RICHMOND, Va. – Living up to the rising 'Our State' mantra of its athletic department, the Virginia Tech baseball team outpaced its in-state competitors with eight honorees garnering year-end praise within the 2022 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) University Division, as announced by the organization on Tuesday.
Freshman starting pitcher Drue Hackenberg was named both the 2022 VaSID Pitcher of the Year and the VaSID Rookie of the Year, joining Virginia's Danny Hultzen (2009) as the state's only student-athletes to claim both honors during the same season since the awards were first introduced in 2006.
John Szefc headlined Tuesday's presentation as the 2022 VaSID Coach of the Year after leading Tech to its fourth most victories all-time (45), its first ACC Coastal Division title, its first NCAA Regional championship and its first NCAA Super Regional appearance. Szefc becomes the Hokies' third head coach to be so named since 1992, following in the footsteps of multi-year winner Chuck Hartman (1992, 1993, 1997) and Pete Hughes (2010).
Virginia Tech celebrated six 2022 VaSID All-State First Team selections, doubling the number of First Team mentions from Virginia (three) and tripling those from Liberty and Old Dominion (two apiece). Among the Hokies' such honorees were third-year catcher Cade Hunter, sophomore shortstop Tanner Schobel, third-year sophomore outfielder Gavin Cross, sophomore outfielder Jack Hurley, freshman starting pitcher Drue Hackenberg and fourth-year junior reliever Jonah Hurney.
Freshman third baseman Carson DeMartini rounded out Tech's star-studded awards class, placing onto the 2022 VaSID All-State Second Team.
Virginia's all-state teams and major award winners are voted on and chosen by the state's assembly of sports information directors (VaSID); the University class is open only to NCAA Division I coaches and student-athletes.
Tech's four position players on the 2022 VaSID All-State First Team mapped directly to the Hokies' top four RBI generators in Schobel (74), Hunter (66), Hurley (55) and Cross (50). Together, the Blacksburg quartet combined to yield more than half of Tech's season home run production (53 percent, 67-of-126), as led by Schobel (19 homers).
Hackenberg (10-2, 3.30 ERA) made 16 starts for the Hokies, leading the ACC in regular season ERA (2.44) while pacing Tech's staff with 87 strikeouts across his 92 and two-thirds innings pitched. Hurney (6-1, 2.70 ERA) held opposing hitters to a .211 batting average across his 25 relief outings, recording 54 strikeouts across 43 and one-third innings pitched in addition to saving the Hokies' March 8 victory against East Carolina.
DeMartini posted the fourth highest batting average (.341) and the third highest OPS (1.111) within Tech's lineup, starting 58 of his 59 rookie appearances at third base.
ABOUT VaSID
Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) names 44 all-state teams in 23 sports each year as well as an Academic All-State squad and an all-sports champion in both the University and College Divisions. Membership in VaSID is open to all media relations professionals working at a university or conference in the state of Virginia.