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20 CAVALIER CORNER BY SCOTT FITZGERALD W hen All-American shortstop Griff O'Ferrall was going through the early stages of the recruiting process in high school, he knew that he wanted to stay close to his hometown of Richmond, Va. Fortunately, the Commonwealth of Virginia features a bevy of collegiate institutions that play a high caliber of baseball, including Brian O'Connor's program that has made six visits to college baseball's ultimate destination, Omaha, Neb. The six trips to the College World Series have all come since 2009, tied for the second most of any program in the country in that span. There was only one problem, UVA hadn't called. "UVA was the last school to recruit me and I think I might have been the last commit of our class," O'Ferrall said. In hindsight, that's almost hard to believe, considering that O'Ferrall started every single game as a first-year and second-year in college, 123 straight to be exact. Take it a step further, he's been at the top of the UVA lineup, batting leadoff in all but one of those 123 games. "Coming into UVA, I didn't have any expecta- tions, if I was going to play or play shortstop, I didn't know anything," O'Ferrall said. "I just came in with the mindset, I was going to come in, work as hard as I can, and whatever happens, happens." UVA may have been late to the O'Ferrall party but they certainly didn't swing and miss when finally landing the 2020-21 Virginia Baseball Gatorade Player of the Year. O'Ferrall was a multi- sport athlete in high school at St. Christopher's, a trademark characteristic for student-athletes in O'Connor's program for the past 20 years. O'Ferrall's ties to the gridiron begin with his current Cavalier teammate Jay Woolfolk. The two played against one another in football and base- ball since seventh grade and have finally joined forces in the third base dugout at the Dish. The two signal-callers squared off in the 2019 VISAA state championship game, a topic that still raises playful debates in the Cavalier clubhouse. The LEADOFF LEADOFF MAN MAN Griff O'Ferrall Went From Under The Radar To Top Of The Heap