By spending his first two college seasons as the Wahoos’ everyday third baseman, junior Zack Gelof has added his name to a very short, exclusive list of Virginia baseball players.
The Delaware native hasn’t missed a game in his two years, starting all 56 games at third base as a freshman in 2019 then all 18 last year before the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended the season. Since Brian O’Connor took over as the head coach in 2004, Gelof is just the third player to start every game of his first two seasons. Pavin Smith and Adam Haseley, who started all 128 games between the 2015 and 2016 seasons, were the other two.
Haseley missed one game as a junior in 2017. Smith played in all 59 that season, making him the only player of the O’Connor era to start every game over a three-year UVa career. Ryan Zimmerman also started all 174 games in his Virginia career, though he played for head coach Dennis Womack as a freshman in 2003.
Zimmerman, Smith, and Haseley were all top-10 picks in the MLB Draft.
Gelof is a career .321 hitter in a UVa uniform, with a .399 career on-base percentage and .472 slugging percentage. After hitting two home runs as a freshman, he was leading the Wahoos with five when last season end. He was also leading the ACC in slugging percentage (.746), total bases (47), and runs scored (24).
Entering his junior season, Gelof is ranked the No. 31 college prospect in the MLB Draft by D1Baseball.com and the No. 58 overall draft prospect by MLBPipeline.com.
“His workmanlike approach to every day has been impressive,” O’Connor said of his third baseman. “It doesn’t surprise me that he’s at the position he’s at right now, and the kind of player he is, because his intentions are good.”
“He’s a really good teammate,” Virginia’s skipper added. “He’s got all the qualities it takes to be successful, and he’s got skill. “
D1Baseball also has Gelof ranked fifth on its preseason list of the top 30 third basemen in the country entering the season. He’s one of three UVa infielders cracking the top 30 at their respective positions, with junior Nic Kent ranked 13th among shortstops, and sophomore Max Cotier at No. 23 among second basemen. Senior catcher Logan Michaels is also at No. 23 among college backstops.
Along with fourth-year Devin Ortiz at first, the Cavaliers enter this weekend’s opening series against UConn with all five regulars back from last year’s infield. Kent and Cotier were both in the lineup every day, with Kent starting all 18 games at shortstop and Cotier making 17 starts at second and one at designated hitter. Ortiz, meanwhile, started 17 games at first and Michaels made 16 starts behind the plate and one at DH.
Kent, a product of nearby St. Anne’s-Belfield, is a career .335 hitter at UVa. He shifted to shortstop last year after spending 2019 at second. At that spot, Kent became the first UVa position player to make first-team All-ACC as a freshman since 1973. His .337 batting average was second on the Hoos, while his 17 stolen bases led the team.
Kent and Cotier hit in the top two spots in the UVa lineup for all 18 games last season. Cotier batted .338 from the two-hole, with his four triples tied for the most in the country. He also tied a school record with five runs scored in a March 10th win against UMass Lowell, and finished tied for second on the team with 21 runs scored for the shortened season.
Kent and Cotier also bring value to the Cavaliers for their defense up the middle, according to O’Connor.
“That shows up every day,” he explained. “The importance of being able to pitch and play defense, because sometimes you run into a buzzsaw and runs can be at a premium. You’ve got to do that every day.”
Ortiz added his name to the UVa record book last season as well. Both of his home runs were grand slams, making him the fourth player in program history to hit two grand slams in a season. Once a two-way player with 22 career pitching appearances on his resume, Ortiz is now the Cavaliers’ primary first baseman, though O’Connor says the fourth-year has the versatility to play all four infield positions. Fellow senior Alex Tappen could also see time at first base this spring.
Michaels has been the Wahoos’ primary catcher since arriving from a Wisconsin junior college, with 55 starts behind the plate the past two seasons. He’s a .313 career hitter and was the fourth-hardest hitter to strike out in the ACC last year. O’Connor says senior Brendan Rivoli, who was recruited as a catcher but has made just two of his 83 starts behind the plate, has been spending the pre-season working as Michaels’ backup.
“You’ve got to be prepared in that position,” O’Connor said. “All of a sudden somebody goes down or something happens, you want the experience back there.”
Highly touted freshman Kyle Teel, who Prep Baseball Report ranked as the No. 16 high school prospect in the country in 2020 while Baseball America had him at No. 41 nationally, has worked behind Michaels and Rivoli at catcher. O’Connor said the lefty-swinging Teel could also see time at designated hitter.
“The kid can hit. He’s aggressive,” O’Connor said. “So he’s going to factor in at some point. We have a lot of veteran options, so he’s going to have to stay ready for when his opportunity comes.”
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