32 reasons

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BLACKSBURG, Va. -- For 32 seconds of silence, one for each victim of Monday's shooting, Virginia Tech center fielder Nate Parks stood shoulder to shoulder with his teammates on the third-base line at English Field, his head bowed under the afternoon sun.

The hat Parks held clasped in the hands behind his back had the date "04-16-07" inked in white above the brim. A slender switch hitter in a white uniform, pants ballooning above mismatched maroon and black knee socks, Parks shifted his weight slowly back and forth between his black Nikes.

Throughout the playing of the national anthem, through Virginia Tech professor Nikki Giovanni's reading of her poetic response to Monday's events, he thought about the crowd behind him, the support he and the rest of the team had felt from the entire country in the wake of disaster, before he turned and trotted back to the dugout.

"Some people have their out," Parks said. "Mine is baseball. This is my release."

Parks has been the leadoff hitter for Virginia Tech all season. First-year coach Pete Hughes likes him for his speed, his ability to make contact and beat the throw to first base, his talent for stealing bases. He has been successful on 30 of his 34 attempts to lead the ACC. And there's something else appealing about the southwest Virginia native, a graduate of nearby Glenvar High School who turned down a football scholarship to James Madison to play baseball for the Hokies.

"There's no one in our program who loves Virginia Tech more than that kid," Hughes said during a Thursday afternoon practice. "And he loves Virginia Tech baseball."

Last night, as a record crowd of 3,132 filtered in to watch the Hokies play conference rival Miami in the first athletic event on campus since the shootings, Parks waited on the bench.

He watched while starting pitcher Adam Redd gutted through a difficult first inning, walking the first Miami batter on a full count, ultimately giving up two hits and a run on a bases-loaded RBI single from right fielder Dennis Raben.

Having pitched a few innings in high school, Parks appreciates the difficulty of Redd's particular skill. As a fellow student, he shared the troubling emotions that would conflict any pitcher.

"Baseball is actually a very emotional game," Parks had said the day before, green eyes focused on his teammates as they went through the familiar motions of practice. "Especially for the pitchers — and when you're in the box, trying to hit. Mainly for the pitchers, though. You've got to try to stay focused and contain your emotions."