Jimmy Van Ostrand will begin the next chapter of his baseball career at Boston College University.
The 29-year-old Richmond native has joined the Eagles coaching staff as a volunteer coach after seven years of playing in the minor league pro system and at the international level with Canada.
"It is extremely important to me that we surround our players with high character people who can help them develop on the field and also into quality men off the field. I think Jimmy fits that mold and is a great fit with our staff," said Boston College head coach Mike Gambino. "He is coming off a great playing career and comes to us with extensive experience that our boys will be able to draw from. He will be a huge asset to our program and we are extremely lucky and excited to have him join as staff."
Van Ostrand has been a member of the Canadian senior men's national team since 2007. He played in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, three Baseball World Cups, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2011 Pan American Games.
The McMath secondary graduate played two seasons at California Polytechnic State University where he earned NCAA West Region Scholar-Athlete and first-team all-conference honors.
He was selected in the eighth round by the Houston Astros of the 2006 MLB Draft and has spent the last eight seasons playing in the minor leagues, reaching the triple-A level.
In the Washington Nationals organization last season, Van Ostrand played 21 games, tallying 21 hits in 71 at bats for the Syracuse Chiefs after being promoted from double-A. In 2011, he earned Houston Astros MiLB Organizational All-Star honors, recording a .306 batting average playing for the Corpus Christi Hooks.
Van Ostrand earned his bachelors of science degree, majoring in kinesiology from Cal Poly in 2008.
