You can’t talk about Clement’s clutch hits and highlight-reel defensive plays without recognizing his carefree approach to life, on and off the diamond.
“He felt like he was Superman,” O’Connor said.
“He was not scared to do anything,” Haseley said.
“Everyone loved him,” Smith said.
One annual challenge for O’Connor over his successful 19 seasons at UVA has been trying to piece together a gifted roster that smoothly blends a range of backgrounds and personalities.
A clubhouse full of the “same kind of guys,” he said, can feel robotic and stale.
UVA’s 13-member 2014 recruiting class, which ranked as the nation’s second-best by Baseball America at the time, was headlined by Smith and Haseley. One a first baseman (Smith) and the other a center fielder and pitcher (Haseley), the native Floridians were similar in several ways beyond an upbringing in the same sunny state and spots among Perfect Game’s top 150 high school players in the country. Smith and Haseley were modest, quiet-natured talents who thrived in structured environments.
Clement’s pre-UVA résumé couldn’t have looked more different. He was a hockey player from snowy Rochester, New York, who was also a three-time all-state baseball player. The lean 6-foot, 160-pound shortstop was considering baseball opportunities with Niagara University and Monroe Community College before he drew the eye of Cavalier assistant coach Kevin McMullan at a camp and was offered a scholarship to UVA.