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JUNE 2022 19 where he was batting .315 with 4 home runs and 26 RBI through May 31. It's good to be a baseball player with the last name Gelof these days. THE OPPORTUNITY Sometimes all a baseball player needs is an opportunity. As a first-year, Jake Gelof struggled to find a role on a stacked 2021 UVA roster that had preseason expectations of being a national title contender. After all, it was his brother that was entrenched at his primary position, third base. Gelof played sparingly over the first 39 games of his rookie season, seeing action in 14 games with five starts. Opportunity finally arose with an injury to Devin Ortiz late in the season that prevented the then-fourth-year from occupying his normal post at first base. Insert Gelof. Gelof took the opportunity and ran with it. The wide-eyed first-year soon found himself in a position that he had never played with any sort of regularity on a team poised to make a run to college baseball's biggest stage. Gelof went on to start the final 24 games of the season, a stretch during which UVA went 16-8, reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament for the first time under the championship's current format, qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2017 season, reached the program's seventh super regional and made it to Omaha for the fifth time since 2009 — tied for the second-most CWS appearances of any program in college baseball. In the 24-game span, Gelof flourished, collecting 24 hits, blasting 4 home runs and driving in 13 runs. He earned a spot on the Columbia Regional All-Tournament Team after a breakout performance in an elimination game against Jacksonville, when he went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a home run. His 8 total bases tied a UVA single- game NCAA Tournament record. INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE The trials, tribulations and successes of his first season of college baseball were invaluable to Gelof, but the work didn't stop. Like most players in the sport, the next stop would be a collegiate summer league where players break off into different cor- ners of the country looking to refine their skills for the next season. For Gelof, his assignment was in Kalamazoo, Mich., to play for the Ka- lamazoo Growlers of the Northwoods League. There, he continued to enjoy success. After just 111 at-bats in five months at UVA, Gelof racked up 119 more turns at the plate in 45 days for the Growlers. He batted a team-best .370 with 10 doubles, 5 home runs and 21 RBI. "It was definitely a grind," Gelof said. "That league has the most games of any collegiate summer league. It really prepared me for be- ing my own coach and to know what I really wanted to do at the plate." SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUNS UVA HISTORY Through May 31 Rk. Name (Year) HR Games 1. Brian Buchanan (1994) 22 54 2. Jake Gelof (2022) 19 55 3. Jon Benick (2001) 18 55 4. Jarrett Parker (2009) 16 65 4. Joe Koshansky (2004) 16 59 6. Mark Reynolds (2002) 15 57 UVA Multi-Home Runs Games in a Season (Since 2000) 4 — Jake Gelof (2022) 4 — Jon Benick (2001) 2 — Dan Street (2002) 2 — Mark Reynolds (2002) 2 — Alex Tappen (2022) " He's an aggressive hitter; he's got a lot of confidence, and thank the Lord he does because he's made a huge impact on our team this season. He's having one of the better offensive seasons in my time here." UVA HEAD COACH BRIAN O'CONNOR ON GELOF