Mazey Details Decision to Retire, Hopes to Go Out with a 'Bang'

MORGANTOWN, WV - The 2024 season will mark the last for West Virginia head baseball coach Randy Mazey. He announced his intentions to retire back in mid-July and will hand over the keys to the program to assistant Steve Sabins who has been on his staff since 2016.

Mazey took over a "sleeping giant" in Morgantown, but it was not the easiest of projects when he was hired as the skipper in 2013. The facilities were that of a high school program and nowhere near the caliber to compete in what is considered to be one of the most challenging conferences in all of college baseball - the Big 12.

Mazey had a vision and has seen it through. He helped break ground on a state of the art stadium while also adding other facilities that can help not only recruit better talent, but maximize a player's ability while on campus. Mazey literally pulled the WVU baseball program out of the ground and to the top of the conference by 2023, earning a share of the Big 12 regular season title.

There was a 17-year gap in between NCAA Tournament appearances for the Mountaineers. Under Mazey's watch, WVU has punched their postseason ticket three times (2017, 2019, and 2023). That number would have likely been four if it weren't for the COVID-shortened season in 2020.

Major leaguers are also becoming more of a thing around these parts with the likes of Alek Manoah, Michael Grove, John Means, and Ryan McBroom all making it to "the show" after spending their college days at WVU. And oh by the way, the projected No. 1 overall pick in 2024's First-Year Player Draft, JJ Wetherholt, resides in Morgantown.

It's been quite the journey for Mazey and now, he's ready to tackle his last season as the man in charge.

2024 WVU Baseball Schedule + Results

"I'm trying not to think about it that way. My wife makes me think about it that way. Every time I get home from something she says, 'Do you realize that's the last time you are ever going to do that?'

"So yeah, I don't think that part of it all hit me until probably the last game, the last home game, that type of thing. You know, the community has been so good to me and my family and we've kind of ingrained ourselves in this community. And all I'll tell you about my decision is that I did it in the best interest of this baseball program, this university, this state - all the things that I've grown to love so much. Had I not decided to do it when I did it, I don't know how the next two, three or four years would have gone here. So I did it for the right reasons, so I feel good about it.

"Retiring is pretty easy to talk about, but when you actually pull the trigger on it, then things change a little bit. So we'll see how it goes when I get into it, but you know, in this profession you miss so much of life. You miss so much of your family and I wanted to spend more time with them than I've ever been able to do. And I feel like we've got this program to a place now that it's not just successful, but it's sustainable. And I didn't feel like somebody coming in from the outside that didn't know anything about this community or this state would be the right thing for this program and Sabes has been with me for a long time now and he kind of knows how to do this thing. All I can say about Sabes is I'm entrusting him with my son, who's coming here to play so that should speak volumes about how I feel about him that the fact that I'm perfectly happy that my son will be under his guidance while he's here."

Family time is important to a family man like Randy Mazey and when you're the head coach of a Division I college baseball team, there's just simply limited opportunities to be around your loved ones. You're constantly on the road recruiting, playing games, coaching practice, watching film, studying analytics, and so on. With his two kids growing up before his very eyes, he's missing out on a lot of things due to his responsibilities at the ballpark.

Mazey recalled the exact moment he realized it was time to move on.

"The kicker for me was, we were playing Texas Tech last year here. And I think we were beating them 17-2 on a Sunday and we're in the seventh or eighth inning, and the game was pretty much in hand and Wammer had a baseball game at Mylan Park at the same time, Sierra had a softball game on the field right beside them. And I thought to myself, I'd rather be there right now. And when that thought occurred to me I thought it's not fair to my team, to the community, to the state, for me to be want to be somewhere else at that moment. So I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. If you're ever doing a job and for any moment in time you wish you were somewhere else, then it's probably time for somebody else to run this program.

"I think we've accomplished a lot in my time here, but there's still some things that'd be cool to do in my last year that we haven't done yet. I'm not limping off into the sunset just yet. I like this team and what they're capable of accomplishing and it would be really cool if we could send me off with a bang, so to speak."

West Virginia will open up the 2024 season on Friday, February 16th at Stetson for a three-game set. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. EST at Melching Field at Conrad Park.

Wetherholt Placed on the Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List

You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on X:

Facebook - @MountaineersNow

X - @MountaineersNow and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.

Add us as a preferred source on Google