COACHING STAFF
MARK GINTHER ASSISTANT COACH 4TH SEASON
Mark Ginther is in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the West Virginia baseball program, serving as the infield coach and assisting with the hitters. Ginther has already left his mark on the program by assisting in the recruitment efforts of student-athletes. The 2019 class ranked No. 21 nationally, marking WVU’s first top-25 recruiting class in program history. The 2020, 2021 and 2022 classes also ranked inside the top-40 nationally. In his first year at WVU in 2019, the Mountaineers went 38-22, marking the secondmost wins in program history, earned a trip to the Big 12 Championship final and hosted its first NCAA Regional since 1955. The Mountaineers were ranked in the top 25 in each of the final eight weeks of the season, a program record, and finished as high as No. 19 by the NCBWA. WVU’s historic season also featured a program-record eight players selected in the 2019 MLB First-Year Players Draft, including right-handed pitcher Alek Manoah, who was
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picked 11th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays Other 2019 draft picks included senior Ivan Gonzalez (eighth round, Chicago White Sox), junior Nick Snyder (11th round, Arizona Diamondbacks), junior Kade Strowd (12th round, Baltimore Orioles), junior Brandon White (17th round, Los Angeles Angels), senior Darius Hill (20th round, Chicago Cubs), junior Chase Illig (29th round, New York Yankees) and junior Sam Kessler (34th round, Detroit Tigers). Additionally, a program-record 11 Mountaineers earned Big 12 honors in 2019, including five second-team selections. In 2020, WVU played just 16 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The squad finished 11-5, marking the program’s best 16-game start since 2009. Following the season, a pair of WVU newcomers – left-handed pitcher Jake Carr and infielder/catcher Matt McCormick – earned Freshman All-America honors by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the first time two Mountaineers accomplished the feat in the same season since 2016.
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