Staying Home
April 03, 2008 05:49 PM | General
April 3, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Home is where the heart is. It’s a familiar phrase and in the case of West Virginia freshman second basemen Jedd Gyorko, it’s a way of life.
The Morgantown native and brother of former WVU linebacker Scott Gyorko starred for University High and garnered all-conference accolades all four years as well as all-state recognition his last three seasons as a Hawk. He also led Morgantown’s American Legion Post 2 team to state championships in 2004 and 2007.
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| Freshman Jedd Gyorko is second on the team in hitting with a .439 batting average.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
With such an esteemed high school career, Gyorko had a bevy of scholarship options coming out of high school including Clemson and St. John’s. While he kept his options open through much of the recruiting process, the pull to stay home and play for his hometown university eventually won out.
“When it came down to it I wanted to stay home and go to WVU,” Gyorko said. “I’ve lived here all my life and it’s really a big benefit for me being close to my family and having them watch me play every day.”
The opportunity to have Scott cheer him on from the stands just like Jedd did for his big brother at WVU football games a few years back is something very special to the younger Gyorko. While the brothers have always been supportive of each other’s athletic careers, Jedd admits there has also been some good-natured competitiveness along the way.
“We talked about that a little bit. He’s always been about football and I’ve always been a baseball guy so we’ve always had our little differences,” Gyorko said. “We’ve always had a little competitive edge to us so it makes it interesting.”
Most true freshmen have an adjustment period as they make the jump from high school pitching to college pitching. That has not been the case for Gyorko, who has hit the ground running in just over a month of collegiate baseball experience.
He is currently second on the team in batting average at .439 with four home runs going into this weekend’s series against USF. He has started all 28 games for West Virginia (22-6) at second base and has yet to commit an error.
“I don’t know if anyone could expect to come in and do what I’ve done so far but I am just trying to feel my way through and help this team in whatever way I can,” Gyorko said.
Gyorko couldn’t be happier with the way his college career is going so far and he says that his teammates have helped make the transition from high school to college even smoother.
“The chemistry is great. We all enjoy going out to the ballpark everyday and trying to get victories. I’ve been received great and my teammates are unbelievable,” Gyorko said. “They have helped me through every little thing. I can’t say enough about what they have done for me this year.”
Through the first half of the season, Gyorko has noticed that the major differences from high school to college involve game speed and pitching.
“The main difference is the pitch locations that the pitchers hit,” Gyorko said. “The game is of course a lot faster than what you will get in high school and legion ball but the pitching and the pitch locations are the main differences.”
Gyorko believes that the Mountaineers’ win at Rutgers in the series finale last weekend might be a victory the team points to later as a turning point in the season. West Virginia had lost 14 straight games in Piscataway dating back to April 5, 1997.
“I think getting that win was absolutely huge. If we lose that game we would be 3-3 in the conference and in the middle of the pack in our league,” Gyorko said. “Now were 4-2 and in the upper level of the Big East heading into this weekend. Anytime you can get a Big East victory - especially on the road - it’s huge.”
West Virginia will have a chance to pick up a few more league wins when they welcome USF to Hawley Field for a three-game series beginning Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Game two is slated for Saturday at 3 p.m. with the finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bulls (14-13, 4-5) dropped two out of three against Georgetown last weekend but are coming off a 17-4 pasting of UCF on Tuesday night.
“Any time you play a southern team, of course, you’re going to think they are going to be good,” Gyorko said. “They’ve got a few good pitchers and some great hitters so we’re going to take it one game at a time and see if we can get some victories.”
When he steps into the batters box Friday night, Gyorko can look up and see his parents and brother cheering him on, just like it’s always been.
“I wanted to make this a winning program and we’re obviously off to a good start but to see my parents and my brother up in the stands at every game is very comforting,” Gyorko said. “It’s one of the main reasons I stayed here.”
Yes, home is where the heart is for Jedd Gyorko.
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Student radio station U-92 will also broadcast all three games with a live stream available at the web site u92.wvu.edu.
