Virginia Stars Griff O'Ferrall, Ethan Anderson Selected By Baltimore In MLB Draft

When Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan Anderson came to Charlottesville three years ago, they joined a resurgent Virginia baseball program fresh off its first College World Series appearance since winning the 2015 National Championship. The duo helped make sure that 2021 run turned into sustained success once again for the Hoos.

Over the next three seasons, the junior class led the way to a 135-51 record (.725 win percentage), the best by an ACC program during that span and two trips to the College World Series. O’Ferrall and Anderson contributed in a big way to those accomplishments and now their individual talents have turned into Major League Baseball Draft opportunities. The Orioles selected O’Ferrall with the No. 32 pick and Anderson with the 61st pick on Sunday. They also took UNC’s Vance Honeycutt at No. 22.

“We’re extremely excited about this group,” said Matt Blood, the Orioles’ vice president of player development and domestic scouting. “We’ve got three guys that are quality baseball players with a lot of skills and also incredible makeup. All three of these guys are players that their coaches rave about on and off the field. And so not only did we get some high-level baseball players, but we also got some really good people.”

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor commented regularly about the junior class impact this spring, noting that “they have imparted their wisdom of what our baseball program is about, and that’s where it starts; it’s about the standards that we have in our program.”

O’Ferrall certainly fits the description there. He started every game of his career at shortstop and went on to be a two-time first team All-ACC honoree, just the ninth player in the O’Connor era to accomplish that feat. He also became UVA’s first winner of the Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the top shortstop in the nation.

O’Ferrall notched 92 hits this past season, joining Virginia legend Ryan Zimmerman as the only Cavaliers with multiple 90-hit seasons. He had the most career hits (270) and runs scored (196) of any three-year player in program history.

Anderson earned first team All-ACC honors this season while splitting time at catcher and designated hitter. He played first base earlier in his career as well. Anderson started all 63 games this season and hit .331 with 40 RBI and 67 runs scored this past season. He reached base safely in his final 35 games.

Anderson finished his Virginia career in the top 10 of multiple categories. He stands third in program history with 58 doubles, seventh (tie) with 28 home runs, ninth with 173 runs scored, and 10th with 373 career total bases. He set the single season record with 26 doubles in 2023.

The MLB Draft continues on Monday with more UVA players hopeful to be selected.