Baseball: Hunter Virant’s comeback is on schedule
It was a memorable moment for former Camarillo pitcher Hunter Virant last week. He pitched in a scrimmage for UCLA. And he was healthy.
“Going to be a contributor this season,” Coach John Savage said.
Virant, a 6-foot-4 sophomore left-hander, was part of UCLA’s top recruiting class of pitchers from 2012. They were Lucas Giolito, Max Fried, James Kaprielian and Cody Poteet. Giolito and Fried ended up being first-round draft picks and signed professional contracts. Virant, an 11th-round pick of the Astros, chose college.
Kaprielian and Poteet have become UCLA starters going into their junior years. Virant had back issues that sidelined him all of last season.
If he’s healthy and throwing the way he once did in high school (he had a perfect game against Rio Mesa as a junior), he’ll add even more to a UCLA pitching staff that’s going to be boosted by the addition of freshmen Griffin Canning (Santa Margarita) and Nate Hadley (Loyola) to go along with returning closer David Berg.
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