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May 17, 2024 By Bob Hertzel 5 min read

MORGANTOWN – On Randy Mazey’s final day managing at Wagener Field in Kendrick Family Stadium, there were tears and cheers and Mountaineers and a stunning surprise for the man who saved West Virginia baseball, an accomplishment that was far more meaningful than any of the others he put together in his 12-year run.

That was why they honored him on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. A rainbow had dissipated into the atmosphere, but the pot of gold quite obviously was right there at the WVU dugout as the Mountaineers presented their coach with a 12-5 victory to add to their postseason resume.

Now Mazey wasn’t about to do the Lou Gehrig thing and say he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, but he left no doubt that day’s baseball victory was simply the cherry atop the ceremonial sundae that the pregame festivities turned into.

There were presentations of framed uniform jerseys, a symbolic baseball bat that took on even more meaning as his team hit three home runs in the game, one a three-run shot from his star player, JJ Wetherholt, who surely also was playing his final home game for WVU, which has a road series at TCU left before heading into the Big 12 Tournament and a NCAA regional.

Tyler Switalski played a hand in helping Mazey go out with a victory. The Waynesburg Central graduate and Gardner-Webb transfer was the winning pitcher for WVU, allowing three earned runs on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts in five innings.

Switalski, a 6-foot4 left-hander who improved to 3-2, is one of the Mountaineers top four starting pitchers. He’s second on the team in starts (11) and third in innings pitched (48) and strikeouts (49).

Mazey was surrounded by extended family and friends and 3,232 fans, which was another Top 20 crowd for the program that was teetering upon extinction when Mazey was hired, transitioning the program from the Big East to the Big 12 and from Hawley Field to the new ball yard that holds its own in a town that also includes such sports landmarks as Milan Puskar Stadium and the Coliseum.

With it all, that included his family throwing out ceremonial first pitches, there was a surprise that caught Mazey himself off guard.

The story behind this goes back about six months ago when his son, Weston, who is known as Wammer, came home one day with a new saxophone. He had never played the instrument before.

“I just made a comment in passing how cool it would be for him to learn the National Anthem” and in passing, jokingly, Mazey said to him that it would be nice if he could play the National Anthem on the day of the last home game,

It was dropped right there, he thought.

Then he came out and played it before the game. OK, John Coltrane he isn’t yet, but then Coltrane never could hit a curveball.

“After that, I hadn’t heard him play,” Mazey said. “He did that on his own, with Momma’s help and in secret. I thought he killed it for just learning how to play. That was a special moment for me to have him and Sierra and my whole family out there throwing out first pitches and singing ‘Country Roads’ with me because that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing; just for them.”

This whole season was building toward this one day.

“You know everyone has been asking me ‘has it hit your yet,'” Mazey said after meeting emotionally with his team as fans milled around the ballpark, not wanting to leave just yet, awaiting a chance to get a word with Mazey or an autograph form Wetherholt or any of the other Mountaineers.

“Well,” Mazey continued, “it hit me today.”

He looked away from the media for a moment, his voice cracking with emotion.

“I mean, look at this place,” he said. “Twelve years ago West Virginia was thinking about dropping the baseball program. Look what it’s turned into. There’s no way to thank everybody who has been involved in this. I’m just proud to represent this university, this community, this state.

“It’s just been an absolute honor to be a part of this. I don’t feel responsible in any way, shape or form for the success. I was just a part of it. There’s so many people who need to be thanked. I’ve invited them all down to the field, so I’m getting ready to thank about 3,000 of them personally.”

Modesty is a wonderful trait, but Mazey underplays his contributions for without Mazey, this doesn’t happen and the school, the community and state owe him one.

“The feeling of pride is just overwhelming,” he said.

He can take pride in what he has done and he began feeling it, he said, in 2017.

“When we hosted the regional in 2017, that’s the start but you don’t want to be a one-year, flash-in-the-pan kind of program,” Mazey said. “You want to build on that momentum and we did that by hosting a Regional in 2019. Since that time we have achieved a level of sustainability here for the future.

“The good news is that the level of sustainability is really only halfway up the ladder. There’s a lot of room to grow above us in winning regionals and super regionals and College World Series. I have 100% confidence that West Virginia will play in the College World Series one day.

“Hopefully, this year.”