Take a short drive, see Bucs’ future
Your future Pittsburgh Pirates are just a short drive away near Morgantown.
The West Virginia Black Bears, who play their home games at the brand-new Monongalia County Ballpark, are in their inaugural season in the New York-Penn League.
The park’s surface is field turf that even covers the base paths and batter’s box. The only part of the playing surface that is clay is the pitching mound. The Black Bears share the facility with West Virginia University. The field will also be used for tournaments and games within the Big 12 conference, where WVU plays.
The park has concession stands and the tickets are at a reasonable price in an intimate setting. The fans are very close to the action and the experience is just short of being at an MLB stadium. The music, food, drinks and in-game experience are relatively the same to being at a big-league park. The major difference is the amount of people that can enter through the turnstiles and the amount of concession stands.
The Black Bears are the Class A short-season affiliate of the Bucs, and feature a roster that bolsters some of the organization’s top prospects.
West Virginia fans can watch the Pirates’ No. 1 selection in the 2015 MLB Draft Kevin Newman, who plays shortstop. Newman is batting .223 in 34 games this season and has 139 at-bats. The average may not be where the University of Arizona product wants it to be, but he stolen six bases, which is tied for the team lead, and is in his first season as a professional.
Another Kevin who plays shortstop is the Bucs’ Round-2 selection Kevin Kramer. Kramer is batting
.250 with a .366 on-base percentage and had three hits, including two doubles, in Tuesday’s 8-3 setback to the Auburn DoubleDays.
The stars are not only on the Black Bears, as the DoubleDays feature a relief pitcher by the name of Mariano Rivera. No, it is not the future Hall-of-Fame closer for starred with the New York Yankees, but his son, Mariano Rivera III. Kramer doubled in Tuesday’s at bat against the son of the legendary closer.
Logan Hill may have been a 25th-round draft choice in 2015, but the outfielder from Troy is leading the team in average (.321), hits (45), home runs (5) and RBIs (34).
Tuesday’s starting pitcher, Seth McGarry, is an eighth-round selection out of Florida Atlantic.
The list of players on the roster that the Bucs selected in this year’s draft are: Jonathan Brubaker (sixth round), Bret Helton (ninth round), Nick Hibbing (16th round), Sean Keselica (33rd round),
Stephan Meyer (18th round), Tate Scioneaux (thirty-ninth round), Brandon Waddell (fifth round), Daniel Zamora (fortieth round), Christian Kelley (11th round), Albert Baur (28th round), Logan Ratledge (13th round), Mitchell Tolman (seventh round), Casey Hughston (third round), Ty Moore (12th round) and Ryan Nagle (27th round).
The teams in the league are affiliates of MLB clubs and the Black Bears faced Auburn Tuesday, which is a Washington Nationals affiliate. The DoubleDays’ starting pitcher that night was the Nats’ 2014 first-round selection Erick Fedde. Fedde got the victory over West Virginia to improve to 4-1.
If the park, atmosphere and players aren’t enough to get fans to the ballpark, the Black Bears are second in the New York-Penn League’s Pickney Division at 23-21 as of Aug. 4. The three division winners and a wild card earn the right to play for the League Championship in the playoffs and WV is right there.
The experience at a Black Bears’ game may not be the Durham Bulls with Crash Davis and Nuke Laloosh, but it is darn close.
Herald-Standard sports writer Jonathan Guth can be reached via email at jonathanguth85@gmail.com or jguth@heraldstandard.com.