Cavs eye Omaha return

There was a buzz around the hallways of Rosenblatt Stadium.

Coaches and members of the national media spoke in similar fashions, raving about how young Virginia’s baseball team would be in 2010.

One scribe even predicted that the Cavaliers, on the heels of the program’s first-ever trip to the College World Series, would open the season in preseason polls as high as the top spot.

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor is not interested in such notoriety, instead focusing on the position battles that will unfold in months as fall practice opens.

While the Cavaliers likely will need to replace only one starter — starting pitcher Andrew Carraway — the incoming recruiting class should rank among the best in the O’Connor era. Four players from that class were selected in the first-year player draft, but none went in the first five rounds.

Brandon Kline, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-hander, was the first UVa recruit to be chosen, going in the sixth round to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox also took 5-foot-10, 180-pound shortstop Reed Gragnani from in the 27th round, while the New York Yankees selected 5-foot-9, 168-pound shortstop Stephen Bruno one round earlier.

The Cavaliers’ fourth draftee, third baseman Rob Amaro, was a 40th-round pick by the Phillies, where his brother, Ruben Amaro Jr., is general manager.

“It is exciting to think about 95 percent of our club will be back next year,” O’Connor said. “We have one heck of a recruiting class coming in that I think will add to what we have right now.

“I think the competition in our program will be the best that it has ever been.”

With much talent in the fold, however, much is expected.

“There will be expectations on this team next year that this program has never had before,” the skipper said. “As a program, these players need to accept that and understand the responsibility that comes with that and not stop working and remember what got us to this point. I think we are in a great position.”

In theory, having won its first regional, super regional and experienced a trip to Omaha should help.

“I do think the hardest thing is getting here the first time,” O’Connor said. “It doesn’t make it any easier later on, but you understand the little things that it takes to get to Omaha.

“Now it is not a distant dream. It is a reality and that’s the difference.”

How good can Virginia be next year?

“It is scary to think about that,” said Carraway, one of four seniors leaving the program. “You have pitching depth and some guys that have not played much during the postseason that are getting better all the time.”

For now, O’Connor must balance his roster. That has become even more important based on NCAA limitations to roster size.

Balancing that will not be easy, as some players may be fighting for their baseball lives in fall workouts.

This summer also matters, as players will be scattered across the country in wood-bat leagues.

“These players will go away and play this summer and get bigger and stronger,” O’Connor said, “and, hopefully, we have an even better ballclub next year.”

All signs point to that.