FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University sophomore baseball pitcher Brandon Vick/Newport News is this week’s Longwood Male Athlete of the Week. The lanky left-hander (6-5, 205) started on the mound at High Point on April 6, pitching 8-plus innings, scattering seven hits and three runs, one earned, with two walks and three strikeouts en route to earning the win during a 7-3 victory. For the season, Vick is 3-3 with a 3.61 earned run average over 47.1 innings with 20 strikeouts with eight appearances, all eight starts.
Question and Answer Session with Brandon Vick and Ashley Robbins
AR: Did you prepare any differently heading into this season?
BV: I prepared the same as last year. The only difference was I worked harder in order to improve from what I was able to do last year as a freshman.
AR: What are your goals for the rest of this season - individually and as a team?
BV: My personal goals are to stay below a 4.00 ERA, which was my ERA last year and to stay healthy so I can help my team succeed. As a team goal, I want us to make it to the Big South Tournament and do well in it.
AR: What is the best piece of advice you have gotten from Coach Bolding?
BV: Before my first Big South start, I was in a rough patch pitching wise. He came up to me that Thursday before we played UNC Asheville and asked me if I knew who Rene Descartes was. I told him no and he replied with, "I think, therefore I am." He followed that with, "If you think you are the best pitcher in the league, then you will be the best pitcher in the league."
AR: Do you have any role models?
BV: My family first and foremost because they pushed me to be the best that I can be and definitely Justin Verlander from a baseball standpoint.
AR: What is your favorite pro team/athlete?
BV: My favorite team is the New York Yankees and my favorite player is Mariano Rivera.
AR: Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?
BV: Before my start, I always eat a snicker's bar and I clean my cleats. Also during the last part of the National Anthem I bow my head and say a quick prayer.
AR: What would you tell a young athlete hoping to play Divison I?
BV: Work towards whatever goal you want to achieve because I can assure you, it won't be given to you. There is always someone out in the world working just as hard as you, if not more.
AR: Why did you choose Longwood?
BV: I like that it is a smaller school and a smaller roster. Most big schools have full rosters and you have to sit out a year or two. When I came here, I knew that I would be proving myself on the field and not just in practice.
AR: Favorite Longwood Baseball memory?
BV: There are so many, It's hard to say. I guess getting my first Big South win is a memory that will be with me forever because no one thought we would do well in conference at all.
AR: What do you hope to do after graduation
BV: I would love to get drafted and play major league baseball. If that doesn't work out, I want to use my degree in Exercise Science to someday open a training facility for elite athletes.
