It’s been less than five months since Chris Pollard took over the job in Charlottesville and he has already put together a high-profile class with 14 of the 17 commits ranked inside the Perfect Game Top 500. The top of the class is led by a trio of shortstops, Will Yow, Bryant James, and Sal Garcia and two big arms with Wyatt Clatur and Sean Loggie. The class is rounded out with seven more arms, a pair of catchers, and a couple more position players. 

Pollard wasted no time securing the commitments from in-state players Will Yow and Bryant James.  Yow is a fast-rising player who just recently jumped up to 81 nationally and first in the state of Virginia. The right-handed hitter is athletic with a compact swing and has shown the barrel feel at Jupiter and the 17U WWBA National Championship. James, the second ranked player, shows a mix of speed and athleticism with a 6.26 second 60-yard time and good bat speed in the box and all the tools defensively to stick at shortstop. Along with New Jersey’s Sal Garcia, a toolsy middle infielder with effortless bat speed. 

Recruiting coordinators Derek Simmons and Eric Tyler also wasted no time hitting the road and securing commitments from arms, Wyatt Clatur (Tennessee) and Sean Loggie (New Jersey).  Clatur, a right-handed pitcher, runs the fastball up in the low-90s and has topped out at 95 with a good change-up with nice fading action and good deception. Loggie, a left-handed pitcher, has a big 6-foot-6, 195-pound frame with feel to spin, running the fastball up to 93 and spinning it 2600+ RPM with a bullet slider in the mid-80s and spins 2500+ RPM. They round out their top 10 with Bo Lowrance and his high-level plate discipline and power upside that led to an OPS over 1.000 for the year. A stable of arms who all have topped out at 92+ and are ranked inside the Top 300 nationally. Featuring; Wes Peterson (California) with a power sinker and a curveball with good 11-5 shape and depth, Quinn Showalter (Tennessee) with a big 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame, Pierce Quinn (Maryland) who spins it well with the fastball at 2700 RPMs and a 12-6 hammer at 2900+ RPMs and a short, hard slider at 2700+ RPMs, and Griffin Loy (Kentucky) who features a slider with late break and sharp bite at 2800+ RPMs. 

It's easy to see that Pollard and staff went after players with athleticism and outlier traits on both sides of the ball and it will be exciting to see what this class can accomplish when they set foot on campus to help supplement a team looking to host their third straight Regional and get their first National Championship victory since 2015.