Cavalier Corner

BY GREG WATERS I T MIGHT SEEM ODD, but the glory of Virginia's magical run through the College World Series seventh months ago and an NCAA title is but a memory for the 2016 club. Asked if he had a chance to process the incred- ible accomplishment pitching coach Karl Kuhn said no. "I was shocked to hear it was seven months ago," he said. "It seems like yesterday; it really does. I don't know. I've never won one before, so I don't know. That would be nice. We'll try and shoot for that. "But no, I haven't sat back on the couch, crossed my legs and gone, 'Wow.' Not yet, I haven't." For the Cavaliers, it's a new season, a new team and the same old approach. That's the perspective Matt Thais said the 2016 edition brings. "Last year, that said a lot," the third-year catcher admitted. "That being said, everything that hap- pened last year was awesome. The guys on that team will never forget it and with that it's a new year, 2016. "In the fall, we realized we had a completely dif- ferent team than last year, and no one was going to give us credit for what we did last year when it was a new year. It's a totally different season." Two fourth-years — Kenny Towns and Thomas Woodruff — are gone, and third-years Nathan Kirby, Brandon Waddell, Joe McCarthy, Josh Sborz and John LaPrise have departed early for profes- sional baseball. But the expectations won't change for the program and players like Thaiss, third- year pitcher Connor Jones, fourth-year pitcher/ outfielder Kevin Doherty and third-year infielder Daniel Pinero. Baseball America editor John Manuel said, "Even when you lose the Waddells, the Kirbys, the Sborz, the Towns … those kinds of guys leave, but they always seem to get replaced for the Cavaliers." For those who cover the game and predict win- ners and losers, the defending national champions aren't considered the 2016 favorite to win a second title — the Cavaliers were listed No. 4 in Baseball America's preseason poll. However, that doesn't seem to faze Brian O'Connor, the three-time Na- tional Coach of the Year and owner of an NCAA- best 342 wins since 2009. "I don't know what to think of it because we've never been in the scenario before where some- BASEBALL PREVIEW TURNING THE PAGE The Defending National Champions Are Looking Forward, Not Back

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