Hokies hold ninth annual Baseball Night – VT hokiesports.com

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BLACKSBURG – Former Virginia Tech baseball player and current Pittsburgh Pirate minor league manager Wyatt Toregas was the featured guest at the Hokies’ ninth annual Baseball Night in Blacksburg, held Saturday evening, Feb. 6, in the West Side Stadium Club of Lane Stadium, and his speech and Q&A session was a hit with the crowd.

Toregas, who last played baseball at Tech in 2004 and was drafted by the Cleveland Indians after his junior season, recalled stories about playing for Coach Chuck Hartman, who was in attendance, and talked about his best friends to this day, a handful of former teammates, who were also on hand and sitting in the front row.

Other topics he brushed upon were the changes to the facilities and the players on the team – mentioning that this current team would certainly beat any of the teams he played on – some of his best minor and major league memories, like facing knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, and how he intends to come back to Tech and finish what he started here, by earning his degree.

“I’d really like to thank Wyatt for coming back to Blacksburg and being our special guest for Baseball Night,” head coach Patrick Mason said. “He said he hadn’t been back here in about five years and he was really impressed with the way things have changed since he was a player.

“I really enjoy when former players come back and see what we’ve been able to accomplish here and with their support, we can only make it better for those who will come through the program in the future.”

Along with Toregas, former players – now minor leaguers – Devin Burke, Joe Mantiply, Chad Pinder and Ronnie Shaban also came back and helped with supplying signed memorabilia for the silent auction and met and took pictures with some of those who attended the event.

Other proceedings on the night included the Chuck and Ellen Hartman Service Award recipient recognition – an award that goes to a person that has made significant contributions to the baseball program over the years – and that went to Associate Director of Major Gifts for Intercollegiate Athletics Ben Hill.

Mason began the evening by speaking to the crowd for about 10 minutes, thanking everyone who makes the evening and the baseball program a success and spoke about his 2016 team.

All proceeds of the program will go to Virginia Tech baseball and the Hokies’ efforts to improve various aspects of their program. The team opens the 2016 season next weekend with a three-game series at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina (click here for schedule).

See images from the night by checking out the photo gallery (on the right side of this page). Also, a short video highlighting the evening can be seen by clicking here. Check back to hokiesports.com later this week and next week for the press conference videos from the evening that included Mason and players.

For updates on Virginia Tech baseball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Baseball