MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For college baseball players, one season of competition seems to roll seamlessly into the next from the months of January to October. Following a program-best season which saw the Mountaineers advance to the semifinal round of the College World Series while winning 47 games, returning players scattered around the country to get a late start with their summer league teams. Upon returning to campus in late-August, WVU’s fall season included exhibition games against Indiana, Akron, Wright State and Wake Forest mixed in with the annual Gold-Blue World Series intrasquad contests.
The gates at Kendrick Family Ballpark were open for free admission to WVU’s fall ball games.
“It has been a really cool thing to see. Just over the last three years, we have been playing games on Fridays and inviting the community out to enjoy free baseball,” said WVU head coach Steve Sabins on Wednesday’s Citynet Statewide Sportsline. “They bring coolers and pack dinner and have a good time at the ballpark. It has been kind of humble roots but we ended up having 800 to a thousand people show up for these games and get excited about the team and watch us play. The community support has been tremendous.
“We are always looking for our players to experience that. We’ve got guys from high school, junior college and Division II programs that haven’t really played in front of crowds before. Part of the developmental curve for those guys is to understand how much this means to the state and how much it means to the community.”
Over this past week, Sabins and his coaching staff has begun the process of evaluating progress of players, although few, if any, final decisions about the lineup or pitching rotation are set for the upcoming season.
“No one says, ‘Well, that’s our starting nine. Let’s go take it to the spring’. This entire week is now player development meetings where we break down everybody’s fall. This guy swung and missed too much. This guy chases sliders. This guy’s fastball sucks. This guy throws too many balls. This guy doesn’t know how to compete the right way. We get very critical because we are just trying to get players to make jumps. This week we will spend with players basically describing what are the areas we can get better at and some of the areas they did great and they need to ensure.”
With Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Maxx Yehl, second-round selection Dawson Montesa and Ian Korn now in the professional ranks, top-of-the-line starters must be found for the weekend rotation. Sabins is confident that new arms can rise to the top from their current staff of 27 pitchers.
“We feel really good about our floor. Now we have to find out what is that ceiling and who are going to be the superstars? Who can emerge to really be special? We feel like we are starting in a great spot. We have good stuff and we have competitors. Who is going to be the Friday, Saturday, Sunday starter? Who is the closer? Who can take that next step?”
Returning starters can be found at four spots in the lineup. Projected first-round pick Gavin Kelly (.382, 19 HR, 63 RBI), Armani Guzman (.321, 45 RBI, 42 SB), Tyrus Hall (.279, 7 HR, 38 RBI) and Matt Ineich (.296, 36 RBI) all played critical roles in WVU’s 47-win season in 2026.
“We love those guys and they competed at the highest level in Omaha. That means essentially five new guys, so the majority of our lineup has to turn over.”
Tennessee transfer Cash Williams looks to occupy a similar role filled by Matthew Graveline in 2026, playing in the outfield while spelling Kelly behind the plate at catcher.
“We needed a competent catcher who could catch at a high level and allow Gavin to continue to play.
“We recruited more dudes from the Division II level and the junior college level. Two position players we are super-fired up about are Colin Coonradt and Ryan Piekutoski. They have about 60 home runs between both of them at the junior college level, which is very unique. They were driving the ball. We did an incredible job producing offense last year via the stolen base and aggressive base running. We think we have a few more hitters and a bit more power this year. So we’ll see if those kids can play competitively at this level. But we are really high on them.”
When the weather turns and winter eventually settles in, players will continue to build throughout the offseason inside the WVU Baseball Biomechanics and Performance Center. An extended break between the fall and spring semesters allows Sabins and his coaches time to enjoy a respite before official preseason practice begins in January.
“We have to make sure that they are in such an incredible spot mentally and they know what they are working on when they step away from campus for a little while. That’s where I lose sleep at night a little bit during that time.
“Once we get to December, that’s the down time for coaches. That’s a little bit of time to spend with family to go on vacation, to go rent a beach house somewhere, swing in for a couple of days and just spend time with your family and try to get in a really good position before you start the spring with 56 regular season games. You are on the road and grinding that thing out. I am going to go to Austin and see my family for Thanksgiving. Then we are going to get away as a family for Christmas and just spend time with the kids.”