MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech coach Pete Hughes and the Hokies expect to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 10 years.

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech coach Pete Hughes (left) watches Steve Domecus (right) hit in the batting cage of the new indoor practice facility.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Austin Wates is one of six Virginia Tech players expected to be drafted in June.

BLACKSBURG -- Pete Hughes' first season at Virginia Tech was the most trying of his coaching career.

This season, however, has been one of the most rewarding.

The April 16, 2007 shootings at Tech occurred during Hughes' inaugural season as the Hokie baseball coach. The first Tech home athletic event after the shootings was a baseball game against Miami four days later.

"I do believe that I came here and took this job to be a part of that April 16th and to deal with that and have that be part of my life," Hughes said this week. "After that happened, that was the first thing that came to mind: this is why I'm here. I was supposed to be here to help the healing process and be a part of it.

"But now we're here for a lot of other reasons."

Now his team is a national power.

The former Boston College coach has seen his rebuilding efforts pay off this season. The Hokies, ranked 12th nationally by Baseball America, seem headed for their first NCAA tournament in 10 years.

Next week, they will play in the ACC tournament for the first time since 2005, which was the final year all the teams got to participate instead of only the top eight.

"We're having a blast," Hughes said. "We worked so hard at it. Our payoff is to win and win consistently, and when you're doing it with great kids who are consumed with winning just like you are, it's a lot of fun."

Taking over

Hughes, 42, is a native of Brockton, Mass. His office walls feature photos of ex-Boston Red Sox stars and the late boxing great Rocky Marciano, a Brockton native.

Hughes' first head-coaching job was at Division III Trinity in Texas, where his Massachusetts accent didn't mesh too well.

"That dugout I inherited in Texas, they didn't understand a word I was saying," he said with a grin.

He returned to his home state to take over at Boston College. After eight winning seasons at BC, he was hired by Virginia Tech in June 2006 to succeed Chuck Hartman, who retired after winning 961 games in 28 years with the Hokies.

Center fielder Sean Ryan, a fifth-year senior who is one of two holdovers from Hartman's final season, said the 2007 Hokies bought into their new coach's emphasis on weight-lifting and running.

"He wanted to instill a winning mind-set, ... make us work hard," Ryan said. "The intensity of practice, the level of our workouts was raised."

But the shootings that year brought Hughes a new challenge.

"The last month of that season, I kept going to keep these guys motivated so our seniors would have something more positive from a baseball standpoint to leave here with," Hughes said. "No one really necessarily wanted to [play]. I know I didn't want to coach baseball from that day on, that season. I had to motivate myself."

The 2008 season brought a 12-game losing streak, the longest in school history.

But last year, the Hokies recorded their first winning season since 2004.

This has been the breakthrough season of the Hughes era. The Hokies (36-16, 16-11 ACC) cracked the national rankings last month for the first time since 1992. They are assured of their first winning conference record since 2003, their next-to-last year in the Big East.

"I'm so happy for our coaching staff, who took chances in their personal lives to come here and build," Hughes said. "I'm so happy for our players. A lot of them took a leap of faith to get involved in this rebuilding thing."

Recruiting approach

Hughes wanted to upgrade Tech's speed and athleticism to make the Hokies more competitive in the ACC.

"If you're not athletic ... in this league, you get exposed," he said.

ACC membership has been a plus on the recruiting trail. Hughes and assistants Dave Turgeon and Mike Gambino have also benefited from a bigger recruiting budget than their predecessors.

Tech spent $13,428 on recruiting travel in Hartman's final school year. In 2006-07, Hughes spent $37,915.

"It would be foolish for us not to start in state with our recruiting. But it would also be foolish if we stay in state or in region and never leave, thinking we're going to get the premier ACC guys, because you know what? We're not," Hughes said. "I told [Tech] I can't be handcuffed budget-wise if I need to go see a kid or fly a kid in."

Starting catcher Steve Domecus and closer Ben Rowen played junior-college ball in California.

"The California junior-college circuit, there's just so many kids out there and not enough Division I options," Hughes said.

Hughes also targeted the Northeast, selling players on the chance to play in a warmer setting. Starting pitcher Jesse Hahn is from Connecticut.

Division I teams can fund a maximum of 11.7 scholarships, which can be shared among no more than 27 players.

So there are plenty of recruits in the commonwealth for Hughes to scoop up once national power Virginia decides who it wants to sign.

His starting lineup includes six Virginians -- Austin Wates, Tony Balisteri, Ronnie Shaban, brothers Anthony and Buddy Sosnoskie and Hartman recruit Ryan. Starting pitcher Justin Wright is also from the commonwealth. None reaped an offer from UVa, Hughes said.

Starting pitcher Mathew Price is a Georgia native who didn't get an offer from heavyweight Georgia Tech.

Hughes also turned to Division I transfers. Two of his starting infielders are Southeastern Conference refugees Tim Smalling (Arkansas) and Michael Seaborn (Kentucky).

Next month's major-league draft should offer further evidence of the talent on this team.

The Hokies have not had more than two players drafted in one year since 1989, but Hughes expects at least six players to be selected next month. That would be a Tech record, topping the five players taken in 1982. A handful could go in the top 10 rounds; the Hokies haven't had a pick that high since 2002.

"That's where your program gets credibility," Hughes said of the draft.

Tech has been spending money on more than recruiting.

In 2008, Tech spent $420,000 to build amphitheater-style terrace seats into the hill on the left-field line. Last fall, the Hokies began using a $1.4 million indoor hitting facility.

Hughes' wish for artificial turf should be granted in a few years, but his dream of a clubhouse at the ballpark is not on the drawing board.

"Our facility's nice. Is it in the top tier of the ACC? No," Hughes said.

Hughes' next challenge will be to build a perennial ACC power. He will be losing a number of players to graduation or the draft.

"Your goal is to keep that consistency," Hughes said. "I just can't stand saying 'rebuilding.' I've been saying it for three years. I don't want to say it ever again."