Despite having three Baylor School graduates occupying prominent roles on his highly regarded baseball squad, Virginia coach Brian O'Connor isn't ready to change his program's nickname from the Cavaliers to the Red Raiders.
At least not yet.
"If every Red Raider is like these three guys," O'Connor said, "we'll take a whole team of them."
Junior second baseman Henry Godbout, sophomore right fielder Henry Ford and freshman pitcher Tomas Valincius are providing optimism galore for Virginia, which is No. 2 in the D1 Baseball preseason poll behind Texas A&M. Godbout and Ford have earned All-America status after their scorching 2024 seasons, while O'Connor is not hiding his praise for the left-handed Valincius and his prospects of contributing way sooner than later.
All three were boarding students at Baylor, and the bond that began in Chattanooga under the former co-coaching dynamic of Greg Elie and Mike Kinney has only strengthened in Charlottesville.
"When we all get together, we still talk about Coach Kinney and Coach Elie a lot," Ford said. "They had a big impact on us, and they definitely helped us a lot in our development. We'll still joke about some funny stories that happened on Baylor's baseball team."
Said Godbout: "This is a really cool thing for each of us. When we got to play with each other at Baylor, we kind of dreamed about this. This year we're going to actually live it."
The trio will have a unique season debut, as the Cavaliers open their 22nd spring under O'Connor on Friday afternoon against Michigan in Puerto Rico.
O'Connor guided Virginia to its first national championship in 2015, topping Vanderbilt in a rematch of the 2014 College World Series title series won by the Commodores. Being one of the elite eight teams to reach Omaha, Nebraska, has become an annual expectation, as the Cavaliers are embarking to achieve their fourth CWS trip in five years.
The Cavaliers became a national power under O'Connor before reigning national champ Tennessee did under Tony Vitello, but O'Connor said recruiting battles between the two have been rare and didn't come into play for the Baylor standouts.
"Godbout is from New York," O'Connor said. "Valincius is from Chicago, and Ford is from here in Charlottesville, so it's not like they grew up as Tennesseeans. They were transplants, and Ford went to Baylor after he had committed to us.
"That makes it different compared to a player who was born and raised in Tennessee."
TALENTED TRIO
Godbout arrived at Baylor as a sophomore in 2019, so his first baseball season with the Red Raiders was halted by the outbreak of the coronavirus.
His next two springs were much more enjoyable, as the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder was part of Baylor's 2021 state championship team, and his senior year in 2022 yielded a .510 batting average with nine home runs and 35 RBIs. He was recognized as an All-American and as Tennessee's player of the year, but his overall Baylor experience is what he savors most from that time.
"I just thought it was amazing to be on that campus," Godbout said. "It's a pretty special place year round, and it was fun being a part of the Southern culture for the first time, because I really didn't have any kind of previous experience with that — the Baylor-McCallie stuff and the school pride.
"It was an amazing experience."
Godbout made 51 starts as a Virginia freshman in 2023 and erupted last season, when he hit a team-high .372 with 18 doubles, nine home runs and 47 RBIs. He was also a consistency machine at second, committing four errors out of 224 chances in the field.
"He immediately came in and made an impact," O'Connor said. "Both of the teams he has played on have been to Omaha, and he's put himself in the position to where he's one of the great players in the country. He's going to be a nice leader on our team, and I believe he's going to drive in more runs and have more extra-base hits.
"A stat that a lot of people don't know about Henry is he's one of the five toughest guys to strike out in college baseball. His bat-to-ball skills and his competitive spirit with two strikes is really elite."
Ford spent two years at Baylor, hitting .422 as a junior and .439 as a senior. The 6-5, 220-pounder hit .336 in his first season with the Cavaliers and set freshman records with 17 homers and 69 RBIs.
In a dramatic 14-11 comeback win over North Carolina last April, Ford hit three home runs, including a grand slam, a game-tying shot and the go-ahead blast.
"He made as big of an impact as any freshman has in two decades in this baseball program," O'Connor said. "On day one and in game one last year, he was hitting in the middle of the lineup, and he stayed in the middle of the lineup the whole year. His run production was outstanding, and he's just mature way beyond his years as a player.
"It's a cool story, because he's the local boy who went away for high school before coming back."
Ford played first base last season, and moving to right field has been no small adjustment.
"Your jumps and routes and angles that you take to the ball are everything," Ford said. "Your throws are so much different, too, because it's such a longer throw. The throws involve using your legs more, and it all just comes with reps and the more live balls you see coming off the bat."
Valincius, a 6-2, 210-pounder, has already proven his value to the Cavaliers not long after going 8-0 with a 1.14 earned run average as a Baylor senior. He was honored as Tennessee's Gatorade Player of the Year.
"The expectations for him are high, because he's earned that in his five months on campus," O'Connor said. "Tomas Valincius is as good of a left-handed pitcher you can get to college who doesn't sign out of high school. He had those opportunities but decided college was the best route for him. His stuff is really good, and he's an absolute bulldog on the mound.
"He is going to pitch a ton as a freshman."
THE PIPELINE
O'Connor's familiarity with Baylor began in 2007, when he and longtime Cavaliers associate head coach Kevin McMullan signed Tyler Massey, the son of former of Baylor football coach Phil Massey.
Massey never made it to Charlottesville, choosing to sign with the Colorado Rockies after being selected in the 14th round of the 2008 draft.
"We got to tour the whole campus and really got to know what Baylor was about," O'Connor said. "Obviously there was a long gap there between Massey and Godbout, but we had always been very familiar with what Baylor offers. We have a really unique situation right now, and it speaks to the school at Baylor and also to the level of the baseball coaching at Baylor. That's where it starts.
"Tied to that is the academic reputation at Baylor aligns with our university, so the connection there of really high-level baseball and the academic rigor that Baylor provides really prepares for what they're going to encounter at the University of Virginia."
Godbout and Ford are about to encounter some of the most important months of their lives, as both are eligible for the 2025 Major League Baseball draft and have already been pegged as potential first-round selections. Ford will be eligible after his sophomore season due to his 21st birthday being July 27th.
Last summer's MLB draft contained two former Baylor players, Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz (No. 4 to Oakland) and Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore (No. 8 to the Los Angeles Angels), going within the first 10 picks.
"You hear this a lot, but it really is just about taking one step at a time and having a great season," Godbout said. "Our focus is always about getting to Omaha and winning games, and that's all I'm worried about. All the other stuff will take care of itself. I'm just blessed to get to play another year of college baseball at an amazing program."
Those sentiments are especially echoed by Ford, who grew up attending Cavaliers baseball games.
"I'm really just trying to enjoy it all," Ford said. "My dream since I was four years old was to play at the University of Virginia and to win a national championship, and that's all we care about. The individual stats and the individual accolades are very secondary. The primary focus is to win the national championship.
"This is the best university in the country, and it's in my hometown. There is no place I would rather be."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.
Baylor School trio hoping to help Virginia supplant Vols as baseball champs | Chattanooga Times Free Press
