MORGANTOWN — It could have been a moment that called for a quick quip, the kind that would make for a good sound bite on the local news and where everyone in the media would chuckle and move on.
To be sure, that’s how former WVU baseball coach Randy Mazey would have handled being ejected from a game, likely telling us people holding a notepad or camera he was just having a heated discussion with the ump on where to have dinner that evening.
Steve Sabins is not Mazey. I think we’ve all known that since the start of this 2025 season — Sabins’ first as the Mountaineers head coach since taking over the program — but his first ejection of the season last Saturday against Texas Tech definitely made that clear.
It was not a joking matter for Sabins.
“I take pride in that not happening,” he said afterward. “I don’t like that I was ejected. That was my fault. That’s not the standard I want to set for our guys.”
The story Sabins told last June of his promotion to head coach was, in part, Mazey going to bat for him with WVU athletic director Wren Baker.
At the time, Sabins’ resumé seemed to be good enough for anyone to go to bat for him.
His previous nine years with the program were mainly spent as a recruiting guru of sorts. He had consistently found talent where few others bothered to look. He built strong and lasting relationships. The players absolutely respect him.
There is something else you need to know about Sabins: When he sits down with the media and those TV cameras are shining right in his face, he is as unique a coach as there may have ever been or will be at the school.
He is thoughtful and understanding, patient and warmhearted.
He answers questions — even the odd and rather silly ones — like he was talking to his best friend at a class reunion rather than sitting at a press conference.
The message Sabins sends out is one of passion for his task at hand, his players and their opportunities and he’s been very open about that since Day 1.
The Mountaineers can’t be like most others in college baseball and survive. That point is Sabins’ soapbox to a large degree.
WVU doesn’t play in the biggest and best conference. It doesn’t get to play 80% of its games at home.
It practices in the snow at the start of the season and then has to pray for no rain for the rest of it.
It can’t use the bulk of the recruiting hours scouting only the top prospects. It’s got to find guys who want to prove something or have a chip on their shoulder, so to speak.
Finding those players is a bit more of a journey.
WVU has to be different. It needs a different type of coach to understand that.
It needs coach Sabins.
“I think it starts at the top with him with our culture,” is the way WVU outfielder Kyle West explained it. “We’re trying to win every game possible, no matter what it takes. I think it definitely starts with him. He’s definitely a culture setter.”
That culture Sabins has set is to embrace the differences. Embrace practicing in the snow. Embrace playing on the road.
Soak all of that in and get tough, get gritty. Stay focused on the here and now rather than what may happen two weeks down the road.
And never let anyone see you sweat.
It’s maybe that last part that is running through Sabins’ mind, as he’s talking about the ejection.
He lost his cool on a questionable balk call that cost WVU a run in what ended up as a 6-4 loss.
Most baseball coaches do. YouTube is filled with thousands upon thousands of videos of baseball coaches getting ejected. Legendary managers like Billy Martin made getting the heave-ho an art form.
Yet Sabins stresses his WVU program doing it a different way. In his mind, that includes him, too.
“Whether I agree or not with the call, that doesn’t matter,” Sabins continued. “Whether I agree with the ejection or how it happened doesn’t matter either. The artificial energy is a negative thing for the team.
“We preach focusing on ourselves and what we’re doing and competing in the moment. To get outside of that is a bad example for our team.”
It’s with all of that in mind that we go back to Mazey’s discussions with Baker.
Sure, Sabins’ resumé was solid, but four months into his first regular season, it’s obvious now Mazey was going to bat for Sabins for a heck of a lot more than just a resumé.
In that one small moment, yeah, there was some typical and expected baseball coach coming out of Sabins.
For those who know what Sabins is all about, there’s so much more.
“It took the right moment to get it out of him,” WVU second baseman Sam White said. “It sucked to lose him, but I love seeing a manager who has his players’ backs.
“He didn’t love it. He knows we’re all out there competing. He wants it just as bad as we do.”
