The West Virginia Mountaineers 2024 college baseball season came to an end in the Super Regional round against the No. 4 Seed in this year’s tournament, North Carolina. Head coach Randy Mazey led the Mountaineers on an improbable run in his final season heading the program.
As Mazey and the West Virginia players said their farewells and reflected on the season in the end-of-season press conference, the West Virginia skipper revealed his message to the team following their elimination loss to the Tar Heels.
“I mean, the message was how proud, not just I am, how proud they should be of themselves. How proud they have made our university, our community, (and) our entire state,” Mazey said. “We talked about it last night; you guys just don’t understand what being at West Virginia is like; how many people out there are proud of these kids in these uniforms. This team, as we sit here today will go down in history as the team that has achieved the most in the history of the program; over 120 years of baseball, they’ve never achieved this much. So really proud of them.”
Mazey on J.J. Wetherholt
Mazey reflected on the season as a whole and highlighted what J.J. Wetherholt has meant to him and the program.
“Some guys come along in your career that can single-handedly change the face of the entire program,” started Mazey. “Alek Manoah did it in 2019 when we hosted the regional; he changed the face of this program. J.J. Wetherholt has changed West Virginia baseball forever. I have him to thank for that, but J.J. knows that my relationship with him is not over; it’s just beginning.
“I won’t be coaching him anymore but I’ll always be a big fan of his, not just as a player, but as a person, his family, and everything he stands for. And I could go down the roster of 40 people and say the same thing about every single one of them. I love these guys. I’ll never forget anybody on this team. I’m gonna take this team picture hanging in my office at the house, and I’m going to look at it often and remember this group.”
Mazey is calling it a career after West Virginia’s impressive 2024 run. Still, the Mountaineer skipper is ending his career on a high note. After 12 seasons of coaching at West Virginia, Mazey finally got the Mountaineers over the hump in his last season at the helm, winning a regional and advancing to a Super Regional. Wetherholt played a significant role in WVU’s success this season, leading them to a 36-24 record. He did so while leading the team in batting average at .331. The junior shortstop finished this season with 41 hits, 29 RBIs, and eight home runs.
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