CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Steve Sabins had barely taken more than a few steps onto the playing field at Boshamer Stadium before he whipped out his cell phone and began taking some pictures.
They weren’t taken for memories.
“No, I actually sent those pictures to, like, eight different recruits who we’re going after right now,” the WVU associate head baseball coach said. “I told all of them that WVU has arrived at Chapel Hill for the super regionals.”
The day before the Mountaineers arrived for the super regional against No. 4 North Carolina, Sabins said he sent out a scholarship offer to a player in the transfer portal.
“Yeah, recruiting is a non-stop battle,” he said. “It never quits.”
It is the part of the world of college athletics Sabins is comfortable with, the behind-the-scenes guy who has spent the better part of the last seven years amassing talent for WVU head coach Randy Mazey to develop.
“He’s one of the main reasons I came here,” said WVU star shortstop J.J. Wetherholt, who is projected to be a top-10 pick in next month’s Major League Baseball draft. “He was the head of recruiting for me, the one who always came to see me.
“He takes a lot of pride in his job and it’s pretty unbelievable all the work he puts into it. He’s a great dude and one of the hardest-working guys I’ve met.”
It is now a dual road Sabins is on. One of those roads has him enjoying what has been a magical ride for the Mountaineers, who are playing in the school’s first-ever super regional, which means they are just one of 16 college baseball teams left in the nation still playing.
The other road is taking over for Mazey once that magical ride ends. Mazey announced last July the 2024 season would be his last, and Sabins, who has been with the Mountaineers as an assistant since 2016, was immediately announced as his successor.
“There are Flying WV flags hanging off almost every porch in our state. We have a tremendous fans base and we take a tremendous amount of pride in representing all of those people,” Mazey said. “You have to believe in that to have success here and coach Sabins has been with me nine years and he knows what it takes to win at West Virginia.”
It wasn’t exactly a simple handing-over-the-keys type of situation last July.
Sabins, a native of Austin, Texas who spent four years as an assistant at Oklahoma State before coming to Morgantown, admits Mazey went to bat for him big time with WVU athletic director Wren Baker to ensure Sabins’ transition to WVU’s next head coach.
“Wren Baker got on board and that means the world to me,” Sabins said. “It’s a sign that the people in the administration have seen the growth we’ve had here and want to continue to build in that direction.”
The direction now becomes the biggest question. Under Mazey, the WVU baseball program has continually reached new heights, only to somehow surpass them and reach even more.
There was a Big 12 regular-season title in 2023 and the school hosted a NCAA regional in 2019.
Along comes this season, in which WVU set a program record with 19 Big 12 victories and the school’s first-ever championship in a NCAA regional.
How does someone who has never been a head coach before possibly surpass any of that?
It seems like a pressure-packed situation. Not to Sabins.
“For me, I’ve been here nine years, and when I first came here, we hadn’t made a regional tournament in 20 years and we finally broke through in 2017,” Sabins said. “We hosted a regional in 2019, so all of a sudden, the program is doing things that had never been done before. For me, it’s about continuing to move the program forward.
“It’s not about who is the head coach. I think we’ve developed something where every single individual takes pride in being part of the program. Whether we keep doing this every year moving forward — that would be great — but we’re going to be focused more on how we can become the best program we can possibly be.”
And Sabins isn’t exactly walking into a rebuilding situation.
Utility man Sam White will likely settle in at third base next season to replace Reed Chumley. Logan Sauve is the established catcher.
Brodie Kresser will be in the middle infield. It’s possible Grant Hussey could return for his senior season at first base. Sabins will also have to find a spot for Spencer Barnett, a freshman from Pittsburgh who has shown promise throughout the season.
The outfield already has depth with Skylar King, former Morgantown High star Aaron Jamison, Kyle West and Benjamin Lumsden.
“We’re going to have some work to do on the pitching staff,” Sabins said. “We had three starters in the (Arizona) regional who came out of the portal, so we’ll have to refill there and find the next guys to take up those roles. We’ve done a good job in doing that and we’ll just have to continue it.”
There is also talent on the way. While Wetherholt is a solidified top 10 pick and will move on, next month’s draft, Sabins said, will also see some WVU high school recruits getting selected in the later rounds. He expects those recruits will still choose to come to WVU.
“You’ll see high school players turn down the draft to come to school at WVU,” Sabins said. “That’s because they see WVU as one of the top 16 teams still left playing and we can now produce elite first rounders like J.J. and Alek Manoah and they’ll have a chance now to come in and be a part of that.”
A piece of WVU’s future, in turn Sabins’ future, too, will be Mazey’s son Weston, who will graduate from Morgantown High in 2025 and will play for the Mountaineers in 2026.
“We haven’t reached the pinnacle yet. This program is going to keep getting better and better,” Randy Mazey said. “In trusting my son to coach Sabins and his staff, that says all you need to know in how I feel about him.”
All that’s seemingly left of the transition is the transition itself. It will be more than simply moving down the hallway at Kendrick Family Ballpark and getting a new office.
Sabins admits the actual in-game coaching and strategy will be a major change for him, yet there is a tremendous amount of belief in the program he’s the right man for the job.
“He’s what this program needs,” Wetherholt said. “You need someone to take over after coach Mazey who really wants the best for this state and the team. I know coach Sabins is going to do the best job he possibly can.”
