Life as a Mountaineer – Darius Hill
May 08, 2019 11:00 AM | Baseball
Darius Hill said he almost played basketball, just like his father Eddie Hill, a former Washington State player, and his younger brother Marcus Hill, now playing hoops for the Air Force Academy.
"I was a basketball guy," he admitted. "My dad played in college and my brother is playing at Air Force right now so it was a hard decision for me, but baseball was just a huge passion and I ended up sticking with it in high school."
It's a good thing he did, otherwise, the Mountaineer baseball team would have been swept last weekend against TCU because they wouldn't have benefitted from Hill's two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Horned Frogs 6-5.
West Virginia also wouldn't have benefitted from Hill's bases loaded walk to defeat TCU two years ago, or the many other victories it has gotten with Hill in the lineup.
And, Darius been in the lineup in right field from virtually the moment he walked on campus.
"He's a guy who started performing from day one," West Virginia coach Randy Mazey said. "He hit his way into the lineup early in his freshman year and has stayed."
Tonight ,when West Virginia faces Virginia Tech down in Blacksburg, the Dallas Baptist product is going to set the school record for career games played with 221 – all of them starts.
He's also moving up the career charts in several other offensive categories as one of the most productive hitters in school history. His career .318 batting average includes 16 home runs and 95 extra base hits in 883 at bats.
"He's the guy you want at the plate when the game's on the line. It's been that way for four years now," Mazey said, adding that his senior possesses an intellectual approach to his hitting.
"My main thing at the plate is to be on time for the fastball every time," Hill explained. "I feel like I have good enough hand-eye coordination and preparedness to adjust to anything else that comes in.
"It's a unique game because there is so much failure," he continued. "It's how you handle the failure and how you proceed and how you just keep playing. There are so many games and so many opportunities to get better and learn more about yourself."
Hill said he also learned that playing for a program with fans as passionate as West Virginia's has made his experience at WVU so rewarding.
"Coming from Texas, you see some passionate fans but for an entire town and an entire state to be so invested in a team it's just unbelievable to be a part of it. I love it," he said.
His coach has loved writing Hill's name on his lineup card each time he's carried one out to the umpire for the last four years.
"Darius has been super low maintenance since he's been here," Mazey said. "He's very easy to coach. He's very intellectual and analytical and he's just been a pleasure to be around for the last four years."
Life as a Mountaineer is presented by WVU Medicine
Produced by Chris Ostien
"I was a basketball guy," he admitted. "My dad played in college and my brother is playing at Air Force right now so it was a hard decision for me, but baseball was just a huge passion and I ended up sticking with it in high school."
It's a good thing he did, otherwise, the Mountaineer baseball team would have been swept last weekend against TCU because they wouldn't have benefitted from Hill's two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Horned Frogs 6-5.
West Virginia also wouldn't have benefitted from Hill's bases loaded walk to defeat TCU two years ago, or the many other victories it has gotten with Hill in the lineup.
And, Darius been in the lineup in right field from virtually the moment he walked on campus.
"He's a guy who started performing from day one," West Virginia coach Randy Mazey said. "He hit his way into the lineup early in his freshman year and has stayed."
Tonight ,when West Virginia faces Virginia Tech down in Blacksburg, the Dallas Baptist product is going to set the school record for career games played with 221 – all of them starts.
He's also moving up the career charts in several other offensive categories as one of the most productive hitters in school history. His career .318 batting average includes 16 home runs and 95 extra base hits in 883 at bats.
"He's the guy you want at the plate when the game's on the line. It's been that way for four years now," Mazey said, adding that his senior possesses an intellectual approach to his hitting."My main thing at the plate is to be on time for the fastball every time," Hill explained. "I feel like I have good enough hand-eye coordination and preparedness to adjust to anything else that comes in.
"It's a unique game because there is so much failure," he continued. "It's how you handle the failure and how you proceed and how you just keep playing. There are so many games and so many opportunities to get better and learn more about yourself."
Hill said he also learned that playing for a program with fans as passionate as West Virginia's has made his experience at WVU so rewarding.
"Coming from Texas, you see some passionate fans but for an entire town and an entire state to be so invested in a team it's just unbelievable to be a part of it. I love it," he said.
His coach has loved writing Hill's name on his lineup card each time he's carried one out to the umpire for the last four years.
"Darius has been super low maintenance since he's been here," Mazey said. "He's very easy to coach. He's very intellectual and analytical and he's just been a pleasure to be around for the last four years."
Life as a Mountaineer is presented by WVU Medicine
Produced by Chris Ostien
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