It’s been a tough year for last year’s UVA Baseball ace Evan Blanco, who has been slowed this season by injuries that appeared to affect his mechanics, velocity and execution.
Blanco appears to be back on track and just in time for a critical season-ending series with Virginia Tech and the ACC Tournament next week.
The junior left-hander had a solid outing Tuesday night against Towson, going three full innings, allowing no runs and a single hit.
After struggling through the third inning of Saturday’s contest, starter Bradley Hodges was pulled for Kevin Jaxel to start the fourth inning.
“Certainly, a tough third inning for Bradley,” said UVA skipper Brian O’Connor. “That’s unlike him, credit [Miami] for hitting the grand slam.”
Blanco returned to the bump to open the top-of-the-fifth in Game 2, this time going three-plus, allowing three hits but keeping the ‘Canes off the scoreboard with three and a third shutdown innings.
“The story of the game for me was Evan Blanco,” O’Connor added. “You know, he came in, we’re down 8-4, and he held the game for three innings and gave us a chance to claw back.”
“Evan Blanco coming into the game and keeping it tight, just an unreal job. Brad Hodges had a great start just the one tough inning, and that’s baseball,” said leadoff man and centerfielder Aiden Teel.
Blanco says he maintained a consistent approach.
“My approach stays the same no matter what,” notes Blanco. “It just comes down to collecting the outs and keeping us where we’re at in the game. I’m not trying to do too much. Obviously, I know that the bats are going to come along”
The southpaw veteran said the move to the bullpen has been key to his returning to 2024 form.
“The move to the bullpen, obviously opened my eyes to some things like maybe pitch with a little bit of an edge,” Blanco says. “But it gave me a little bit of time to make the adjustments that I wanted to make in between the week and in between outings. The way that I look at it, for me personally, it’s a new season for me and whatever happened before is erased from my mind and, you know, I can only control what’s in front of me.”
Although the sample size is small, Blanco’s effort against an elite Miami offense showed hints of Blanco getting back to normal.
“Definitely,” affirmed Blanco.
“Like I mentioned before, the adjustments that I’ve been making, and some mechanical things and pitch-shaped stuff, once I figured that out, I’ve had the utmost confidence in myself. Pitching in front of these guys, with these guys behind my back, it’s the best defense in the country in my opinion. For example, the play that Aiden Teel made, you know, things like that will keep us in the game. I have the utmost confidence in making any pitch.”
O’Connor says Blanco being able to give the club three and a third innings not only kept the Hurricanes offense at bay, but also protected the bullpen for Sunday.
“It was huge, and when we got close there within a run, I told Coach [Drew] Dickinson that we needed to go with [Matt] Lanzendorfer if the situation presented itself, being the home team,” said O’Connor. “You always get the last stab, but that wouldn’t have been possible without Blanco.”
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Blanco shared some insights into some of the mechanical adjustments he’s been making throughout the season.
“I was getting a little rotational, and the ball was coming out a little bit flat,” he said. “My release height went down, and my objective was just to kind of raise that up and get back on top of the ball where I was last year to create that hard ride.”
O’Connor concurred that Blanco appears to be back to his normal form.
“That’s the best he’s thrown all year long. and he’s worked really, really hard for the last couple of weeks to get his form back to where he was last year and today, that’s where he was last year,” O’Connor proclaimed.
“And you know, it’s been a challenge for him to find that, but he’s worked hard and when you work hard and you’re determined, it pays off,” added O’Connor. “I’m just incredibly proud of him because, you know, some people can just throw their hands up and say, It’s not my year, or whatever. He wasn’t going to do that. His attitude is to help the team in any way he can, and today’s an example of, if you have that unselfish approach, that it pays off.”
Asked if he felt like putting Blanco into the bullpen was a demotion, O’Connor says no.
“It’s a change of role to try to get them going,” explained the UVA head coach. “And who knows, that young man might start a huge game for us at some point in the remainder of the season. I wouldn’t rule that out, but right now, he did the job for us today when we needed the most.”
Didawick strikes back
Last season, Harrison Didawick hit .292, recorded 13 doubles, a triple, swiped 14 of 20 bases (70%), tied the Cavalier single-season record for long balls with 23, and broke the school mark for runs scored in a season with 78. The Chesapeake native also posted the seventh most single season RBI by a Cavalier with 68.
It’s no secret that in the 2025 campaign, Didawick has not had the season he did in 2024. But things, they are a-changin’.
In his first 29 games, Didawick was hitting .184 with 16 total hits, three home runs and 17 RBI. But over the last 11 outings, the force seems to be emerging for Harrison.
Twice during the sweep of the Hurricanes, Didawick crushed round-trippers: in Game 1, his homer gave the Cavaliers a little more cushion, turning a four-run lead into five, and in Game 2, his solo shot set the club up for Aiden Teel’s walk-off RBI single.
Referring to the Game 2 blast, Didawick said his approach all season has been the same.
“My approach is always to be aggressive: see ball, hit ball. I got a good pitch to the handle and handle it, said UVA’s leftfielder. “My initial reaction is to go to second base, so Coach [Kevin] McMullen doesn’t get in my ear. Then the adrenaline kicks in, and it’s just a great moment for the team and gives a chance for Aiden Teel to hit a little walk-off.”
O’Connor says Harrison’s home run was key to Teel’s game-winning heroics.
“Instead of being down one with three outs, suddenly you’re tied, you got three outs to play with, noted O’Connor. “I say it all the time, the game of baseball is a game of momentum. I mean, you can start to sense, they have the momentum early in the game, and you start to sense us chipping away, hey, we’ve got we’ve got a shot at this thing. All of a sudden, he hits that ball out when you’re the home team, you got a chance to win it there in the in the bottom of the ninth, and you know, fortunately it worked out.”
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Over the last 11 games, Didawick has raised his batting average 27 percentage points, scored almost as many runs in that span (0.91/gm) has he did in the first 21 games of the season with a 0.71 per game rate, and he has delivered nine RBI in the last 11 outings (0.81/game) compared to 17 RBI in his first 29 games (0.59).
It’s been clear for the last couple of weeks that not only has the slug returned, but Didawick is having success going up-the-middle and to the opposite field. He’s raised his slug percentage 0.159 points. Plus, he’s had 39 of his closest friends cheering him on.
“Harrison, he’s one of my best friends and I’m his biggest supporter,” claims Teel. “I mean, Luke [Hanson] might argue that he might be his biggest supporter, but I’m taking credit for [the ninth inning homer], and when that ball went out, I was just so psyched for him. I mean, he deserves it. He works so hard every day, and he’s really doing such a great job and being such a great addition to this line up and I just love it. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Baseball is such a mystical game, where one week, you’re hitting .445 and sporting a 1.21 earned run average, and the next week you’re 0-for-22 at the plate with 17 Ks or hurling a 7.92 ERA.
Didawick says the key is to see each at-bat as 0-0 and sticking with your approach.
“I said it the other night, just consistency to just keep going, keep believing,” added Didawick. “You got all these 40 guys and coaches believing in you every single pitch, you’ve just got to believe in it. It’s awesome, man.”
Teel believes he’s back to the Didawick UVA fans have become accustomed to seeing.
“Yeah, definitely. I mean, he looks so good,” Teel stated. “That’s baseball, I mean, sometimes he’s hit a lot of balls hard that just haven’t fallen, and that’s why you can’t really get caught up in the stats. You can’t get caught up in that stuff. If you look at, like, when he deserves to get a hit, he should probably have a lot more hits, but one thing that he’s always done so well is be about the team, and the game comes back and rewards you, and it rewards you in times like this.”
One final thing, remind me to never again ask Harrison Didawick if he’s “back.”
I did that on Saturday evening, and with a sly grin he responded, “I never left!”
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