Steve Sabins is in his second super regional in as many years, but this is his first as the head coach of the West Virginia baseball program.
And with that comes some differences.
“I don’t have as much time to talk to transfer portal kids on FaceTime calls, but I still try to get that in,” Sabins said when asked about it.
On the coaching side there are plenty of things from a decision-making standpoint that are different. As part of the requirement, Sabins has to spend a lot of time thinking about things that he wants to do and how they will win games.
Sabins has always considered himself a taskmaster and a type A personality, which means that he recruits, stays on things and is organized all with an effective schedule. But getting away from all of that in order to think about his team and roster has been the biggest change.
That’s especially important with mental preparation so that when moments do come up in games, there is a plan for what he wants to do in those moments. More experienced head coaches have already been in many of those situations and learned from them but that’s where Sabins relies on planning and going through those scenarios in his head.
“You have to spend a lot of time before those decisions come up, thinking about what may or may not happen with the decisions that you make,” Sabins said. “So you essentially are playing games in your head before games happen.”
That can be a difficult exercise given the fact that there are so many different variables, twists and turns that can unfold in a baseball game and you can only cover so much.
“It’s the decision making in the game that takes place and then the time that it takes and is required to prepare for those decisions,” he said.
That even includes umbrellas down into decisions with the travel roster and how Sabins will utilize the 27 spots available to him in terms of pitchers and hitters.
In the regional setting, more pitching is likely necessary in case there are more games, while the three-game Super Regional is more like what the Mountaineers typically play during the regular season.
“Like you probably won't end up pitching more than eight to 10 guys. If you're throwing more than 10 pitchers in a three-game set, things didn't go well for you,” he said.
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