MORGANTOWN — The blaring sound of a vuvuzela rang out from somewhere in the stands, and it hardly stopped.
A pack of male students — as they have for the past several weeks — garnered attention by going topless, and then got a standing room only crowd of 3,475 going even more when they persuaded an older gentleman sitting near them to do the same.
This wasn’t spring break in Miami. It was a WVU baseball game … on a Tuesday … with the weather in the mid 50s.
Going back 10-15 years ago, those exact same factors would have equaled an atmosphere to that of a local PTA meeting.
But now …
“What an unbelievable atmosphere,” WVU manager Randy Mazey said after the Mountaineers’ 14-2 victory against Penn State. “People are having so much fun watching West Virginia baseball right now.
“I can’t imagine there’s been a better time in the history of West Virginia baseball with atmosphere, we’re winning games and people are having fun. It’s just been electric the last couple of weeks.”
As Mazey spoke, just a few feet away stood second baseman J.J. Wetherholt.
Pro wrestler Ric Flair once famously asked in one of his TV interviews, “What’s causing all of this?” before letting out one giant WOOOOO!
Well, in terms of the amusing atmosphere found these days inside Mon County Ballpark, Wetherholt and his .400-plus batting average, seven home runs and 34 RBIs are the ones causing all of this.
Now, this isn’t to say the young man from Mars, Pa., is the greatest WVU baseball player of all-time. We’re not suggesting he is the WVU baseball version of Pat White to football or Jerry West to basketball.
What we are suggesting is the WVU baseball program has caught lightning in a bottle. General interest around the country has skyrocketed in recent years in college baseball, and it is no longer that minor sport played in the months before college football starts back up.
And Wetherholt, as far as the interest in the WVU program is concerned, is the face of that lightning.
“Honestly, I do the most of soaking it all in after the game,” Wetherholt said. “I’ll go back and watch the replays. In the moment, I’m hearing it, I like it, obviously. It fires me up, but I’m really focused on what I need to do.”
In terms of the increased level of interest Wetherholt has brought to the WVU program, his unbelievable statistics say it all.
He’s not just competing for Big 12 honors, but going blow-for-blow with the nation’s best found around the SEC and ACC schools.
It also doesn’t hurt he’s a somewhat local product, growing up just 90 miles from Morgantown.
Or the fact he’s one of the most personable guys you’ll ever meet and is just as likable as ice cream, not to mention he’s a good-looking kid with a clean-shaven look with dirty blond hair.
And he just continues to do unbelievable things on the baseball field, like coming back from a devastating dislocated thumb — in just nine days, mind you — to hit grand slams, doubles, triples and steal bases as if he had never been hurt in the first place.
“When I first came back, I didn’t realize there was a big ovation,” Wetherholt said. “I knew there was cheering, but I didn’t really know what was going on.
“When I got to second (after a double), I took a big look at the crowd, so that was a moment where I kind of soaked it all in.”
Others have come before Wetherholt. Jedd Gyorko’s offensive numbers were just as good in college — minus the stolen bases — except his WVU days were spent at old Hawley Field, which was about as fan friendly as root canals.
And Gyorko played in an era before college baseball found its boom and its own footing among college athletics.
WVU alum Alek Manoah just dominated his one inning pitched at the 2022 All-Star Game, and his final college season in 2019 saw the Mountaineers host a NCAA regional.
The atmosphere at Mon County Ballpark for that regional was beyond impressive and will never be forgotten.
There were so many interested people who couldn’t get into the stadium, that they instead lined up by the hundreds at the top of the hill behind the WVU dugout.
Someone got smart and rolled in a food truck at the top of the hill one day and undoubtedly made a nice chunk of change.
Yet there was very little, if any, youthful enthusiasm in the stands from WVU students during the regional. No one was walking around blowing on a vuvuzela.
People were there for the history, it would seem, not the party that’s found four years later.
“When I came here, whatever it was, 100 years ago, that’s what we had in mind,” Mazey said. “The goal was to create this type of atmosphere and this type of team. There’s been a lot to proud of, but we haven’t been ranked in the top 10. There’s room inside of what we’re doing to get even better.”
And that is the ultimate question. Can No. 18 WVU (30-11) keep this up, pursue a Big 12 title and climb up the national rankings? So much of the regular season remains and lightning can seep out of that bottle just as quickly as it went in.
Then again, no one thought the little fast kid from Mars, Pa. would be this type of player and have this type of season.
Wetherholt is indeed causing all of this. There’s a party going on at Mon County Ballpark these days, and Wetherholt just happens to be the partymaster.
“We’ve had some great offensive players here, but we haven’t had anybody that’s captured the attention of the whole community like J.J. has,” Mazey said. “He’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached. I’d be willing to bet that people in the community, when they go to work and get a drink at the fountain, they’re talking about J.J. Wetherholt. He’s that dynamic of a player and he’s captured the interest of this community.”
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