COLLEGE BASEBALL: Grimm set for College World Series

Shortly after Justin Grimm’s baseball career at Virginia High came to an end last June in the quarterfinals of the VHSL Group AA state tournament, VHS head coach Mark Daniels imparted some advice to his star pitcher.

“I told him that bigger things were ahead for him,” Daniels said.

Those words proved to be prophetic.

Grimm will be in Omaha, Neb. the next few days, competing in the College World Series for the University of Georgia and in the process becoming the first ex-Bearcat to do so.
Georgia (41-23-1) faces top-ranked Miami tonight at 7 p.m. on the first day of the event.

“Oh man, it’s an exciting feeling,” Grimm said earlier this week. “I didn’t really expect to come in and go to the College World Series. I can’t wait for it.”

Since completing a senior year at Virginia High in which he went 9-1 with a 1.48 ERA, Grimm has had an interesting journey. He was a 13th-round pick by the Boston Red Sox in last June’s amateur draft and after mulling over the decision for much of the summer, shunned the pro game and decided to take his skills to the collegiate level and the Southeastern Conference.

“It’s been great playing for this program,” Grimm said. “We’ve really got a great team and a lot of talent. I’ve met a lot of great ballplayers and I’m really glad I chose to come to college. I’ve gotten physically stronger and bigger. I’ve struggled a lot, but I’ve also learned a lot.”

Grimm is 0-1 with a 10.38 ERA in 18 games (seven starts) for the Bulldogs this season and has taken on a number of different roles, while splitting time between the bullpen and the starting rotation. The 6-foot-4, 170-pound freshman right-hander has been used in short relief, long relief, has finished off games and even came into some contests to face just a batter or two.

“I’ve had some good outings and I’ve had a lot of bad outings,” Grimm said. “The main thing I need to learn is a little more command and getting ahead in the count. I also need to work on a change-up as well and that will help as far as keeping hitters off-balance.
“I would have liked to have contributed a lot more, but I’ve learned a lot. It’s been an up and down ride. I’ll work a lot in the offseason and figure out what I have to do make myself better.”

Grimm has gotten some uplifting words from his teammates, including All-American shortstop Gordon Beckham.

“I’ve hung out with him and some of my teammates at his apartment and he told me that I had the best stuff on the team, I just need to learn to execute,” Grimm said. “That really gave me a lot of
confidence. We have a lot of good talent here and it’s a pleasure playing with them.”

Grimm has received plenty of phone calls and text messages this week from people back in Bristol. Among the well-wishers have been Daniels and many of his former VHS teammates.

“He is having a ball and living a players dream right now,” Daniels said. “I hope they win it. You better believe that we will be glued to the TV whenever Georgia plays.”

Meanwhile, Grimm got a heads up from his current coach — Georgia’s David Perno — before the team departed for Rosenblatt Stadium.

“He told me be ready to go to Omaha,” Grimm said. “He said we’re going to need all the arms we can get.”
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