18-05-2025
COLUMN: Steve Sabins believes there is another chapter to be written on this season, but it's hard to believe that at the moment
GRANVILLE — In the mind of Steve Sabins, a baseball season is a story written in chapters, rather than one giant conglomerative view.
'Now you're speaking my language,' he says when the topic is brought up.
What has happened to the 17th-ranked Mountaineers since April 30 is unbecoming of a program striving to reach an elite level of success.
Kansas put an exclamation point to that statement on Saturday with a 7-0 victory inside Kendrick Family Ballpark. The Jayhawks completed a three-game sweep with the win and WVU has now lost 8 of its last 11 games.
Yet that isn't the whole story. No more than a crew of guys going aboard The Pequod is the entire plot of 'Moby Dick' or a family watching over the Overlook Hotel for the winter is the whole point of 'The Shining.'
There has been plenty of good that has come in Sabins' first season as the Mountaineers head coach.
Honestly, 'plenty of good' kind of diminishes what was actually accomplished.
The program climbed another rung in the ladder of national respectability, set a season attendance record and put its name right there among the best in the SEC and ACC in the national polls.
And, oh yeah, the Mountaineers won a second Big 12 regular-season title. Even if that fact came more on a whimper rather than a thunderous arrival, WVU isn't going to give the trophy back.
'We've said we want to electrify the state. We wanted to try and compete for everything,' is how Sabins puts it. 'We wanted to make the community, the state and the university proud. Those are our big goals.'
Done and done.
But now the bigger question remains: Are these Mountaineers (40-13, 19-9 Big 12) done?
As in, stick a fork in them.
That's the chapter of the book they're currently in, and it's been nothing short of painful to watch it transpire.
It wasn't just losing to in-state rival Marshall. It was losing to Marshall in the bottom of the ninth inning in an error-filled moment of torture.
It wasn't just losing to hated Pitt. It was giving up a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning against hated Pitt.
And how does a team that was in the same conversation as the likes of Tennessee and Florida State in terms of postseason positioning even put itself in a position to lose to schools like Marshall and Pitt to begin with?
Then came losing a five-run lead in the ninth inning and getting walked-off against Kansas State.
And that Big 12 title became official only after Arizona State lost rather than West Virginia winning.
'The last week or two has been a different chapter,' Sabins admits.
Is this the final chapter? Sabins says no. In his position, he has to say that.
That doesn't mean he's wrong.
'Now it's about how do we write this story, because the truth is the story isn't written at all,' Sabins said. 'We're still in the regular season. It's about playing really well late. It happens all the time. You see teams that have success late. They got hot and found something.'
There is a single-elimination Big 12 tournament next week and then the NCAA tournament.
Those are opportunities to not only wipe the slate clean, but to make those ninth-inning disasters feel like they happened years ago.
It's here that I'm supposed to chime in with my two cents and tell you what's going to happen next.
Is this team still worth the investment of your time and attention? Honestly, I have no idea. I don't know how anyone could answer that question one way or the other.
'What we do have to do is play good baseball eventually,' Sabins said. 'We have to be in a good position to play good baseball and be energized and focused and have intent.'
If there is indeed another chapter to be written about these Mountaineers, just based on how this season has gone so far, it's likely to be a page-turner at the very least.
'For me, it's about how do you find that something?' Sabins asked. 'That's the puzzle. That's the pieces we're trying to figure out.'
