Maxx Yehl and Chansen Cole, pitchers for the West Virginia University baseball team, were named semifinalists for the National Pitcher of the Year award by the College Baseball Foundation on Apr. 22. The list includes a total of 43 pitchers from across collegiate baseball.
The recognition highlights both players’ performances this season as they helped their team achieve strong results. Being named to this list places them among some of the top pitchers in college baseball.
Brian Melakian, chair of the National Pitcher of the Year Award, said, “This group of pitchers has been clearly dominant, and in most cases have put their teams in position to have great seasons. As we near the final stretch of the season, it will be exciting to see which players step up to help lead their teams to postseason success and emerge as finalists for the National Pitcher of the Year.”
Yehl currently holds a record of five wins and one loss this season with a Big 12-leading earned run average (ERA) of 2.41. He also leads his team with 62 strikeouts, ranking sixth overall in conference statistics. Cole leads all Big 12 pitchers with six wins on the mound while maintaining an ERA of 2.82—third best in league standings.
West Virginia is one out of seven programs that have multiple semifinalists on this year’s list along with Auburn, Liberty, North Carolina, Oregon State, Texas, and UCLA. This marks the first time since Alek Manoah was recognized as a semifinalist in 2019 that two Mountaineers have received this honor; Manoah later advanced as one of five finalists.
