Gallery by Tina Laney
Last season was not one to write home about for Beckley baseball.
The Flying Eagles finished 12-16 and dropped both Region 3, Section 2 tournament games for an early exit to the postseason.
Heading into year two of his tenure, head coach Michael McKinney is convinced much better days are on the horizon for Beckley baseball fans.
“The season was rocky in the beginning with us trying to build the program,” McKinney admitted. “This group of seniors bought in amidst a tough situation. I wish we could have had a little better season, but those seniors did everything I asked them to do.”
Andrew Lovell, Ari Payne, Connor Mollohan and Isaiah Patterson lost their freshman season due to the Covid pandemic for starters.
Over their final three seasons, the foursome also had a different coach each year with McKinney not being officially named head coach until this past January.
With such a short period of time to work with, scheduling games and early season weather issues kept the Beckley boys away from home most of the season.
“This past year, I think we only played six or seven home games,” McKinney said. “It was hard on our kids. It felt good to get back home, but they were wore out.”
Now with a full year to prepare for next season, McKinney is busy getting Beckley back to a more traditional schedule, which will include playing reigning Class AAA state champion Cabell Midland.
“I have been on the phone already getting our scheduled amped up. The schedule will be a little different this year,” McKinney said. “We want to keep the (Kanawha) valley teams like George Washington and Hurricane. I was on the phone today with Cabell Midland. We are going up to Bridgeport next year and playing in the McDonald’s Classic. We were really excited to be invited to it.”
Success has been no stranger to Beckley baseball over the years. Under former head coach Mark Daniel, the Flying Eagles won 10 sectional titles during his 19 years at the helm with the most recent coming in 2016. Daniel led Beckley to four regional titles and a runner-up finish at 2007 state baseball tournament.
While only time will tell if McKinney can get Beckley back to that type of success, there is clearly plenty of excitement surrounding the program.
“We have 26 kids out and two teams playing in the summer league. We have a really good group of freshman coming up and we will have a really good group of (incoming) seniors.” McKinney said. “They are top of the line kids. We will also have a couple juniors and couple of sophomores as well.”
Over the weekend at the Shady Spring Summer Baseball Classic, Beckley fans caught a glimpse of what could be the good things to come for the program.
The Beckley squad went undefeated to bring home the championship which included wins over Shady Spring, Oak Hill, PikeView, Riverside and Nicholas County.
“It is a young team, probably the youngest team I have ever coached,” McKinney said. “They are real players and we are going to throw these kids in the fire right away. They are dawgs and we feel like they can play at this level.”
Rising seniors Chase Tolliver, Blake Nixon and Ty Evans played well over the weekend along with rising sophomore Jackson Gambrell. All four will be counted on heavily next season.
Adding to the excitement now surrounding the program is the fact that Beckley will play its home games at Linda K. Epling Stadium.
“You are almost guaranteed 16 or 17 home games. That is big,” McKinney said. “We will now have the nicest facility in southern West Virginia. Everything is in place for our program to get where it needs to be. We just need everybody to continue to buy in and the community to buy in. They have been great already and the support so far has been great.”
The second year Beckley head coach also has ties to WVU Tech head baseball coach Lawrence Nesselrodt which he sees as a plus for himself, his players and the program overall.
“I have a great relationship with coach Nesselrodt. Him and I talk daily, especially during the season. I pick his brain all the time,” McKinney said. “Beckley has the ability to be a baseball mecca. We have nice fields, plenty of teams, a great facility and a college program right here that is on the rise. We have to get back to Beckley being a baseball destination.”
The goals McKinney has in place are big and even though year one was not as successful as he had hoped, he has already made a strong impact over a short period of time.
Former pitcher Ari Payne recently signed to play baseball for Bluefield University. After his signing, Payne discussed what it was like playing for McKinney his senior year in Beckley.
“Coach Mike really helped the program out a lot. I wish this team had two more years with him. If we had two more years with him, we would be in the state championship (tournament),” Payne said, firmly.
“He is not going to be your best friend, but he is always there for you. He is a really good coach that leads you in the right direction and has your best interest at heart at all time.”
