The West Virginia University Baseball Program

About three weeks ago, the Packer Varsity baseball team beat Berkeley Carroll school for the first time in twelve years and in glorious fashion. Tears streamed down my face as our winning run crossed the plate in extra innings, dust flying up as my teammates and I mobbed each other at the plate. Yet a few short days later, our team was blindsided by the news that St. Ann’s had pulled off back to back upsets to squeak their way into the playoffs ahead of us - just as our season seemed to be looking up, it was over.

Griffey replied, “I am so sorry for your disappointment. And believe me when I tell you that I’m not going to shrug off your question and tell you to persevere. Instead I will tell you something else-- I’m going to tell you that you need to give up your dream of playing baseball. I only say this because i can see that baseball is no longer bringing you pleasure or satisfaction. Our time here on Earth is too short and deserves to be enjoyed to the fullest. I am now giving you permission to go find something else to do with your life that brings you joy. Go find something new that you love to do and that brings you peace and serenity. Spend time with family and friends, find new hobbies, go on vacation, forgive your enemies, but stop playing baseball because it seems to be slowly killing you from the inside out.”

My freshman year we entered playoffs with a hopeful optimism that in our first year in 3A, the largest division, we could make a statement that we were here to stay. In the end, the game didn’t go our way. There were some questionable calls made but in the end, it is what it is: we weren’t good enough to win. A tough reality but often times you learn more from a loss than from a win. Sophomore

Nothing beat the overwhelming emotion of stepping up on the pitcher’s mound and hearing the chant of my name, my heart clawing its way out of my chest. Before throwing the first warmup pitch, my mind raced through the entire season. How, as a team, we have made history winning all three major tournaments in the high school level. We had beaten many top competitors and lost plenty crushing defeats as well. My mind pondered, which situation will I be in today, glorious victory or destructive loss. This is the feeling I lived for during high school, it was my sole purpose. However, this was merely one minute of that fateful day in which I played prodigiously trying to win a baseball game.

Let’s all be honest, when in a tight situation where a lot is on the line, having someone say, ‘No pressure.’ is the worst thing that could be ever said in that moment. Regardless, this is what was said to me and my 10-year-old baseball team, The Oklahoma Kaos before hitting the field to have a chance to get to finals in the State Championship. It was June 18th, 2010, and we had clawed our way out of losers bracket to get to the semifinals. We had come too far to give up or fail now. We came across a team called the Pawhuska Huskies, a team we had creamed in an earlier tournament 23-3 in one whole inning. The team joked back and forth about how easy this would be and how we already made it to the finals. But while

Freshman Darius Hill drove in two more when he doubled down the left field line. But WVU wasn't done yet. Vera's base hit to left field scored Hill and gave the Mountaineers a 5-0 edge.

Facing a 4th and five with 4:47 left in the third quarter,the Indians elected to go for it. Jack Beeler was sacked for an 12-yard loss by #8 Marcus Jones. The Cougars carried that momentum with them on the ensuing drive. It tool 8-plays to cover the 49-yards for the score, with the score coming in the shape of a 4-yard run from Bailey. The point after kick locked this one up once again, at 14 apiece with 1:22 left in the quarter.

“ This is really a resilient bunch of guys”, said Head coach Butler before the game. “ I love the way these guys have battled all season… now they get the chance to play in an amazing field.”

Kade Strowd (4-5) suffered the loss for WVU. He pitched just 1.1 innings, surrendering three runs on three hits while walking one.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.–In West Virginia’s 91-62 win over Long Beach State on Monday night, the Mountaineers had an unusual cast carry them to victory.

The Mountaineers exploited Youngstown State's secondary in their last game. White had a 53-yard touchdown in the first half. Gibson caught a 54- and 57-yard pass for 171 total yards on six receptions.

The second championship game began much like the first. By the seventh inning the score was seven to one in favor of Waterloo Valley. Being the home team, we had one more chance for survival in the bottom of the inning. The inning started with one hit after another, raising the team’s spirits with each one. The hits just kept coming until we finally found ourselves only down by only one run. The excitement in the dugout was soaring, and so, with a runner on third base and two outs, Coach Sullivan put in Jakob Crampton for what could be the final at bat of the season. After strike one the anxiety became overwhelming. With the second pitch on its way, Crampton swang the bat, and the dugout exploded into cheering as the ball found its way between the third baseman

The team was ready, we had been working extremely hard for the past seven months for this. We were all in great shape and very rested. A few of the returning players were meeting me at my house to carpool to the final game of the state championship tournament. Everyone knew that the hard work had paid off when we won the semi-final game the preceding day.

The Mountaineers' skipper led the team to one of its best seasons. WVU finished the season with a 36-26 record, finishing fourth in the Big 12.

In the bottom of the eighth, freshman Braden Zarbnisky reached on an error and went to third on Hill's base hit. Once again, Vera came through and his sacrifice fly to center field drove home Zarbnisky and gave WVU a 4-1