Prior to last year’s historic run for the West Virginia baseball program, there was a young freshman pitcher that caught the eye of head coach Randy Mazey and then-junior right-handed pitcher Alek Manoah during the fall of 2018.
Manoah didn’t pitch during the fall, but while watching the pitchers inside Monongalia County Ballpark one day with Mazey, they took special notice of right-hander Ryan Bergert.
“We both agreed that (Bergert) would help us the most this year,” Manoah said last May. “Just watching him throw, (he) wasn’t a highly, big time recruit coming in or anything but just his work ethic, his demeanor, the way he goes out there, the way he works every day, he’s not scared of the bright lights.”
Bergert proved just that during the Big 12 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City, making his first collegiate start against Texas Tech in an elimination game with a berth to the Big 12 Championship Game on the line.
In that game, Bergert and fellow freshman right-hander Zach Ottinger combined to shut out the Red Raiders and helped the Mountaineers advance to the title game against Oklahoma State. Bergert finished that game pitching five scoreless innings and allowed just one hit to go along with four strikeouts and no walks.
Prior to that, Bergert had made 15 appearances as a reliever. After his impressive showing against Texas Tech, he started Morgantown Regional elimination game against Texas A&M where he pitched three innings, allowed two hits, three walks, no runs and struck out three batters.
Overall, Bergert finished his freshman campaign with a 2-0 record, 1.85 ERA, and struck out 38 batters in 34 total innings pitched. He allowed 23 hits and seven earned runs in 17 total appearances on the mound.
In fact, Bergert didn't allow a single run in his final 10 appearances on the mound during his freshman year (19.1 innings).
“He’s not scared to go pitch against Texas Tech in a winners bracket game or whatever it was,” Manoah said. “He wants that ball. He wants to go show who he is. He just has fun pitching. It was a surprise for you guys, but for us, we knew (Bergert). It was just about how long he was going to go.”
Now, an opportunity to take on a much larger role lies ahead for Bergert with the Mountaineers heading into his sophomore season.
With West Virginia losing three of its four starting pitchers in Manoah, Kade Strowd and Nick Snyder to the MLB Draft, the team is obviously going to need pitchers to step up and fill those vacancies and innings.
Who better to fill one of those roles than the man who caught Manoah’s attention during last fall?
That’s just what Mazey is counting on Bergert to do this season alongside the lone returning starting pitcher in junior left-hander Jackson Wolf.
“Ryan Bergert needs to be a workhorse for us,” Mazey said. “He had a great summer and pitched really well for us at the end of last season. So hopefully he’s going to be a guy that every time out can give you seven-plus innings once the pitch counts get up. He’s a strike thrower with some quality pitches so between him and Wolf, those are the guys that are capable we think, if they get hot, winning 8-10 games.”
Bergert’s success during the postseason did more than just give him momentum going into the summer with the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League.
“I think it gave me more confidence than anything,” Bergert said. “Just going into the summer, knowing that I can do it against some of the best teams in the nation and so with that under my belt, I just have a lot more confidence now.”
The Canton, Ohio native used his summer with the Foresters to get used to starting games and of course work on his craft which included improving his offspeed pitches and location of his fast ball.
He helped the Foresters win the California state title alongside West Virginia teammates Tevin Tucker and Brock Helverson and recorded a 4-1 record during the summer along with three saves, a 2.23 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 32.1 innings.
Bergert admitted that the idea of being a starter didn’t cross his mind until Manoah, Snyder and Strowd all signed after they were drafted in the MLB Draft.
It’s not known what exactly West Virginia’s pitching rotation will look like, but one thing you can count on is Bergert continuing to put in the effort each day as Manoah, Mazey and the Mountaineers saw him do last season.
“Just put my head down and work--do what I’m told,” Bergert said when asked what the next step for him is. “That’s how my mindset’s been ever since I stepped on campus, so I’m just going to keep doing that.”
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