West Virginia second baseman JJ Wetherholt has been named Big 12 Player of the Year, the Big 12. Conference announced on Tuesday.
The sophomore from Mars, Pa., had an incredible year for the Mountaineers, and helped lead them to their first ever Big 12 regular season title. Wetherholt is also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best college baseball player in the country each season.
“Players like JJ don’t come along all that often. You have good players that in 35 years I’ve coached and you just know they’re good players, but JJ’s a different cat now. He does it all really, really well,” West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey said on Tuesday.
Wetherholt led the Big 12 in batting average (.447), slugging percentage (.786), on base + slugging percentage (1.296), hits (92), and stolen bases (35). Wetherholt also was second in the conference in on base percentage, runs scored and doubles.
“It’s just a joy to be around him this year. I’ve never seen a season like he’s had before,” Mazey said. “And the way he’s gone through and handled it has been something special.”
This is the third time since joining the Big 12 that West Virginia has had someone named to a major postseason award given by the Big 12, and the first time a Mountaineer has won Big 12 Player of the Year.
Randy Mazey Big 12 Coach of the Year: Read Here
WVU with 13 all-conference selections: Read Here
