Morey comes on for Cavs

Mother knows best.

Well, at least in the Morey household.

Following in the footsteps of his mom by matriculating at University of Virginia, sophomore Robert Morey spurned North Carolina, the alma mater of his father.

That decision two years ago has started paying huge dividends for Virginia’s baseball program.

Out of options due to weather-related issues, the right-handed pitcher was thrust into the starting rotation for the series finale at Georgia Tech on April 12.

Morey did not have a chance to develop butterflies about making his first league start against the Yellow Jackets. The Virginia Beach native learned at the team hotel late Saturday evening after a miraculous ninth-inning rally lifted Virginia past Georgia Tech.

“It was almost better that way because I didn’t have time to get nervous about anything,” Morey said. “I was just thinking that I had a job to do. Obviously, you want to have a quick first inning and have the momentum swinging your way out the gate.”

He did just that before the two team’s bullpens battled to a result that will stick with Morey for an eternity. The teams finished tied.

“I don’t really have any words for how that one finished,” Morey chuckled. “We ran into that problem with the Miami game here. It is just the travel policy. That’s the way it goes at times.”

Morey built off his first league start, hurling 7.2 innings of scoreless baseball at Boston College. En route to blanking the Eagles, something no other pitcher has done, he fanned a career-best 12 batters.

“It didn’t feel like it at all,” Morey said. “That was the thing. Somebody told me that and I didn’t really believe them.

“The game was just moving so fast and I was just focusing on hitting my pitches one pitch at a time and one inning at a time.”

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said it may have been his team’s best performance this season, one that includes 32 wins.

“He was in complete command,” the skipper said. “He had command of all of his pitches. It was a dominating. It is probably the most dominating performance that we have had on the mound all year.”

Having been so masterful, a buzz around Virginia’s fan base centered on where the youngster came from.

“Last year, we had a great pitching staff,” said Morey, who finished with a 6.51 ERA in 16 appearances last year. “We had Jacob Thompson and we had Pat McAnaney right there and my best usage was coming out of the bullpen.”

Morey, of course, is not the same pitcher.

“I have matured so much since last year that luckily I got the opportunity from coach [O’Connor],” said Morey, “and I was fortunate to capitalize.”

It helped, Morey added, that he was able to spend last summer playing in the New England Collegiate League for the Newport (R.I.) Gulls.

“It was a chance for me to get away and reflect,” he said. “I was pitching late in the games, but I got my throwing work in when I needed to. Stepping away and being able to look back, I was learning more about the game instead of just throwing, throwing, throwing.

“That helped me a ton. Coming in this year, I felt so much more confident.”

O’Connor has witnessed it firsthand.

“He has had always had really great stuff, but he would tell you that he hasn’t been as consistent as he would have liked,” O’Connor said. “Sometimes when you give a player an opportunity they capture the opportunity and he has certainly done that.

“His two starts and his two relief appearances prior to that have been as good as you can pitch.”

Morey’s teammates have seen this type of dominance in the making.

Possessing a fastball that topped out at 95 miles per hour at Georgia Tech, the former Cape Henry Collegiate star can overpower batters.

“Ever since I faced him when I first got here I said, ‘That kid has some good stuff,’” Virginia sophomore Phil Gosselin said. “He probably has the best stuff on the team. He has a great curveball and a great slider. I think it was just a matter of him getting some confidence.

“His first couple of innings at Georgia Tech went well and it just grew from there. Confidence is really everything in baseball. It is such a mental sport. You saw what it can do for Robert. It has brought out all the talent that he really has. He has stepped up big time for us.”

Morey’s emergence, coupled with Matt Packer’s newfound success on Tuesday against VCU as a starter, has given Virginia ample options heading into the final 11 regular-season games.

“Even my freshman year, we really didn’t really have one solid starter at times,” Packer said. “This year, we have four or five. That could be pretty impressive.”

Morey knows, however, that his role can be changed at any point with that depth on the mound.

“That is the great thing about this team,” he said. “We are so competitive on the field and we are so close within this team. A spot can be open at any time.”

Luckily, Morey has logged only 30 innings to date, leaving him fresh for the stretch run.

“The most important time of the year is late in the year, the postseason,” Morey said. “I feel good and my arm feels great. I am ready to go out there for the next month.”