High; and infielder Vince Porcaro of Henrico and Deep Run High. They are among the top high school prospects in the state.
A-10 Tournament
GW is on the outside looking in, as the Atlantic 10 takes the top six teams for the conference tournament, slated for May 20-25 in Tysons Corner.
Going into the May 8 weekend, the top teams in the Atlantic 10 were Saint Joseph’s (22-2), VCU (15-9), Davidson (15-9), Richmond (14-10), George Mason (13-11), Fordham (13-11) and Rhode Island (13-11).
Rhode Island beat Mason in the title game last year.
GW was 9-15 and 17-29 overall. The Revs have a series at the Spiders of Richmond from May 8-10.
Support AFP
Share
David Driver
