Former UVA pitcher and Major League Baseball player Sean Doolittle made national headlines last year when sporting events were shuttered, and he reminded us that “sports are the reward for a functioning society.”
If that’s true, the University of Virginia is functioning just fine.
Since March, UVA’s student-athletes have earned four national championships (women’s swimming and diving, men’s lacrosse, and individual titles in women’s tennis and track and field). The women’s soccer team made it to the College Cup semifinals and the rowing team finished fifth in the NCAA Championships. The four female swimmers Virginia sent to the Olympics each returned to Grounds with a medal, and several of the UVA alumni who were in Tokyo added to the count.
And then there was the baseball team. Circling the drain with a 4-12 ACC record at the beginning of April, the Hoos improbably earned their way to the College World Series in June.
Along the way, we got to know the team’s relief pitcher, Stephen Schoch, who became one of college baseball’s greatest characters thanks to an ESPN interview about refusing a Dippin’ Dots bribe: “I heard a fan offer free Dippin’ Dots if I blew it, Schoch said after a dramatic regional win. “The price of Dippin’ Dots, with inflation, is just unreal. So, for a brief moment, I was like, ‘Damn, Dippin’ Dots sound good.’ But also I thought in the back of my head, we win today, we win [tonight], we’re gonna be here another day. That’s more per diem. So that means I can buy my own Dippin’ Dots and be a winner.”
When asked if anything makes him nervous, Schoch, a 24-year-old, sixth-year graduate student who throws sidearm and is known to punch himself in the head while on the mound, said, “Caves, mainly.” And then, looking around the baseball field, he added, “Nothing really. I don’t see any caves out here.”
Virginia baseball coach Brian O’Connor told a Richmond radio station that Schoch is “an interesting cat. …He’s been around a few blocks a few times, and he brings a looseness, a belief, a confidence level that you can do anything.”
Alas, Schoch and co. were eliminated from the College World Series by No. 2-seed Texas, but the closer came through one more time for the Cavs: A large box filled with three massive bags of Dippin’ Dots (cookies and cream, rainbow, and banana split flavors) was delivered to Schoch to share with his teammates.
As for baseball, he said it’s “just a game. There’s gonna be way harder things in life. I think I’m a cool guy. My dogs think I’m awesome. My teammates like me, and my friends like me.” Reward enough for anyone, if you ask us.