GRANVILLE — For a good portion of West Virginia’s Sunday night flight home from Oklahoma City, Randy Mazey was in misery.
There was no WiFi on the charter plane, and therefore no way to know whether West Virginia was one of the 16 teams chosen to host an NCAA baseball regional in the coming weekend. Mazey and associate athletic director Matt Wells figured they would be clever and see if one of the pilots could get that information from someone on the ground.
As it turns out, the game of Telephone is played the same way at 20,000 feet as it was in third grade. Due to a miscommunication somewhere along the line, the flight attendant brought crushing news: West Virginia’s name was nowhere to be found on the list of regional hosts.
“If there was a parachute available at that point, I was putting it on,” Mazey said.
Meanwhile, Mountaineers center fielder Brandon White was oblivious to his surroundings. After a weekend chasing down fly balls and line drives, White was taking a deserved nap.
As the plane went into its descent, White was jolted awake by the shouts of his teammates. Alarming as that scenario might be for most people waking up from a nap on an airplane, White knew it meant good news.
“I heard everybody screaming, and I just took off my headphones and started screaming with everybody else,” White said. “I already knew what happened… I was dreaming about it. Really. Instantly when I heard everybody screaming, I knew we were hosting.”
It is the first time the Mountaineers (37-20) have ever hosted a baseball regional. The only other time NCAA postseason play has come to Morgantown was 1955 in an incarnation known as the District III Championship.
“It was one loud ‘Yes!’” pitcher Alek Manoah said of the initial reaction. “Everyone was screaming. And then we were like ‘Wait, are we screaming because of the right thing?’”
For some players, the news only set up a restless night of wondering who they would play. That question was answered early Monday afternoon as the entire tournament bracket was revealed.
The Mountaineers open their postseason with Atlantic 10 champ Fordham Friday night. Texas A&M is the No. 2 seed in the region and will face No. 3 Duke in the opener Friday afternoon.
“Seeing it pop up on the TV made it real,” said senior right fielder Darius Hill. “It’s such a great advantage to be able to play here in front of our fans. Hopefully we continue the wave we’ve had at home this season.”
West Virginia is 17-5 at Monongalia County Ballpark this season.
“This is our place. They have to come play us here,” Manoah said. “We’re hard to beat here. To bring an SEC team, an ACC team, and Fordham, who is a pretty strong 4-seed, it should be a fun regional. I don’t think our games will be the only ones that are sold out. Mountaineer fans and people around the state will come to watch good competition.”
