Ronnie LaBrie has spent the spring crushing Old Dominion Athletic Conference pitchers. Thursday, he spent part of the first inning destroying an aluminum bat.

Chris Long has had a busy month. If traveling from city to city to meet with prospective employers in advance of the NFL Draft weren’t enough, the former Virginia defensive end has had a full slate of marketing commitments.

VMI has a new head coach in Sparky Woods, and a young, talented football team. There are several former local stars in the mix for playing time.

Virginia Commonwealth University basketball coach Anthony Grant has agreed in principle to a new contract that puts him among the highest-paid coaches at a mid-major program.

When Branden Albert declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft shortly after the Gator Bowl, he was outwardly confident that he would be a first-day pick. Inwardly, he thought he had first-round potential.  But months later, the former Virginia guard has made a meteoric rise up most draft boards. Some prognosticators, including ESPN guru Mel Kiper Jr., have Albert going as high as fifth overall.

Kayla Bandy: National champion.  Four days after her Pikeville College bowling team won the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate team championship in Wichita, Kan., the words still haven’t sunk in for the Danville native.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s star point guard resolved what has been a tough few weeks by opting to forgo a shot at the NBA and return to VCU for his senior season.

“We really needed that win,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “There were guys that didn’t get the job done at times, but there were guys there to pick them up in this game.“

The rising junior wide receiver, entering his fourth season, showed Saturday why he is the Hokies’ fastest player and why he could help them replace the four senior receivers who departed after last season.

After staging a USA South tournament run that saw them knock off the No. 1-seeded team, the Averett Cougars’ season came to an end when Greensboro College’s Jordan Davenport pitched a no-hitter on Sunday. The Cougars lost 8-0.

The slurve broke low Sunday against VMI, and the Keydets spent most of the afternoon flailing helplessly at it. Page threw his first complete game since the shutout in 2005, scattering seven hits and striking out eight as the Flames beat VMI 6-1 to win the rubber match of the three-game series.

Sean Glennon threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the win.  Former back-up Quarterback Ike Whitaker caught one of the scores, and Bassett High School graduate Brandon Dillard hauled in the other touchdown pass. 

Radford senior Ashley Taylor, a former Dan River High School standout, eclipsed the Highlanders’ school record for career wins with a pair of victories over Appalachian State on Thursday.

Jake Loye drove in both Averett (14-21) runs with a home run in the fourth inning.  Averett now falls into the losers bracket.

Miami is ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN poll, FSU No. 2. The Seminoles are No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, followed by Miami.

University says money’s ready; plan hinges on OK from city

Wednesday, of course, wasn’t just another day as far as the Virginia Tech community was concerned. Or the Liberty community, for that matter. LU students and Lynchburg residents came out in force to support the Hokies on the one-year anniversary of the worst campus shooting in American history. Many of the 1,763 in attendance donned Tech’s colors in a show of support for the school’s athletes.

The Hokie Nation needed the Virginia Tech Football Squad more than ever this past year. Head Coach Frank Beamer’s squad delivered.

Radford women’s basketball coach Jeri Porter resigned today to accept the head women’s coaching position at George Mason University.

A high school football player says he’s responsible for the destruction of the University of Florida’s 2006 BCS National Championship trophy.

Coker’s perseverance pays off; veteran aide will replace retired coach.

Drew Weaver will have to get his focus back on playing team golf again for the Hokies. The ACC Championship will begin Friday at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point in North Carolina, and the Hokies are defending co-champions along with Georgia Tech.

Robbins won 713 games and three national titles at Virginia Union. He became the first white coach in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, an NCAA Division II conference for historically black colleges, when he took over the basketball program in 1978.

The five Maroon seniors have played a big part in the teams success over the last four years. 

Some local names get the call to be captains for Virginia football in the fall of 2008.

Both of the teams top to Running Backs will be out for some time after surgery.  The team will look to younger guys to carry the load in their absence.

“We’re kind of going through here and see what we think at the end of spring practice,” said Tech coach Frank Beamer.

Linebackers Brett Warren and Purnell Sturdivant made brief appearances last season for Virginia Tech’s football team, and the reviews were mostly good.  The one knock on the two backups?  They weren’t Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi.

The 59-year-old Allen, a former head coach at Virginia Tech, Tennessee State and Howard, takes over for Meredith Smith Maryland-Eastern Shore

VMI blames too much rain over the past few days making the field unplayable