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BLACKSBURG – The fall baseball season will kick off tonight with the team’s first official practice at English Field at Union Park as first pitch is slated for 5:15 p.m. Just before the team gets ready for its fall season, here’s a brief look back at some of the top performances put forth by a handful of players.

Packy Naughton started seven games for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod League and during the regular season posted a 3-0 record with a 1.68 ERA in 42.2 innings pitched. Naughton walked just six batters while striking out 42, which was good for third in the league, while his ERA was fifth-best.

For his efforts, Naughton was named an all-star, an All-League pitcher and was ranked as the No. 44 top prospect in the Cape Cod League by Perfect Game.

“The first thing I realizing was that it was a new season with a new team and I just wanted to put my past behind me and focus on what’s in the future,” Naughton said about his summer. “All the training we did here and everything that I learned pitching in the ACC, I brought it to the Cape and it worked out for me.

“And honestly, playing in the Cape was a dream come true. Ever since I was a young kid, my dad and I would go down to games and watch so being able to get the honor to be playing in that league and becoming an all-star and all that, it really just meant a lot to me.”

Joey Sullivan put forth a quality effort while pitching for the Baltimore Redbirds in the Cal Ripken League. Overall, including two postseason appearances, Sullivan pitched in 11 games out of the bullpen for a total of 21.1 innings. He posted a 3-0 mark with one save, struck out 29 batters opposed to three walks and allowed just one earned run and two runs overall.

With his performance, Sullivan was named to the Second Team, All-League Team and was pegged as the No. 13 top prospect in the Cal Ripken League by Perfect Game and a Top 10 prospect in the league by Baseball America.

“I definitely felt more confortable with some of my mechanics that I did,” Sullivan said. “Just adjusting a couple body positions, like stuff with my body. I really focused on a couple of key things with my mechanics. And then that led to some of my success and then just getting more confortable back on the mound and playing a little bit looser. Obviously summer ball is a little bit different than what we play here in the ACC, I think that really helped me as well.

“I think that if I just stay true to what I did this summer and kind of simplify things with keeping my body in the right direction and trying to be more simple with everything that I do, with how my legs and arm work together … my upper and lower body have to work together. And I just focused on that this summer.”

Connor Coward was impressive on the mound for his summer team, the Butler BlueSox in the Prospect League. In nine starts, Coward posted a 3-1 record with a 2.22 ERA in 56.2 innings pitched. He struck out 68 batters, tied for second in the league (one behind the leader) and walked just seven. He lasted at least six frames in all but one start and struck out at least six in seven games, included twice reaching double figures (12 & 13).

With his performance, Coward was recognized as the No. 6 top prospect in the Prospect League by Perfect Game and a Top 10 prospect by Baseball America.

“I think just relaxing, honestly, because one of the things that I was catching myself with was a snowball effect,” Coward said. “In the spring, I had a bunch of good outings and then I’d have one bad one and it would be tough to come back from that.

“In the summer, just knowing that I was going to be a starter and starting opening day for the team, and just having that mindset of, if I have a bad outing, I’ll be back at it next week. So, I was really just working on not being too, too fine with my stuff, especially with my fastball. Just working halves of the plate instead of hitting that one spot. Just being less fine and doing what I needed to do – be simplistic.

“Moving forward, I think, I just need to not complicate things. I know that we have a lot of potential this year. We’ve got those guys back healthy and will be able to put together a good staff. I think me personally, don’t overcomplicate things, don’t try to be the best pitcher in the country, just do what I need to do. Just hit my spots when I need to and just go out there and just simplify things, don’t complicate it.”

Ironically, Coward tied Tech teammate Andrew McDonald for the second most strikeouts in the Prospect League as McDonald also hit the 68 punch-out mark pitching for the Champion City Kings. He started 11 games for them., had a record of 2-5, but posted a 2.80 ERA in 70.2 innings and had those 68 strikeouts.

Seven times he struck out at least six batters and nine times he went at least six innings and included a complete game on June 26 against West Virginia.

“Honestly, what I did this summer was just proving that all my hard work was finally showing,” McDonald said. “Coming back from Tommy John, all that work is now starting to show. I always believed that I was capable of being a good pitcher week-in and week-out and I know this past season, here, wasn’t what I wanted, it wasn’t what the team wanted, what anyone wanted.

“I just think that I kept my work ethic, I kept trying to get better and improve on things and it finally started showing this summer. I started to figure some things out and I started to become more consistent as a pitcher and I think those two things just really helped me make a big jump.”

Highlighting the Hokies’ efforts this summer at the plate included Sam Fragale, who was named a Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League Second Team member, while also earning an All-Star nod during the season.

He joined the Newark Pilots midway through the regular season and had a hit in 19 of his 21 starts on the way to a .341 batting average, tied for the second highest on the team. He had a team-long 13-game hitting streak and finished the year with 28 hits (in 22 games), with five doubles, a home run and 12 RBIs.

“Being named to the second team was a huge honor, honestly, because I was only there for like a month, so it was an honor that they thought that highly of me and I really appreciate that,” Fragale said.

“Mainly, my success was from a mental aspect. I wanted to get up there and just get some confidence back and try and pick up where I was at the end of the season and improve. But it was just trying to stick with my approach and maintain that approach no matter if I playing well or struggling. That was a big part for me, because I went through a stretch where I started struggling, but I stuck with my game plan and ended up getting out of it.”

Stevie Mangrum, who was limited in his time at Tech during the spring season, made the most of his summer playing time for the Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League. He played in 67 games, batted .308, had 74 hits, including 16 doubles and seven home runs. He scored 42 runs and knocked in 36 more, while also drawing 35 walks.

“Well, I think a lot of my success was due to getting a lot of at bats – I ended up having 240 at bats and during those, I struggled and I succeeded a lot. By the end, I had a routine and rhythm,” Mangrum said. “We played 70ish games and we got to see different areas and different states and we even played in Canada.

“Playing up there was awesome! The fans were awesome. The players, the coaches, my teammates were awesome. It was a just a great overall experience.”

CLICK HERE to navigate to the Hokies in the Summer Leagues’ page to see who played where and check out their numbers with links to their summer league bio pages.

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