Quiet assassins
Two NCAA tournament appearances in two years, and the experts still didn't give Brian O'Connor's third Virginia baseball team a chance.
That the Cavs are sitting pretty at #13 in the national polls and a tie for second in the rugged Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference is not a surprise to lefthander Mike Ballard.
"We had a meeting at the beginning of the year, and coach mentioned that they hadn't even ranked us in the top 77," Ballard told "ACC Nation" last week.
"I think the guys kind of used that as a little bit of motivation. It also allows us to fly under the radar and sneak up on teams here and there," Ballard said.
Sneaking up on opponents is part of the deal. Another part has to do with outworking them.
"The amount of work that we put in is just unbelievable. It's a night-and-day difference from what it was beforehand," said Ballard, a senior who was recruited by O'Connor's predecessor, Dennis Womack.
"They get us really prepared - with all the running and conditioning and mental toughness and physical toughness that we work on. That really prepares us for the long, grueling season - and it allows us to go out there and compete at such a high level and come out on top a good amount of times," Ballard said.
"I feel like a lot of the credit goes to how they push us so hard," Ballard said.
- Chris Graham