The West Virginia State baseball team officially began prepping for the 2020 season with fall practices. Coming off of what can be described as an underachieving season, the Yellow Jackets are ready to bounce back to prominence in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). This fall, they will be disciplined and have a blue collar approach with a lot of grit.
The coaching staff is paying attention to detail and when players make mistakes they own them. The coaches want the team to learn to fail and push them to the point where they will fail so that they can deal with failure and learn to bounce back. This isn’t revolutionary or groundbreaking, but who knows? There is a lot of upside to garner.
Fall practice it’s just another way for the baseball program to promote not only the student athletes, but also the school. Students can see the campus, they can see the facility, they can see that the program are trying to run things the right way at West Virginia State on the baseball diamond.
Head coach Sean Loyd has prepared his players, with the program he has established and with the values he’s instilled, he knows that his kids will rise to the occasion.
Junior outfielder Andrew Stone was the Prospect League Player of the Year this past summer and the Yellow Jackets are looking for him to take the next step this spring. He has had an excellent fall and will also be a fixture in the bullpen. Senior Matt Harrison continues working to be a two way threat and the coaching staff is excited about his progress. Matt Kline continues to improve since being moved to the outfield. His bat plays anywhere.
Two transfer lefties have been strong this summer. Daniel Brandon (Longwood) and Clark Reese (Prince George CC) have done an excellent job and will be excellent additions to WVSU pitching staff. Jacob Bradley “has made some mechanical adjustments and made great strides this fall” according to Loyd. “We are anxious to see him in the spring. We have made a program wide commitment to get tougher and play fundamentally sound baseball. This has been a very important fall for us and our guys have rededicated themselves to excellence. We have a talented group that enjoy being around one another. I really like this team.”