BLACKSBURG – It was just over a year ago that Bristol, Tennessee native Gavin Cross first stepped on the Virginia Tech campus to attend classes during the summer of 2019. However, it had been a long process for the Tech baseball coaching staff to get the two-time all-state player and eventual 2020 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American to Blacksburg.
Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Kurt Elbin first started looking at Cross during his sophomore season at Tennessee High School. And despite a summer that was cut short due to injury and Elbin only seeing him in a couple games, he knew Cross was someone that could help the Hokies program.
"At the time he was playing for the East Tennessee Crusaders who were coached by his father, Adam." Elbin said. "I only got to see Gavin for a couple of games at a Perfect Game tournament before his summer was cut short due to an injury. We really liked his athleticism and how easy he played the game and it was apparent he was a guy we wanted to get deep into the recruiting process with.
"I kept in touch with him as he grew and got stronger as a player. Gavin had been raised the right way in the game and seemed to understand a lot of the small things about baseball that many his age hadn't picked up on yet. His dad - Adam did a good job coaching him to understand and play the game the right way. The fall of his junior year, we felt really good about our relationship with Gavin and his family and that's when he ended up committing to Virginia Tech."
Cross was one of five outfielders brought into the program last fall, as the Hokies were looking to fill a couple of spots – one of which was lost by the departure of Kerry Carpenter, a 19th-round selection of the Detroit Tigers in the 2019 draft, who started all 53 games that season in right field.
In his first fall exhibition game held on Oct. 14 of last year, Cross had three RBI against the Fieldhouse Pirates and showed off some speed in the Florence-Darlington exhibition game by legging out a triple. By the time the 2020 season rolled around, Cross had worked his way into that starting role voided by Carpenter.
"Gavin has a ton of tools that are easy to work with," Elbin said. "The one thing we worked really hard to do last fall was to make him a little more athletic through the swing and tried to incorporate a smaller leg kick. He started off really well in our fall intersquads and continued right through the spring.
"His biggest adjustment came inside the strike zone as we worked hard to develop his approach with the help of Kyle Sarazin (Tech's Director of Player Development). We identified his strengths and tried to help him understand his limitations. He did a really good job of making a swing adjustment along with refining his in-game approach which contributed to his success last spring.
"Gavin has had success and will be successful moving forward because he is not only talented but skilled. He works at his craft and understands who he is as a player. The other thing that really sticks out is his demeanor. He is pretty unflappable and it's tough to tell whether he's having a good day or bad day. He just keeps moving forward."
Cross quickly acclimated himself to DI baseball by collecting six hits in his first three games and kept his batting average above .350 the entire season – finishing at .369, second highest on the team. He was one of four Hokies to start all 16 games, including 15 in right field and during the season, tied for a team-best with seven multi-hit games. He also finished a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts, second most on the team for both and, at the end of the year, ranked 74th in the nation in stolen bases and 76th in hits.
"A moment that I thought defined his 2020 season was the opening ACC weekend at GT," Elbin said. "He struggled mightily in the Friday night game where he struck out three times. No one said a word to him, we just ran him back out there the next two days. He went 4-for-7 over the next two games. I think that goes to show how resilient he is and that he could handle some failure in ACC play and bounce back. Baseball is tough, if you can handle it mentally you have a chance to be good and I think that bodes well for Gavin."
In June, Cross became just the seventh Tech player to earn freshman all-American status and the first since Mark Zagunis in 2012. The Hokies' staff is looking for Cross to continue the success in the upcoming season.