Ahead of a June 10th trip to Omaha, I’d only heard positive reviews of the Men’s College World Series and the city that hosts it.

After an eight-night stay in Nebraska’s biggest city, it’s easy to see why.

The event at Charles Schwab Field was well-run and organized starting with Thursday practice for each of the eight participants.

The ballpark, which opened in 2011, is a state of the art, clean venue with a wide variety of concession offerings and a spacious press box that easily accommodated media members while all eight teams played two games over the first four days.

Crowds were strong and made their presence felt, particularly over the first several days.

There are fan-friendly activities just outside the stadium and no shortage of restaurants and bars within walking distance to partake in pregame or postgame festivities.

Perhaps Troy coach Skylar Meade summed it up best after the Trojans were eliminated Tuesday with a 12-0 loss to West Virginia that marked their second setback to the Mountaineers over a 96-hour stretch.

“Every person who came here now knows what this place is,” Meade said. “It’s the most unique place in the world. It’s the best college sporting event bar none. No offense to the others. Rose Bowl is awesome. It ain’t this.”

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This was the third straight year I was present for West Virginia’s last game of the season after being on hand for the 2024 Super Regional series at North Carolina and again last year at LSU on the same stage.

Taking in the atmosphere in 2025 at Alex Box Stadium, when the Mountaineers played in front of consecutive crowds of 12,000-plus, provided a look at college baseball I’d never experienced and a newfound appreciation of the sport.

The MCWS took it a step further and continued the ascension of a Mountaineer program that gained national notoriety while hosting the Morgantown Regional and a Super Regional series against Cal Poly.

Envisioning WVU playing on the premier stage in college baseball was unfathomable a decade ago and even highly unlikely as recently as five years back.

But let’s not forget this is a program with four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and one of only two (North Carolina the other) to reach the Super Regional round each of the last three years.

What transpired this season as the Mountaineers set a new single-season program mark with 47 victories is a culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people within the program and athletic department alike, but it cannot be considered an overnight success story.

While West Virginia was swept in best-of-three sets in Chapel Hill and Baton Rouge, it’s important to remember those were 36 and 44-win teams that won regionals outside of Morgantown — feats fans should appreciate even more after witnessing the postseason atmosphere at Kendrick Family Ballpark.

WVU hadn’t won in the Super Regional round prior to this season, but two years ago, it had a ninth-inning lead against the Tar Heels in Game 1 and lost Game 2 by one run. Last season, the Mountaineers were eliminated by the eventual national champion.

“There are financial realities of the sport, and people may have assumptions about specific programs or about West Virginia in general that may or may not be correct,” WVU coach Steve Sabins said. “We have a whole lot of people working really hard on a whole lot of different areas, whether that’s Gold & Blue Enterprises, whether that’s BioPrecision with us, whether that’s the School of Sports Science or Biomechanics and Performance Center, whether that’s third-party NIL, specific donors, West Virginia has all of that.

“And it’s competing at the highest levels in all these areas, and I think it would probably surprise a lot of folks of the amount of effort, work, attention to detail and financial resources that have been poured into our program.”

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A tip of the cap to West Virginia senior outfielder Brock Wills.

The UNC Wilmington transfer was a mainstay in the Mountaineer lineup throughout the regular season and Big 12 Conference Tournament when he appeared in 50 of 53 games with 45 starts.

When the NCAA Tournament rolled around, Sabins opted to start fellow senior Ben Lumsden in place of Wills.

The decision proved difficult to debate as Lumsden came up with numerous hits in key spots and finished 12-for-37 with three home runs, two doubles, 13 RBI and 11 base-on-balls over 11 games.

Wills, meanwhile, came off the bench to play in three NCAA Tournament games, one of which was Wednesday’s 12-7 season-ending loss to North Carolina when he came on as a right fielder to start the fifth inning.

Wills had three plate appearances against the Tar Heels, the first of which was a well-struck, but tough-luck double play on a liner to second base with the bases loaded in the sixth. He followed it with a walk in the seventh and a single in the ninth.

“So awesome. That kid has been such an instrumental piece of this team,” Sabins said. “In high-level competition, things don’t always go your way. There’s only nine dudes that get to play, and so coaches have to make hard decisions, and that happens every single year. And some years it’s a bigger storyline and some years it’s not, and some guys play good and some guys don’t. And there’s always some mix of that.

“But when things don’t go your way, it’s very easy to cash out. And so when you see a kid that has been so team-oriented and then to get inserted into the biggest game of his career and perform, it just shows you everything that you need to know about character. Because if you cash out, you don’t roll into the highest competition in the world and have success.

“Whether he had success or not, I knew his character. I knew that he was still working, and I knew he was team-oriented, and I knew he was fighting like hell to be great for the Mountaineers, and that’s why he got his opportunity. That’s why it came back around to him.”

For the season, Wills hit .283 (47-for-166) with two home runs, six doubles, three triples and 23 RBI.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va – Charleston is celebrating Juneteenth with its annual parade, followed by a celebration in Slack Plaza featuring live entertainment, food, educational exhibits, and more.

The parade stepped off from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center at 11:30 on Friday with a long line of organizations participating and several community members recognized as “Mr. and Miss Juneteenth.” Smiles dotted the procession as organizers watched a community come together.

“It’s just a wonderful thing when we can bring the community together to celebrate freedom, and here in West Virginia, we’ve had some challenges because they’ve said that Juneteenth is not a state holiday, but our people are still celebrating,” parade chairperson Karen Williams said.

The parade marked the start of an entire day recognizing the history of Juneteenth, the emancipation of more than 250,000 enslaved Black people when the Union Army arrived at Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. With the last stronghold of slavery in the Confederate States eradicated that day, June 19 came to be celebrated as a second independence day, and President Joe Biden established it as a national holiday in 2021.

In West Virginia, former Gov. Jim Justice was the first to declare a state holiday and did so in each of his last four years in office. Gov. Patrick Morrisey recognized Juneteenth with a proclamation on Friday but has not declared a state holiday in 2025 or 2026.

“Representation really matters, so seeing Black queens and Black kings roaming the streets of Charleston is a beautiful thing, and it’s a needed thing. I think there’s a lot more people that aren’t going to celebrate Juneteenth than people that are, so I think it’s really important that we continue to celebrate this holiday and show why it’s important,” Miss Juneteenth Adult Keyarna Frederick said.

Different groups from around the Kanawha Valley came out to participate from businesses and youth organizations to political committees and arts collectives. Williams believes that shows that Juneteenth is a day for the entire community to celebrate.

“Appalachian people have always grown up and lived together, and what we want—we want people to continue that. We want people to continue to be together. We’re not saying this is a Black event or a white event. We welcome all people to come and participate,” she said.

The parade route echoed her sentiment as nearly everyone who joined the parade shared handshakes, high-fives, and hugs. That spirit of togetherness spoke to the day’s honorees as well.

“It’s definitely something that we should all be celebrating. It’s for all of us, not just for a certain color or a certain kind. It’s for all of us, so I believe everyone should be celebrating this day,” Mr. Juneteenth Adult Edward Frederick said.

“This is my first time in the parade. It’s so beautiful. It’s so amazing to see different organizations a part of the parade, seeing how much muscle has went into even doing something like this, so I think it’s a beautiful thing for Charleston,” Keyarna Frederick added.

From the parade to the activities in Slack Plaza, the day’s organizers sought to create an environment to celebrate Juneteenth with a spirit of unity. Williams hopes that anyone that joined or watched felt that along the way.

“I want them to see that we are Almost Heaven, West Virginia; that we are celebrating freedom; and that we are a community that embraces one another,” she said.