(Posted 6-13-26)
Greetings from The Booth!
Ticket punched! The WVU Mountaineers are in the College World Series in Omaha for the first time ever after shellacking Cal Poly in the NCAA Super Regionals by a combined score of 29-3. And as of this writing, the Mounties are in the winner’s bracket after outlasting Troy 7-5. The first-ever win in the CWS was done in typical Mountaineer fashion. WVU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a manufactured run, capped off by a straight steal of home by Armani Guzman, who you may very well see in the “bigs” sooner than later. West Virginia ace starting pitcher Chasen Cole did not have his best stuff against a good-hitting Troy team, but reliever and former DII star Ian Korn came to the rescue with a heroic 6 and 2/3 inning effort, giving up only 1 run.
Still, Troy was able to tie things at 5 late in the game with a 2-out, 2-strike home run. Undaunted, WVU came up with the key hit, a 2-run Tyrus Hall single in the bottom of the 8th, and the bullpen shut the door on the Trojans in the ninth. Cue Country Roads, as Omaha erupted in song!
Now it’s on to the winner’s bracket, where West Virginia will face North Carolina on Sunday night at 6. It was the Tar Heels who eliminated WVU from the Super Regionals several years ago, so there is some unfinished business for the Mountaineers, who are now assured at least two more games in the CWS.
This West Virgina team has captured the imagination of the entire nation, but let me assure you, this is not a “Cinderella Story.” These Mounties can hit, pitch, run, and play defense. Their aggressive nature on the basepaths can pressure opposing defenses into mistakes, they have one of the best pitching staffs in the country, and they can hit in the clutch. And, we now have the 2026 NCBWA Coach of the Year in Steve Sabins. By now, everyone knows about the iconic John Denver song, “Randy’s Ridge” (named after former coach Randy Mazey, who got the WVU Baseball program off of life-support in 2013), and pepperoni rolls. But this is a talented baseball team that has been to the NCAA Super Regionals three years in a row. They are more than capable of bringing a “Natty” back to the Mountain State.
The best thing about this incredible run by WVU Baseball is the pride that we now have as West Virginians. For too long, we have endured the jokes about being barefoot, toothless, and working in the coal mines (nothing wrong with the latter, by the way). Every football season, we are reminded about “13-9,” the infamous loss to hated Pitt that cost us a possible national championship in 2007. Things have not gone well on and off the basketball court in recent years, either. As Mountaineers, we are used to getting our hearts broken time after time.
The famous “You Got Pittsnogled” post-season basketball run and the Pat White football years gave us hope. With WVU Baseball, we’ve got more than that. We’ve got a pretty damn good team.
Let’s GO!
RW
