On Tuesday, May 21, 2013, coach Randy Mazey was supposed to jump on a teleconference to talk about his team’s upcoming appearance in the Big 12 Baseball Championship taking place in Oklahoma City. Instead, he talked about what his players went through staying in Oklahoma City, just five miles away from a rare EF5 tornado that devastated the nearby town of Moore, Okla. on Monday afternoon. The tornado had estimated wind speeds of 210 miles per hour and destroyed a 17-mile path. Minutes after watching the deadly tornado, the West Virginia baseball team was ready to help in the effort. Mazey took his team to a local Walmart and each player took a shopping cart to load up with clothes, flashlights, batteries, shoes and more – paid for by funds that had been privately raised for the baseball program. On Tuesday afternoon the Mountaineers drove to the campus of Oklahoma - where more than 100 displaced victims temporarily were staying – to drop off the rest of the supplies. After the Mountaineers were eliminated on the final day of the tournament, the team returned to Moore and spent four hours helping to clean up houses that had been destroyed during the tornado. In the aftermath, the team provided support in the rebuilding efforts as Arizona Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick donated $200,000 in the name of WVU baseball to the Oklahoma City tornado relief effort.
“In my group of 41 board members, we have meetings and Mazey’s named always comes up. He is a tremendous leader and it was obvious that his priorities are right. He said we can’t worry about baseball, but we will later, and he showed that leadership. It challenged the other teams to get involved in their own backyard. The tournament had that sense of numbness and by him doing what he did with his team, it let us see there was hope.” – Tim Brassfield, Executive Director, Oklahoma City All Sports Association
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“I think 20 years from now when theY look back at their college baseball career and the baseball tournament here in Oklahoma City, I have my doubts that they will remember the games at all, but they are going to remember what they did for the families – and the impact they’ve had on people’s lives.” – Randy Mazey
2013 Moore Tornado