When Ray Hedrick became the baseball coach at Randolph-Macon College four years ago, it had been a while since the Yellow Jackets had qualified for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament.

Eight years to be exact. And even longer since R-MC had won it (1987). And much longer since the Yellow Jackets had gone to the NCAA tournament (1977).

How did Hedrick, a former player at the school, return R-MC to its former glory in just a few years? Local products.

Hedrick persuaded a number of top players from the area to attend the school in Ashland. The starting lineup for the team that went 4-0 in last week's ODAC tourney in Lynchburg was virtually an all-metro cast.

"I think Richmond arguably has some of the best baseball in the state," said Hedrick, a native of Springfield. "There's such a rich baseball tradition, particularly in Hanover, Chesterfield and Henrico counties. I felt like we needed to take care of our own backyard. Even going to Louisa, Prince George, Colonial Heights, King William, Caroline County.

"With no Division IIs to speak of and very few sanctioned community colleges, the choices for baseball players in Virginia are either Division I or Division III. A lot of those young men who didn't have an option to go Division I, I found were going to Farmville [Longwood], or Newport News [Christopher Newport], or Lynchburg or Fredericksburg [Mary Washington] for small-school baseball."

There were only three players from the area on Hedrick's first team in 2005, "so we knew we had some work to do," he said.

This year's club, which set a school record for wins in going 25-15, has 22 players with local connections.

That includes left fielder Mike Wallace (Powhatan High) and first baseman/designated hitter/pitcher Charlie Hartt (Douglas Freeman).

"Jeff Beck [Deep Run]. Bruno Gora [Mills Godwin]. I've been playing with them since I was 9 years old," said Hartt, who led the Yellow Jackets in homers (nine) and has knocked in 33 runs. "We do a lot of things together, including lifting on Friday nights, and we all have good relationships with each other."

"I think it helps with the chemistry, because we already all know each other," said Wallace, who led the team in hitting (.438) and RBI (40). "It makes it easier once we get on the field to know what everybody will do and how they'll react to certain situations."

Part of the attraction for the local contingent was the success R-MC began having under Hedrick, as the team made the ODAC tournament field in 2006 and each year since then.

"I think once we were able to establish that we did things the right way here, that we were going to run the program at a high level, I think the word spread," Hedrick said. "That we were about teaching the players and developing them as student-athletes."

Former Patrick Henry High right-hander Travis Beazley (drafted by Boston in the 38th round in 2006) also gave the school some recognition when he was chosen South Region pitcher of the year and received All-America status.

R-MC defied the odds this spring, since the Yellow Jackets were picked to finish fifth in the regular season and went into the tournament seeded third. Now they're headed to Danville for the NCAA regionals May 14-18, and more success could be on the horizon.
Contact John Packett at (804) 649-6313 or jpackett@timesdispatch.com.