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West Virginia has a heartwarming baseball story, too!
The Mountaineers don’t have nearly the history of the Diamond Heels, especially over the past 20 years, 12 of which have been under retiring head coach Randy Mazey.
The 58-year-old Mazey, who coached East Carolina for three seasons, has a 541-423 career record as a head college coach. He said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and two children, a family that has had its share of heartbreak and delayed happiness.
Having won only 12 of 40 games over their last 12 NCAA tournament appearances, the Mountaineers finished sixth in the Big 12 this season and were squarely on the bubble waiting for the at-large bids to come out. They got one and went to the Tucson Regional, where home team Arizona is always tough to beat.
But West Virginia (36-22) did not have to face the 13-seeded Wildcats, who were sent into the losers’ bracket by Grand Canyon, the team the Mountaineers beat twice after a victory over Dallas Baptist.
So Mazey’s last ballclub in Morgantown did not face the kind of competition as the Tar Heels, who beat defending NCAA champion LSU twice to stay alive and host the Super Regional. But West Virginia does have a good pitching staff that could give Carolina trouble in the all-important first game of the best of three for a berth in the College World Series.
Still, Carolina has to be a prohibitive favorite in its 11th Super Regional since 1989 and its second in the last three years. But this time, an underdog opponent comes to Boshamer Stadium with something to prove and keep Mazey’s coaching career alive.
Mazey’s story is one that also tugs at the heartstrings. In 2021, his son Weston suffered a fractured skull, a brain injury and several broken bones after a full- speed collision with a teammate. Weston spent a week in intensive care but recovered fully to play in high school and will in college.
Randy and his wife Amanda teamed up with West Virginia’s Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jeff Hostetler to raise $200,000 to support families of other children with serious injuries. Weston committed to West Virginia in the high school class of 2025.
Mazey had to miss Weston’s game in the West Virginia high school tournament. And his family will be at The Bosh this weekend.
Every college program has occasional tough stories about its former and current players. But Mazey leaving his current team will provide extra motivation that Carolina must match with its own goals to win another Super Regional and return to the CWS.
“I’m going to try as hard as I can to win the Super Regional so our players can experience the College World Series,” said Mazey, who was an assistant on the TCU team that went to Omaha in 2010, “you can’t put into words what that feeling is like.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Rick Scuteri
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
