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After transferring from Buffalo Gap High School, Jackson Ingram played infield for two years at the Miller School of Albemarle for Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Billy Wagner.
And during the past two years at West Virginia University, the Staunton native has gained knowledge from another former Major Leaguer Jedd Gyorko, 37, who played on the infield from 2013-2020 for the San Diego Padres, St.
Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers.
He was a big part of growing my game, Ingram said, in a telephone interview, of Gyorko, a native of Morgantown who played for WVU and is now part of the staff as a special assistant to head coach Steve Sabins.
He is another guy who you want to pick his brain.
He looks at things differently.
(His approach) is simple and understandable.
Like fielding a groundball, it has been super beneficial.
Ingram has been working to get back on the field.
After redshirting as a freshman at WVU in 2025, Ingram tore his ACL while playing for the Staunton Braves last summer in the Valley Baseball League.
That forced him to miss all of the 2026 college season, but Ingram was able to travel to Omaha in June as the Mountaineers advanced to the College World Series for the first time in school history.
WVU beat Troy of the Sun Belt twice but lost twice to North Carolina of the ACC.
Obviously, it is every kids dream.
If you play college baseball, you want to make it to Omaha, Ingram said.
It was surreal.
Not being able to play was a bummer.
Ingram, who went to Churchville Elementary and Beverley Manor Middle School, started for varsity baseball at Buffalo Gap as a freshman and sophomore and also played basketball and JV football at the school.
Transferring made sense, he said.
Obviously, the goal was to play college baseball and extend my career as much as possible.
I thought it would be best for me to continue with Coach Wagner.
It lived up to my expectations, Ingram said.
Wagner had 422 saves in the Majors the most of a Virginia native and went into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025.
He has been through anything and everything in the game, Ingram said.
Another coach at the Miller School is Terrell Thompson, a graduate of Waynesboro High School who played indy pro ball and was named one of the top high school assistant coaches in the country in 2025.
He has been around the game a long time.
He is a really relaxed guy.
He is easy to talk to, Ingram said of Thompson, who played in the Rockingham County Baseball League with Clover Hill.
Thompson was impressed by Ingram.
Jacksons growth during his time at Miller School was a direct result of his work ethic and commitment to get better every day, Thompson wrote to the AFP.
He was coachable, completed with purpose, and consistently put in the extra work.
Those habits, combined with his talent, helped prepare him to become a Division I player.
Ingram and Gyorko, who was drafted by the Padres, didnt make all of the road trips with WVU last season.
With both of them staying back, Ingram was able to work out under the eye of the former big-leaguer on those weekends in Morgantown.
Now Gyorko hopes to be ready to get on the field for fall workouts in preparation for the 2027 season.
He has spent much of the summer in Morgantown working out.
Last summer he hit .207 with three homers and 15 RBI in 29 games with Staunton before getting hurt.
He went 3-for-3 with one homer in a game against the Harrisonburg Turks.
Ingram was a roommate at WVU with Broadway High School grad Bransen Hensely, who transferred to Division III Bridgewater and helped the Eagles make the NCAA Tournament this past season as he hit .346.
WVU players taken in the 2026 MLB Draft in July were: - Paul Schoenfeld (Arizona Diamondbacks) - Ian Korn (San Francisco Giants) - Dawson Montesa ( Louis Cardinals) - Maxx Yehl (Kansas City Royals) WVU has had 121 players drafted since 1965 with at least four picks the past three years.
News and notes Debuts Chesapeake native and former Tennessee pitcher Garrett Stallings, 28, made his MLB debut on July 2 for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Stallings is the fifth native of Virginia to break into the Majors this year.
Stallings throw a scoreless inning out of the bullpen in his debut against the Cincinnati Reds.
One of the starters that day for the Reds was Norfolk native Nathaniel Lowe, but Stallings did not face that hitter.
Stallings was drafted out of Tennessee by the Los Angeles Angels, then traded to the Baltimore Orioles prior to the 2021 season.
He pitched for Triple-A Norfolk in 2023 and part of 2024 before being traded to the Brewers.
Stallings began this season with Triple-A Nashville before he was called up to the Majors.
Eight players born in the state made their MLB debut in 2023 that was the most in more than 20 years.
Nic Kent power surge Charlottesville native Nick Kent, an infielder who played at STAB and Virginia, hit four homers in 336 at-bats for Double-A Hartford last year in the Colorado Rockies farm system.
In his first 191 at-bats over 54 games for Triple-A Albuquerque this year, Kent has 11 dingers while playing home games in humid New Mexico.
The northeast Eastern League is tough on hitters, especially in the spring, while mountain west baseball is helpful for the hitters.
But Kent has improved and adjusted at the age of 26, after he was drafted out of Virginia by the Rockies in the 11th round in 2021.
Up and down Turner Ashby graduate Brenan Hanifee, 28, has been up and down between Triple-A Toledo and the Detroit Tigers this season.
The right-handed reliever threw a scoreless inning out of the pen for the Tigers on July 18 against the Angels.
That lowered his ERA to 3.45 in 16 big-league games this year.