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Wetherholt gives Mountaineers a presence in the collegiate Cape Cod league

By Bob Madison - For the Chronicle | Jun 16, 2023

When he returns to WVU for the 2024 season, JJ Wetherholt will be one of the most-watched players in college baseball by Major League Baseball organizations. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — JJ Wetherholt led all of NCAA Division I college baseball in batting average in the season that just closed for the WVU Mountaineers.

The sophomore second baseman batted a seldom-seen .449, as WVU showed a final 40-20 record, after bowing out of an NCAA Regional played at Kentucky.

Wetherholt has shown just as much excellence in the classroom as a finance major who has been recognized on the university’s President’s List, Dean’s List and Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll. Wetherholt’s batting average was the highest in all of NCAA Division I.

In his first season with the Mountaineers in 2022, Wetherholt did so well that he was honored on the Big 12 All-Freshman team.

The Mars (Pa.) Area High School graduate was an ultra-productive offensive player in the 2023 season. He scored 67 runs, had a school-record 101 hits, had 24 doubles and 16 home runs while driving in 60 runs. He was successful on 36-of-44 stolen base attempts. One of the figures that has caught the evaluating eye of Major League Baseball scouts is that Wetherholt struck out only 22 times in his many plate appearances.

On June 10, Wetherholt began a summer of closely-watched play in the venerable Cape Cod league, playing for the Harwich Mariners (Massachusetts) at stylish Whitehouse Field.

The Mariners started the summer schedule with 30 players — all with remaining collegiate eligibility. There were 15 pitchers and 15 so-called position players. League rosters call for a maximum of 30 players. Players must satisfy their individual teams because poor or indifferent play can cause a team to release them. The Mariners won their first two games.

With such a high percentage of its players stationed at NCAA Division I teams, the Cape Cod league takes into account that a goodly number of its usual players will be involved in NCAA Regionals, Super Regionals and the College World Series — therefore the necessity of beginning the league’s season as late as it does.

No Cape Cod league team can have more than four players from any college program, so schools like Vanderbilt and Florida will have that many individuals on one of the 10 teams when the College World Series is finally decided in late June.

The Cape’s Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Field, a well-groomed expanse of green that is surrounded by shaded stands that seat 4,000 knowledgeable fans. The field’s dimensions show it is 330-feet to left, 395-feet to center and 330-feet to right — fair distances for pitchers and hitters alike.

When he returns to WVU for the 2024 season, Wetherholt will be one of the most-watched players in college baseball by Major League organizations. He will be draft-eligible after the 2024 season, because it will be his third year in the collegiate ranks.

But for now, he will hopefully play until early August against the best competition the amateur summer can offer.