MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown High has a new baseball coach for the first time in 21 years.
Pat Sherald was approved at Tuesday’s Mon County Schools Board of Education meeting to be the head man of the Mohigans, replacing Mark McCarty, who announced his resignation last May.
Sherald has an extensive baseball background in the Morgantown area, beginning at WVU, where he was the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for eight years (2005-12) under former head coach Greg Van Zant. Sherald has also worked with the Morgantown Red Birds and Pro Elite over the winter months, helping with catchers and team workouts.
While at WVU, the Mountaineers regularly had one of the best offenses in the Big East. He helped coach four all-Americans and 17 all-Big East players.
Prior to his time at West Virginia, Sherald was an assistant coach for his alma mater, Lamar (Texas), working with catchers and pitchers. He helped 14 pitchers sign professional contracts in three seasons.
As a player at Lamar from 2000-01, Sherald was an all-academic performer as a catcher, and the same can be said during his stint at Frederick Community College (Md.), where he was all-conference in Division III.
An Emmittsburg, Md., native, Sherald’s came from a family of baseball coaches. His father, Tom, is in the Maryland Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame because of stints at Mount Saint Mary’s University, as well as Catoctin and Thomas Johnson high schools.
Following the 2012 season at WVU and with the transition from Van Zant to Randy Mazey, the coaching staff was overhauled, and while Sherald had different opportunities to continue coaching elsewhere, he and his wife decided to stick around Morgantown.
“We love the community and felt this is where we want to raise our kids,” Sherald said. “My wife’s an administrator in the school system, and at this point, we’ve been here over over 10 years and love it here.”
While he’s worked sporadically in baseball since leaving WVU, Sherald hasn’t been around the game much since. He’s excited to get back on the field with the Mohigans.
“I love developing relationships with young men and love being around the game and the guys,” he said. “We want to give back to the community and make a positive influence. It’s a chance to teach the game and be around the kids. Baseball of all sports mirrors life more than anything. You have to develop resiliency and understand both failure and success. Baseball is hard work and not a sport where you can just walk in and let talent take over. You to put in time and get the reps.”
He takes over an MHS program that has seen great success over the last few years. The Mohigans reached the state tournament in 2017 and was close to doing the same last season, but fell short in the regional championship against Wheeling Park and finished the year 29-7.
“I’d like to thank (MHS athletic director John) Bowers, (Principal Paul) Mihalko and MHS for this opportunity,” Sherald said. “I also look forward to getting to know the MHS baseball alumni and families, as well as current players and families very soon.”
McCarty said after the season that it was simply time for him to move on.
“We are blessed to have such a great baseball guy want to coach at Morgantown High,” Bowers said. When you talk to the best baseball guys in town, they can’t say enough great things about Pat Sherald. His pedigree as an assistant coach at WVU, various affiliations with national organizations and other collegiate playing and coaching experience is second to none.”
