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MORGANTOWN – By his own admission heading into the 2023 college baseball season, J.J. Wetherholt understood how he was being overlooked.
His freshman season had been solid, but nothing spectacular he said, and Wetherholt realized he had much to prove.
That mission was accomplished in a big way, as the WVU infielder put together one of the finest individual seasons in all of college baseball.
No, he wasn’t on the preseason all-Big 12 team or mentioned as a preseason All-American candidate. By the end of the 2023 season, there was no keeping Wetherholt from elite status.
“I’ve had this conversation before, but those guys didn’t believe in me until they had no choice but to believe in me,” Wetherholt said at the start of this season.
In 2023, Wetherholt became the first WVU player to lead the nation in hitting, finishing with a .449 batting average. He added 16 home runs, 60 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.
He finished with 16 games of three or more hits, had a 13-game hitting streak to begin the season and also had a 10-game hitting streak later in the year.
It all led to being named Big 12 Player of the Year, as well as being named a first-team All-American.
On Saturday, Wetherholt was named the Hardman Award winner, which goes to the state’s top amateur athlete, as voted by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. Wetherholt will be honored at the 77th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 5 in Wheeling.
“I want to say thank you to the West Virginia Sports Writers Association for honoring me with the Hardman Award,” he said.
“It means a lot to me, and I also want to say thank you to my coaches and teammates who have helped me get to this point thus far. I really appreciate it.”
Wetherholt, from Mars. Pa., won the award with WVU offensive lineman Zach Frazier finishing second and WVU women’s basketball guard J.J. Quinerly taking third.
