Gameday Magazine July

An unlikely twist allows Hillcats SS to be in familiar territory THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Lynchburg, Va. - Minor League Base- ball is comprised of 256 cities through- out the world. For most players, these cities are unchartered waters, and often small markets that are a considerable distance from major metropolitan areas, with not much going on. For Hillcats shortstop Ernie Clement, that standard was squashed on June 23, when he was promoted to the Lynchburg Hillcats from Single-A Lake County. Clement is no stranger to Central Virginia. He played his college ball a little over an hour up the road in nearby Charlottesville, for the University of Virginia. He admits, though, that the Hillcats were a team he knew nothing about. “I knew there was a professional team around where we played Liberty, so I knew they [the Hillcats] were there as a team but I really didn’t know much about them,” Clement said. “Once I joined Cleveland’s organization, I did know that Lynchburg was the only team outside of Ohio in the minors, so I was looking forward to getting back to the state of Virginia.” a star infielder for the Cavaliers. He started 61 games as a true freshman, helping lead the school to a College Baseball Championship in 2015. The Rochester, N.Y. native collected go- ahead hits in three of UVa’s 10 NCAA tournament wins that season. Over his three-year career with the Cavs, Clement finished with 745 at-bats, the While at UVa, Clement was

11th-most in school history. However, he never expected to end up in Virginia in the first place. “I was thinking about going the com- munity college route because I didn’t have any major division I offers coming out of high school,” Clement said. “The summer before my senior season I did a tournament down in Virginia and I guess I happened to do pretty well. The UVa coach was there and they had a guy back out at the last minute so they offered me a scholarship. I was at the right place at the right time, a little luck was involved, but I think it was meant to be.” Prior to UVa, Clement received offers from only Niagra and Radford. If he was going to go the Division I route, he knew it would have to be a really good academic school that had a well-regard- ed, established baseball program. The Cavaliers fit the bill. “It was amazing. I learned how to win there, said Clement. “It takes a lot. You have to really pay attention to the details, and that’s one of the biggest things in professional baseball. You have to hone in on team wins.” Clement said his experience Charlot- tesville helped prepare him for the big moment. “If you can treat everyday as if you’re on that big stage, once you get there it’s going to be normal and you can just go out and have fun.” the details. If you do that, it’ll help you be a team guy and have team at-bats and help get your

I was looking forward to getting back to the state of Virginia

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