West Virginia Black Bears

The West Virginia Black Bears are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Granville, West Virginia, and play their home games at Monongalia County Ballpark, which is across the Monongahela River from Morgantown and West Virginia University. From 2015 to 2020, they were a Minor League Baseball team of the New York–Penn League. They were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates from their inception until MLB's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season.[1]

West Virginia Black Bears
Founded in 2015
Granville, West Virginia
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassCollegiate summer (from 2021)
Previous classesClass A Short Season (2015–2020)
LeagueMLB Draft League (from 2021)
Previous leagues
New York–Penn League (2015–2020)
Major league affiliations
TeamUnaffiliated (from 2021)
Previous teamsPittsburgh Pirates (2015–2020)
Minor league titles
League titles (1)2015
Team data
ColorsBlack, gold, blue, white
       
BallparkMonongalia County Ballpark (2015–present)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Bob Rich, Jr. (Rich Baseball Operations)
General ManagerMatt Drayer
ManagerTBD

In August 2014, it was announced that the Jamestown Jammers would cease operations and move to Morgantown.[2] On October 22, the team announced that they would be named the "Black Bears" following a fan vote, as the American black bear is the state animal of West Virginia.[3] Other finalists included Black Diamonds, Canaries, Coal Kings, Coal Sox, Energy, Moonshiners, Muskets, Wild Ones, and Wonder.[4]

In January 2015, Wyatt Toregas was named as their inaugural manager.[5] The Black Bears won the New York–Penn League wild card in their inaugural season.[6] The team then defeated the Williamsport Crosscutters and the Staten Island Yankees to win the 2015 New York–Penn League Championship.[7]

Roster
West Virginia Black Bears roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 31 Braxton Ashcraft
  • 22 Bear Bellomy
  • 55 Michael Burrows
  • 30 Xavier Concepcion
  • 48 Francis Del Orbe
  • 26 Matt Eardensohn
  • 51 J.C. Flowers
  • 12 Grant Ford
  • 37 Domingo Gonzalez
  • 31 Orsen Josephina
  • 32 Cameron Junker
  • 38 Garrett Leonard
  • 58 Trey McGough
  • 34 Quinn Priester
  • 19 Alec Rennard
  • 17 Austin Roberts
  • 29 Denny Roman
  • 64 Julio Rosario
  • 54 Jesus Valles
  • 18 Jacob Webb

Catchers

  •  3 Elys Escobar
  • 13 Ryan Haug
  • 10 Kyle Wilkie

Infielders

  •  2 Dean Lockery
  •  6 Victor Ngoepe
  • 16 Nick Patten
  • 62 Ethan Paul
  • 23 Jared Triolo
  • 27 Cory Wood

Outfielders

  • 28 Brendt Citta
  • 52 Matthew Fraizer
  • 36 Matt Gorski
  •  5 Brett Kinneman
  • 59 Will Matthiessen
  • 24 Blake Sabol
  • 25 Fernando Villegas

Manager

  • -- Jonathan Johnston

Coaches


7-day injured list
* On Pittsburgh Pirates 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated February 16, 2020
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • New York–Penn League
 → Pittsburgh Pirates minor league players

Season-by-season record
West Virginia Black Bears (New York–Penn League)
YearRegular seasonPost-season
RecordWin %FinishRecordWin %ResultMLB
201542-34.5532nd Pinckney Division4-1.800Won Semifinals vs. Williamsport Crosscutters, 2–1
Won Championship vs. Staten Island Yankees, 2-0		Pirates
201638-38.5003rd Pinckney Division——Did not qualify for playoffsPirates
201740-35.5333rd Pinckney Division——Did not qualify for playoffsPirates
201832-44.4215th Pinckney Division——Did not qualify for playoffsPirates
201940-36.5262nd Pinckney Division——Did not qualify for playoffsPirates
Totals192-182.506—4-1.800

References
  1. "Black Bears retain affiliation with MLB, are founding member of Major League Baseball Draft League". West Virginia Black Bears. Minor League Baseball. November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  2. Vingle, Mitch. Morgantown lands NY-Penn League baseball team. Charleston Gazette. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  3. "New NYPL club to be called the Black Bears: Team also decides to identify primarily with state of West Virginia". MiLB.com (Press release). Rich Baseball Operations. October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  4. Vote to name new Morgantown team MiLB.com
  5. Biertempfel, Rob (January 15, 2015). "Pirates Notebook: Assignments Finalized". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
  6. Heneghan, Kelsie (September 7, 2015). "Bears seal NYPL Wild Card in first season". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  7. Zimm, Tyler (September 15, 2015). "Black Bears Claim NYPL Championship". West Virginia Black Bears. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
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