West Virginia Black Bears 2016 Season in Review

This is the first of several articles recapping the 2016 New York-Penn League (NYPL) season.

The West Virginia Black Bears began the 2016 season as the defending Champion of the NYPL and finished the it with a 17-1 loss in the final game. Quite a contrast, but overall it was a successful season as they accomplished their mission of developing skills of players who hope to someday play for the major league Pirates in Pittsburgh.

Monongalia County Ballpark is an beautiful venue and the Black Bears front office staff do an outstanding job providing a family friendly environment. IMHO, they provide the best entertainment value in Morgantown. Promotions included Replica Championship Ring Giveaway, several game jersey auction nights, Wyatt Toregas Bobblehead Giveaway, and the Pride of WV Night.

 After starting the season with a six game win streak, the Black Bears were never seriously in the race for the Pinckney Division Championship or Wild Card spot and finished the season with a 38-38 record, 12 games out of the division race. Playing in the newest stadium of the NYPL, attendance was down slightly from their 2015 inaugural season. In 36 home dates, the Black Bears played before a total of 78,774 fans (compared to 83,796 in 37 games in 2015), averaging 2,188 per game (compared to 2,265 in 2015).

For the second season in a row, the Pirates number 1 draft pick was assigned to the Black Bears. Will Craig, the 22 overall pick in the June draft struggled early (.158 BA in June) in the season before finishing with a .280 batting average (.412 OBP, ,362 SLG, .775 OPS). Craig ended the season with 2 HRs and 23 RBIs and led the team in walks with 41.

Team Leaders

Batting Average: Chris Harvey hit .301 in 36 games. The Norristown, Pennsylvania native was signed as a free agent out of Vanderbilt in 2014 and played with the Black Bears in 2015. He was briefly called up to AAA Indianapolis during this season before returning to Morgantown.

Home Runs: Hunter Owen led with 4. Owen was a 2016 pick in the 25th round out of Indiana State and played in 52 games for the Black Bears.

Runs Batted In: First Baseman Albert Bauer led the team with 40 RBIs. A native of Philadelphia, Bauer was a 28th round pick in 2015. Bauer also led the team in hits (67) and total bases (99) This was his second season with the Black Bears.

Stolen Bases: Erik Forgione led with 12. He completed his second season with Black Bears after being drafted in the 25th round in 2015 out of the University of Washington.

Pitching Wins: Danny Beddes (6-3, 2.27 ERA, 71.1 IP)  and Luis Escobar (6-5, 2.93 ERA, 67.2 IP) led the team in wins with 6. Beddes was a 15th round pick in 2016 out of Utah Valley University. Escobar, from Cartagena, Columbia and has been in the Pirates farm system since 2014 and saw action in 2 games with the Black Bears in 2015.

All Star Game: Six Black Bears were named to the South squad for the 2016 NYPL All Star Game: Hunter Owen (OF), Kevin Mahala (INF), Kevin Krause (C), Sandy Santos (OF), Danny Beddes (P) and Brandon Bingel (P). Black Bears Manager Wyatt Toregas led the South squad.

Complete season stats are available at the team website. 

The Stedler Report is not affiliated with Minor League Baseball or the New-York-Penn League.