Hudson Byorick’s decision to transfer to West Virginia wasn’t the first time he made a college choice without completing what is often a pivotal step for high school recruits and transfers.
Taking a visit.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, campus visits have not been allowed for recruits and transfers, but that didn’t stop Byorick, a senior outfielder for Wofford this past season, from choosing Morgantown to be the place where he’ll spend his final year in college baseball. He had done the same thing after spending three years at Pierce College in Washington.
“Coming out of junior college, I committed to Wofford and I also didn’t take a visit there, so I feel like I had some sort of experience kind of blindly not taking a visit and going to a school,” Byorick told WVSports.com. Coach (Steve) Sabins sent me some videos and pictures and we had a little FaceTime tour for the baseball facilities. I mean everything that you need is kinda at the touch of your fingers these days.”
The Auburn, Washington native has had a pretty eventful baseball career.
From playing in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 2010, winning a state championship during his sophomore year of high school, choosing to attend junior college to develop and get better as a baseball player and playing two years at Wofford, Byorick has experienced a variety of ups and downs.
Among those ups and downs include suffering a torn rotator cuff and labrum during the fall of his sophomore season at junior college to eventually being recognized as one of the top hitters in all of college baseball.
“I just really have never given up and kinda just put my best foot forward and just try to get better every day regardless of what it is,” Byorick said. “I think just kinda keeping that goal in mind always helped me get to the next level.”
But before announcing his decision to transfer to the Mountaineers this past Monday, he faced a lot of uncertainty regarding his future in baseball.
Byorick was among those seniors who felt he may have played his final college baseball game after the season was cancelled due to the pandemic, which for him was a big 4-3 win over No. 14 Auburn for Wofford on March 11 that improved the Terriers’ record to 14-3.
But despite the news, Byorick remained positive and hopeful that he and fellow seniors across the country would be given an opportunity to gain some eligibility back which came to fruition when the NCAA Division I Council voted to grant all spring-sport student-athletes an additional year of eligibility.
“I felt like I knew that whenever a decision was made, we would be treated right as athletes and coaches really,” Byorick said. “I think I knew that we were somehow gonna be able to feel like the decision that was made was a good decision.”
He didn’t get a lot of attention from scouts and with rumors of the MLB Draft being shortened circulating (which later became official), Byorick felt his only two options were to either stay at Wofford or enter the transfer portal.
After having some conversations with Wofford’s coaches and weighing the academics factor, Byorick decided that entering the portal was the best decision for him.
“Wofford doesn’t have a graduate program, so I kinda wanted to further my academic career in that sense,” he said. ‘They had some good options, but they didn’t offer a master’s, so that’s kinda what I wanted to do.”
Numerous schools reached out to Byorick which made the situation overwhelming for him. One of those coaches that reached out was Sabins, West Virginia’s recruiting coordinator, and as talks between the two developed, Byorick’s interest in the program picked up as well which would later lead to his commitment.
According to Byorick, Sabins’s pitch included the breakthrough success of the West Virginia program over the past few seasons, the foundation that has been built and the opportunity to contribute.
“I felt like it was a good fit,” Byorick said. “I just felt like there was good chemistry there. Just the communication was really good and I guess ultimately being in college baseball and being in junior college and then the recruiting process once before leaving junior college and going to Wofford, I kind of realized what was important and the chemistry and the communication in that way and I felt like it was a good fit with coach Sabins and what he was selling.”
“He was excited and I definitely felt like, for me, I felt like I was making the right decision. That's kind of what matters the most. At the same time, it’s kind of been a stressful time period, so (I) kind of wanted to get that weight off my shoulders.” he later added.
Sabins admired Byorick’s professional at-bats and abilities to remain patient and selective at the plate.
Byorick finished his time at Wofford batting .336 with 93 hits, 53 RBIs, 57 walks and three homers in 78 career games with the Terriers. He totaled 277 at-bats, struck out 32 times and had an on-base percentage of .443 in 2019 and .500 through 17 games this year before the season’s cancellation.
“A lot of my game comes from knowing what I wanna hit and not really questioning too much,” Byorick said. “One of my best qualities I’d say is that I’m OK with taking a walk and I don’t really strike out too much. I just get on base which is probably one of the best things a hitter can do is just get on base.”
After falling to Mercer twice and losing the Southern Conference Championship last year, the 2020 Wofford team was out to redeem itself and make the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2007.
The season ending early was certainly disappointing for Byorick and the Terriers, but he remains thankful for his time at Wofford and the lifelong friendships he made.
“It was awesome,” Byorick said. “It was a family. It’s something that I’ll be so thankful for later in life and I’m already thankful for it now, but those are lifelong relationships I’ll have forever.”
Byorick has been accepted into the business data analytics master’s program at West Virginia and plans to arrive on campus about a week before classes start in the fall.
He’s looking forward to spending his final season of eligibility with the Mountaineers and experiencing the college town atmosphere Morgantown offers.
“I’ve heard so much about the community,” Byorick said. “It’s all West Virginia. I think that’s something I’m really looking forward to, just going there and just being in a college town. I’m excited to see that.”
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