'Dinners, barbecues and paintball outings': Tech's brotherhood shines ahead of postseason

By Sam Alves

Staff Writer

May 26, 2022

BLACKSBURG — Asked to describe what makes Drue Hackenberg, All-ACC First Team and Freshman Team pitcher, so special, sophomore shortstop Tanner Schobel had something else on his mind.

“I’m just going to say, first and foremost: I’m super proud of him,” Schobel, an All-ACC First Team member himself, started. “It’s not easy to come in as a true freshman, especially in the ACC, and do what he’s done. I just want to give him perks, for sure.”

Schobel would know, a true freshman who started all 52 games a year ago for now-No. 2 Virginia Tech. And on he went, noting Hackenberg’s deliberate pace, confidence, poise and maturity beyond his years — keys to Tech’s success on Saturdays this season.

On this Tuesday, though, Schobel’s answer offered a glimpse of what, beyond raw talent, has catapulted the Hokies into elite company nationally, a spotlight not usually reserved for diamond-dwellers in Blacksburg.

The Hokies are tight off the field but play loose on it. Tech’s brotherhood — one of head coach John Szefc’s core program values — shines through more than ever with significant roster continuity and now that COVID-related restrictions have been lifted.

“The brotherhood that we have is a really tight-knit group,” All-ACC First Team outfielder Jack Hurley said. “It’s easy to play with friends. It makes it a lot more fun. But whenever you’ve got a closer group, maybe you play a little bit better, maybe a little less tight.

“You’re playing just for fun — and especially when we’ve got a bunch of good players out there. You know somebody’s going to pick you up if you don’t have your best stuff; somebody [else] will bring theirs.”

Tech’s bond, one which has only strengthened over the course of a historic season, was forged in the preseason thanks to lessons learned from last year’s COVID-affected season, in which the Hokies finished 2-15 in conference play.

“This year, it’s been a lot more team-related things that we weren’t [able to do] last year because it still was in the middle of COVID,” Szefc said. “Technically, we were always forced to try and drive guys apart last year. It was like you were [only] together on the field. It was brutal, man.

“This year, it’s been a lot different. We were able to go and have dinners and barbecues and paintball outings. One of the things we did was get more use out of the stadium up top. We made that our lunch [area] there every day. We made them sit at the table and eat lunch and talk together. They weren’t on their phone. They weren’t eating lunch in 34 different areas around here. You’d think it wouldn’t make a difference, but I think it does.”

So too, evidently, does paintball. Szefc brought up the outing twice this week, and though the players were generally tight-lipped about the specifics — there was no consensus on the winner — the laughs from the players suggested the reprieve from the preseason grind was meaningful.

“They brought us up top [to the Weaver Center], and I think they were like, ‘Alright, wear something you don’t care gets dirty,’” outfielder Jack Hurley said. “So I think we all kind of had the idea we were all going to do something like that.

“But it was super fun and we headed over there in these minivans – it was like six or seven minivans. Then we had to get like 20 minutes away to this paintball place and it’s pretty much a free-for-all.”

“It was a very fun time,” Hackenberg said. “I remember some bumps and bruises from that as well."

“I just hid in the back,” Gavin Cross said, deadpan. “I just hang in the back and try to snipe people….I wasn’t trying to get hurt.”

Smart, considering Cross — Tech’s fourth All-ACC First Team nod — entered the season on the preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list for best amateur baseball player in the nation.

“We did team chemistry stuff like that all the time,” Hackenberg said. “We take the competition and bring it into daily competitions, which we did throughout the fall for points….It was a team bonding experience, for sure. But that was definitely a fun time indeed. We got to mess around and go at each other for a couple hours straight. It was just really fun.”

“It was just something that you might look back and forget about, but it was something that brought us a bit closer as a group,” Hurley said. “And even if it’s like 1% closer, it’ll pay off in the end.”

Good thing for Tech, since its togetherness was tested after losing five games in eight days in mid-March. Over that span, the Hokies were walked off twice in Atlanta — the latter of which came in the bottom of the 14th in the second half of a Sunday doubleheader — understandably looked sluggish in a 5-2 loss at James Madison on Tuesday and narrowly lost their home ACC opener to Pitt, 4-3, the next Friday.

With four straight ACC losses to open the 2022 campaign, Tech had lost 19 of its last 21 games against ACC competition dating back to last season. But since losing the series opener to Pitt, the Hokies are 30-5 (.857) overall and 19-5 (.792) in the ACC.

“We knew we had a good team coming into the year,” Cross said. “Started off slow. Like I said, sticking it together. I think a lot of us realized, ‘Hey, we got to turn this around. This is not who we are. We’re better than this.’

“And I think that comes onto the older guys — me, [Nick Biddison], Cade [Hunter], the older guys that know what we’re capable of. And we’ve had some really good improvements on the mound and really figured who we wanted to use and how they are used. That kind of changed the season for us after Georgia Tech.”

Schobel, a true sophomore who joined Cross as a Golden Spikes Award semi-finalist this week, has played through the highs and the lows of the last two seasons.

“The maturity level is definitely a lot different [this year],” Schobel said. “Last year, we had a lot of younger guys, which is fine. But this year, with everybody having an extra year under their belt, the mindset…[is] not letting it happen again and having that bad taste in our mouth from last year.

“I think just the maturity level of getting through rough patches and not roller-coastering through the season — we’re trying to stay level — is the biggest thing we made an adjustment on this year.”

So here the Hokies are, in uncharted territory for the program. Without precedent to look to for guidance heading into the postseason, all they have is themselves.

“Out of my three years here — and even my high school and travel-ball teams — this is the closest group I’ve been [in],” Cross said. “We kind of rag on each other and mess with each other, but it kind of makes us all better. All of us are really tight.

“We spend time off the field together, on the field. When we travel, we’re all together. We all want to be together; it’s not like we’re forced to be together. We enjoy being with each other, and that’s kind of what makes us close and what makes us play hard together on the field.”