Virginia’s 2009 baseball recruiting class has been ranked ninth nationally by Baseball America, as announced by the magazine on Tuesday. This marks the second Top-10 ranking this class has accrued – Collegiate Baseball ranked the class 10th in September.
“I am very excited about this new group of players,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “It is a very talented class with some players who will make an immediate impact in our program. This is a group of athletic position players and pitchers who possess the ability to compete right away. Above all, this class of young men is a great fit for The University of Virginia. Our assistant coaches, Kevin McMullan and Karl Kuhn, have once again brought another stellar Top-10 recruiting class to Charlottesville. Kevin and Karl deserve all the credit in bringing these young men into our program.”
UVa’s class consists of 10 freshmen and two junior-college transfers. Five of the 12 players were selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft – freshmen Stephen Bruno (Audubon, N.J.), Reed Gragnani (Richmond, Va.), Branden Kline (Frederick, Md.) and Rob Amaro (Bensalem, Pa.) as well as Young Harris Junior College transfer Kenny Swab (Kernersville, N.C.).
The rest of the class is highly-regarded as well and consists of freshmen Chris Taylor (Virginia Beach, Va.), Colin Harrington (Johnstown, Pa.), Ryan Briggs (Omaha, Neb.), Ryan Levine (Hackensack, N.J.), Aaron Stull (Newport, N.C.) and Whit Mayberry (Alexandria, Va.) as well as transfer Cody Winiarski (Franksville, Wis./Madison Area Tech).
UVa’s class is ranked second best among ACC programs, behind only No. 7 North Carolina. Florida brought in the nation’s top incoming class according to Baseball America.
In addition to the 12 newcomers, UVa returns 23 letterwinners, including its entire starting lineup, from the 2009 team, which reached the College World Series for the first time in program history and posted a school-record 49 wins.
The Cavaliers begin the 2010 season Feb. 19 at East Carolina.
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Chris Graham
