Confident Woolfolk hungry for more postseason success

By Jerry Ratcliffe

About this time a year ago, Jay Woolfolk experienced a baseball rebirth of sorts.

He had struggled most of the 2024 season as a bullpen pitcher and lost his confidence. Woolfolk later explained that he had often felt “one pitch away” from getting over the hump, but couldn’t quite overcome that obstacle.

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor put on his Dr. Phil hat during a late-season, one-on-one meeting with his frustrated hurler and got things straightened out. During the meeting, O’Connor handed Woolfolk a report with the pitcher’s statistical data included and instructed the then-junior right-hander to rip up the report and throw it in the trash basket.

“Starting over, fresh start,” O’Connor told Woolfolk.

The Chesterfield native took the chat to heart, went out and gave Florida State his best effort and impressed the coaches enough that he earned a start against Mississippi State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Charlottesville. Woolfolk mastered the Bulldogs, then repeated with another clutch performance against Kansas State, helping send the Cavaliers to Omaha for the College World Series.

While Woolfolk suffered an injury in Omaha, he had conquered his demons.

Rated the No. 250 prospect in the Major League Baseball Draft, Woolfolk wasn’t picked in the first 10 rounds (315 picks) and promptly decided to return to UVA for his senior year.

Sometime late tonight, Woolfolk will start on the mound for the Cavaliers in the ACC Tournament in Durham, and he’ll be ready to go. Seems as if late-season and certainly postseason baseball suits him well.

“I just believe it’s part of Jay’s DNA, it’s who Jay Woolfolk is,” O’Connor said of his senior starter. “He’s a competitor. He loves to be in the big moments and when he does, more times than not, he steps up.”

Heading into tonight’s game against No. 14-seed Boston College (first pitch scheduled for 9 p.m.), Woolfolk stands at 4-2 on the season with 12 starts and carries a 4.26 ERA, having pitched 63.1 innings. He’s given up 59 hits, struck out 73 and walked only 23. His 82 career appearances are tied for seventh-most in UVA history.

“This kid has had some challenges in his time here,” O’Connor said. “Jay is a winner. Nobody’s career just keeps going up and up and up, but it’s at the highest level of all time.”

Woolfolk has been Virginia’s Friday-night starter all season and has been solid. Just as he stepped up toward the end of last season, he’s done it again down the stretch this season.

The former Benedictine player said last year’s finish has carried over to this season, particularly during the second half of the season.

“Mostly with my confidence,” Woolfolk said before the team departed for Durham. “Just having that mindset of going out there and filling up the [strike] zone, not worrying about anything else, controlling what I can control on the mound, and that’s helped me transition to this season.”

He also learned how to deal with pressure last season, transitioning from the bullpen — when he would enter the game, often inheriting base runners and sometimes in sticky situations — to the starter’s role. That’s all part of managing a game.

When Virginia’s backs were against the wall in March and the team was mired in a 12-11 record, veterans like Woolfolk on the team, guys who had been through tough times and overcame them, guys who had been to Omaha, led the younger players out of the wilderness, kept their confidence up and didn’t reach for the panic button.

Woolfolk said that everyone sticking together was the key in fighting their way out of their funk. He called it “just playing Virginia baseball, playing playoff baseball.”

“We had big expectations (Virginia was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally in one preseason poll), but all we needed was to get back to playing Virginia baseball,” Woolfolk said. “That’s what we’re doing right now. We’re playing for each other, for the program. We weren’t trying to change what we were doing, just play Virginia baseball.”

As a result, UVA has won 20 of its last 26 games, 12 of its last 14, and enters the ACC event as one of the hottest teams in the nation.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Woolfolk said. “We’re going to play in Durham as if we need to get into the NCAA Tournament. We’re going to play it one game at a time until the selection show (Sunday).”

While some may not like tonight’s late start, in which the 9 p.m. schedule could be backed up if any of the three earlier games fall behind or are delayed, Woolfolk doesn’t worry about such things.

“I know my mom doesn’t like it, but I get to sleep all day,” Woolfolk chuckled.

“I’m just going out and trying to fill up the zone and let my defense play,” he said. “I have a great defense behind me and trust them. I know our offense is going to score, especially how hot we are right now, so I’m trying to limit the other team’s offense and that’s how I’ve been pitching.”