Sherando’s Gray Will Attend U.Va.
From Star Staff Reports
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Sherando High School pitcher Brian Gray won’t spend his senior year worrying about where he’ll play collegiately.
Gray took care of that Wednesday afternoon when he told University of Virginia baseball coaches that he would accept a partial scholarship to play for the Cavaliers.
“It’s a huge relief,” said Gray, who went 3-0 with a 1.56 regular-season ERA for the Warriors as a junior last spring. “I know a lot of people wait until the last minute and worry about it. It’s good to get it out of the way.”
Former Winchester Royals Valley Baseball League manager Karl Kuhn, now an assistant at U.Va., saw Gray at a winter camp in Maryland and then came to one of his recent Winchester Post 21 American Legion games.
Two days ago, Gray made a visit to Virginia and was offered a partial scholarship.
“When I went down I wasn’t expecting an offer that fast,” said Gray, who sometimes was overshadowed on a Sherando pitching staff that included All-Northwestern District selections Matt McCarty and Jordan Gibson.
Sherando coach Pepper Martin said Gray’s fastball was consistently in the upper 80s during the high school season and he was clocked at 90 mph last week in an American Legion game. During one camp this summer, Gray’s fastball reached 93 mph on the radar gun.
“With his frame — he’s 6-foot-6 — when he fills out, it’s hard to tell what his velocity will be,” Martin said.
During the regular season, Gray alternated between starting and relief assignments. He struck out 40 batters while allowing 10 walks.
“His fastball’s his best pitch, but he’s got a pretty good changeup,” Martin said. “He’s been working really hard to improve that.”
Gray’s signing is just the latest of many for the Warriors, who have four graduated seniors heading off to college baseball — McCarty (Tennessee Wesleyan), Drew McCormick (Shepherd), Gibson (Charleston Southern), and Kyle Simmers (Hampden-Sydney).
Martin is glad he’ll have another season to coach Gray.
“He’s an excellent student,” Martin said. “A school like Virginia might be a nice fit for him both athletically and academically.”
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