Baseball: Weghorst Joins Coaching Staff
August 25, 2010 05:22 PM | General
August 25, 2010
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| Greg Van Zant |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University baseball coach Greg Van Zant announced the hiring of Jake Weghorst today as an assistant coach.
“Jake is an outstanding young baseball coach,” says Van Zant. “He did a fantastic job for us last year as our volunteer assistant. He deserves this promotion, and I couldn’t have hired a better coach. His previous coaching experience, along with his outstanding collegiate career, should help us progress as a team. Jake is a real positive for our baseball program.”
While serving as the WVU volunteer assistant last season, Weghorst’s primary duties included serving as the bullpen coach on game days, while assisting both the pitchers and outfielders. The Mountaineers finished the season 27-30 and advanced to the 2010 BIG EAST Tournament.
The Lorena, Texas, native spent the 2008-09 season as a volunteer assistant and the pitching coach for the University of Tennessee-Martin. The Skyhawks’ 21 victories that season were then a program-best mark and their most since becoming an NCAA Division I program.
Weghorst has been active in the collegiate summer baseball leagues. He has spent the last two summers as an assistant coach for the Front Royal Cardinals in the Valley Baseball League. The squad went 27-25 this past summer and fell to Luray in the championship round of the Lineweaver Cup Series. The Cardinals also concluded the season with the league’s second-best team ERA (3.30). In his first summer with the team, Front Royal earned the league’s 2009 regular-season crown with a 30-17 record and finished on top of the league’s team ERA (3.40) standings.
Prior to his time with the Cardinals, Weghorst spent the 2007 summer with the Duncanville Deputies of the Texas Collegiate League and served as the pitching coach.
Weghorst enjoyed a two-year career as a reliever for Baylor University, lettering both years. His senior season in 2006 was highlighted by a 27-inning scoreless streak that covered 17 appearances, as he set a Big 12 Conference record for the lowest ERA (0.00) in league play. He finished his standout junior campaign with a team-best 1.73 ERA in 24 appearances, and helped lead Baylor to NCAA Regional appearances in both seasons with the Bears.
Prior to his playing career at Baylor, Weghorst was a first-team all-conference pitcher and a member of the Texas-New Mexico Junior College All-Star team at Angelina College. His pitching prowess guided the school to the Region 14 East Zone Conference crown in his sophomore season.
Weghorst earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Baylor in December 2007, specializing in health, human performance and recreation programs.
