BLACKSBURG – Coming off his impressive 2021 season at Virginia Tech and his electric summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, third-year outfielder Gavin Cross has continued to rake in national consideration as one of the top collegiate prospects for the 2022 MLB Draft.
On Thursday, Cross was tabbed by D1Baseball as the nation's No. 5 college prospect behind four of his USA Baseball teammates – LSU's Jacob Berry, Cal Poly's Brooks Lee, Texas Tech's Jace Jung and Connecticut's Reggie Crawford. For Cross, his top-five ranking was earned two weeks after Baseball America had named him the No. 14 collegiate prospect ahead of next year's draft.
After slugging .621 inside his first full ACC season, Cross stood out as one of the conference's impact players, garnering 2021 All-ACC First Team and ACC All-Freshman Team praise. The power lefty posted the seventh highest batting average within the ACC (.345), cranked out five triples to lead the league and paced the Hokies in nearly all offensive categories, including runs (48), hits (70) and stolen bases (nine).
With Cross in the lineup, Tech rose to No. 18 in D1Baseball's top 25 rankings and placed itself in prime contention to challenge for the ACC Coastal Division title. Despite business left unfinished by the Hokies during the 2021 season, Cross' rising draft stock has placed a high ceiling above the program's 2022 outlook.
Such was justified by the elite numbers Cross racked up during USA Baseball's Stars and Stripes summer series. While competing against the sport's top collegiate players, he led the exclusive class of national invites in batting average (.455), home runs (four), RBIs (13) and slugging percentage (.879).
Undoubtedly, the future for Cross and the Hokies is bright. He and Tech open their fall 2021 schedule on Friday, Sept. 24, when the Hokies welcome the Ontario Blue Jays to English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park for a 2 p.m. exhibition.
