UVA gains Duke LHP; loses two commits to O’Connor

By Jerry Ratcliffe

The merry-go-round between Duke, Virginia and Mississippi State continued on Tuesday when another Blue Devil announced that he would follow former coach Chris Pollard to Virginia. Meanwhile, former UVA coach Brian O’Connor flipped commitments from two Cavalier recruits by convincing them to join him in Starkville.

Former Duke pitcher Max Stammel, who made 18 appearances as a left-handed freshman pitcher, announced he would transfer to UVA. Stammel is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound hurler from Dallas, Texas (Highland Park H.S.).

The rising sophomore was rated the No. 19 left-handed pitcher in Texas his senior season at Highland Park and was named a Perfect Game All-American. In three years of high school ball, he struck out 211 batters and was a Texas High School All-Star his senior season.

As a freshman at Duke this past season, Stammel had one start, but his other 17 appearances were out of the bullpen. In 22 innings pitched, he posted 25 strikeouts.

Down in Starkville, Miss., O’Connor flipped two previous UVA commitments, catcher Hunter Strohm and Noah Danza, a shortstop from New Jersey, who has another year of high school baseball ahead of him.