Collegiate Times

"Two of the top five players in the ACC, they're on base machines, they're athletic, they're good kids," Hughes said. "Those three kids have been invaluable to our program; great addition to a really young team that we had last year. They're a year older with a lot of experience, and to add those three older guys, it was the right thing to do."

Even though the three transfers are now highly regarded Division I players, Hughes maintains that luring them away from the comfort of California wasn't too difficult.

"A lot of the time on the west coast, they don't want to leave in high school," Hughes said. "When you get them in the junior college, they've been humbled a little bit by the recruiting process, and they're like, 'I don't care where I'm going, I just want to go to play at the highest level and reach my potential and go to a good school'."

With the instant success of junior college players comes the potential for them to also leave early.

Despite being drafted after a season at Moorpark, Domecus stayed in school, but he still has an eye on the upcoming draft.

"I'd love to get drafted again," he said. "I'd love to get drafted in a spot where I would want to go sign. At this point, I'm just not trying to worry about it ...I'm playing a game that I love, I've been playing it since I was two or three years old, and I'm basically getting paid since I've got a scholarship playing baseball.

"If I get drafted, that would be the optimal thing for me to happen. If I don't get drafted in a spot I like, I can come back to school next year, play baseball, finish my degree. It's basically a win-win for me."

Despite the risk of turnover, Hughes takes a calculated approach to taking on junior college players.

"We don't want to go JC every year because you don't build depth in your program, and it's a flip of the coin because you get those kids one year, and they get drafted because they're draft eligible or you get them for two years, and you keep turning your program over," Hughes said.

"We want to have some consistency so that's why we'll always recruit the incoming freshmen and try to have a good blend with the JC's, so that's kind of our recipe right now."

In addition to the three junior college transfers, freshman pitcher Clark Labitan hails from San Diego, Calif. Undersized at 5-foot-9 and overlooked by the California schools, Labitan ended up across the country to continue playing baseball.

"Honestly, Virginia Tech wasn't really an option for me," Labitan said. "I didn't really know anything about the school. The process was a little complicated for me. Size was a big deal. A lot of California schools didn't even look at me.

"I happened to go to a tournament in Georgia and (Coach) Turgeon happened to see me, and he really liked what I had. I came out here for a camp along with a teammate, Luke Erickson, and offered me a scholarship the next day right on the spot."

"He's going to be really good," Hughes said. "We've put him in a lot of situations because we've had some injuries to our bullpen and arms, but we've put that kid in a lot of situations that normal freshmen don't get put in ACC play out of the bullpen."

While all four players definitely miss the beach and the great weather, they have enjoyed their short time at Tech so far.

"Back in San Diego, colleges weren't a really big deal. Here, it's all about Virginia Tech or UVa. I love how you get all this attention, you feel like you're famous on this team," Labitan said. "You feel like if you go to this campus everyone knows you. Younger kids look up to you, older folks, and I like that the most. I've never been in that kind of environment before."

"I actually really love this campus," Domecus said. "This is one of those places where you walk on campus and you're a Hokie the first day you're here ... (It) doesn't matter that I'm from California, I'm a Hokie."

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