Richmond a pipeline for Longwood

The Longwood University baseball team has nine players from five Richmond-area high schools. Three of those schools' baseball teams are coached by former Longwood standouts.

Longtime Lancers coach Charles "Buddy" Bolding mostly recruits in-state players. And he's found a bounty in the Richmond area.

"I'm a native Virginian, and I always thought that our baseball players were as good as anybody's in the country," he said. "It certainly doesn't hurt that they've played each other and know the strengths of the program and those kinds of things."

By signing so many local players, Longwood's baseball team has developed good chemistry.

"Baseball, whether people think so or not, a lot of it is chemistry," said Lancers junior third baseman Phil Cerreto, a former Midlothian High standout. "Everyone has their talents and they're good at stuff, but if you have great chemistry, that can go just as far sometimes as people with a lot of talent. We're really close on the team, so I think it brings our team together really well."

Junior outfielder David Smiy Jr., who starred at Matoaca High School, has been joined by two former Warriors - sophomore pitcher Garrett Lythgoe and freshman pitcher/infielder Matt Gwaltney. Smiy said being able to play with them is a plus.

"Any time you get to play [in college] with guys that you played with back in high school, it's a major advantage," he said. "You played with them for multiple years, so you know kind of their tendencies and stuff."

Dustin Sollars, a freshman from Cosby, said having already played with and against some of the guys on the team has made the transition a bit easier.

"Coming in as a freshman, you don't really know what to expect, like with teammates," said Sollars, who was coached at Cosby by Tim Lowery, another former Lancer. "But I've known about five or six guys on the team before I even got here."

Sollars' suitemate is Gwaltney, with whom he played AAU baseball.

"It was a lot better coming in than if I were going out of state not knowing anybody," Sollars said. "They've been through the same stuff you have. They know you. There's no awkwardness meeting each other. It's just like carrying over straight from high school."

Sophomore Brant Jones (Monacan) agreed.

"I like it because you get to know them better and you already know them coming into school. It helps with the camaraderie and chemistry."

Cerreto's high school coach was former Lancer Scott Hueston, and Fred Stoots coached Smiy. Hueston and Stoots seemed to offer the same advice.

"When I was talking to [Hueston] about the school," said Cerreto, "he was always like 'Whatever you do, you'll hit a ton.' And that's exactly what we do."

Smiy said: "[Stoots] just told me that coach is big on offense and smart players. He said be prepared."

The offensive training has paid off. Jones is batting .393 with seven home runs this season, Cerreto is batting .374 with eight homers and 50 RBI, and Smiy is batting .366. The Lancers are 26-20 heading into today's second-to-last game of the season.

While there are advantages to playing college baseball with players he already knows, Sollars and teammates have faced former high school teammates quite often this year.

Sollars (.286, 2 HRs, 22 RBI) has battled former Cosby teammates Jake Lowery (James Madison), Ronnie Shaban (Virginia Tech) and Tadd Bower (William and Mary).

After playing against Lowery, Sollars said, "At first it was a little weird seeing him on the other side and not in the same uniform as me. He had a pinch hit in the ninth inning and you know, you kind of hope he gets out because you want to win the game. But it was nice seeing him get a hit because we've been teammates for so long."

Smiy said it makes for a good rivalry.

"It makes it more fun competing against guys that maybe you played against in high school, and you're still playing against them now."

Contact Nicole Koussa at (804) 649-6554 or .