MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (June 11, 2024) – A pair of West Virginia University baseball players earned All-East Region status from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) on Tuesday. Senior starting pitcher Derek Clark was named to the first team while junior shortstop JJ Wetherholt earned a spot on the second team.
Clark is the 35th Mountaineer in program history to be named to the first team and the first pitcher since Alek Manoah in 2019. Overall, he is just the ninth WVU pitcher to be a first-team selection dating back to 1983.
In his only season with the Mountaineers, Clark went 8-3 on the mound with a 3.23 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 97.2 innings pitched. He tossed four complete games this season, second most in the country. The Petersburg, Michigan native saved some of his best pitching for the postseason as he was named the Tucson Regional Most Outstanding Player.
Wetherholt earns all-region honors for the second straight season after being a first-team selection in 2023. He is the 25th WVU baseball player to be named to the second team and the eighth player to be a two-time all-region selection.
Despite missing 24 games, Wetherholt still led the Mountaineers with a .331 batting average while hitting eight home runs to go along with 30 RBI and 30 runs scored. He also led the team with a .472 OBP as he walked 30 times against just 17 strikeouts. The projected first-round draft pick likely wrapped up his career as one of the best players in WVU history, finishing with a .370 batting average, 206 hits, 29 home runs, 49 doubles, 129 RBI, 148 runs scored, and 57 stolen bases.
Press Release Courtesy of WVU Athletics
