| West Virginia Black Bears | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Class | Collegiate summer (2021–present) | ||||
| Previous classes | Class A Short Season (2015–2020) | ||||
| League | MLB Draft League (2021–present) | ||||
Previous leagues | New York–Penn League (2015–2020) | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Team | Unaffiliated (2021–present) | ||||
| Previous teams | Pittsburgh Pirates (2015–2020) | ||||
| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles(4) |
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| First-half titles(1) |
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| Second-half titles(2) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Colors | Black, blue, gold, white | ||||
| Ballpark | Kendrick Family Ballpark (2015–present) | ||||
Owner/ Operator | Bob Rich, Jr. (Rich Baseball Operations) | ||||
| General manager | Leighann Sainato | ||||
| Manager | Jon Nunnally | ||||
| Website | mlbdraftleague.com/west-virginia | ||||
TheWest Virginia Black Bears are acollegiate summer baseball team of theMLB Draft League. They are located inGranville, West Virginia, and play their home games atKendrick Family Ballpark, which is across theMonongahela River fromMorgantown andWest Virginia University. From 2015 to 2020, they were aMinor League Baseball team of theNew York–Penn League. They were theLow-A affiliate of thePittsburgh Pirates from their inception until MLB's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season.[1]
In August 2014, it was announced that theJamestown 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 theAmerican black bear is the state animal ofWest 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 Leaguewild card in their inaugural season.[6] The team then defeated theWilliamsport Crosscutters and theStaten Island Yankees to win the 2015 New York–Penn League Championship.[7] On February 24, 2022, Leighann Sainato was named general manager.[8]
| Players | Coaches/Other |
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Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
| Manager Coaches
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| West Virginia Black Bears (New York–Penn League) | |||||||||
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| Year | Regular season | Post-season | |||||||
| Record | Win % | Finish | Record | Win % | Result | MLB | |||
| 2015 | 42–34 | .553 | 2nd Pinckney Division | 4–1 | .800 | Won Semifinals vs.Williamsport Crosscutters, 2–1 Won Championship vs.Staten Island Yankees, 2–0 | Pirates | ||
| 2016 | 38–38 | .500 | 3rd Pinckney Division | — | — | Did not qualify for playoffs | Pirates | ||
| 2017 | 40–35 | .533 | 3rd Pinckney Division | — | — | Did not qualify for playoffs | Pirates | ||
| 2018 | 32–44 | .421 | 5th Pinckney Division | — | — | Did not qualify for playoffs | Pirates | ||
| 2019 | 40–36 | .526 | 2nd Pinckney Division | — | — | Did not qualify for playoffs | Pirates | ||
| 2020 | – | – | None | — | — | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Pirates | ||
| Totals | 192–182 | .513 | — | 4–1 | .800 | ||||
| West Virginia Black Bears (MLB Draft League) | |||||||||
| 2021 | 30–19 | .612 | 2nd | — | — | – | N/A | ||
| 2022 | 48–30 | .615 | 1st | 1–0 | 1.000 | Won Championship vs.Williamsport Crosscutters, 1–0 | N/A | ||
| 2023 | 46–27 | .630 | 1st | 1–0 | 1.000 | Won Championship vs.Trenton Thunder, 1–0 | N/A | ||
| 2024 | 35–39 | .473 | 6th | — | — | — | N/A | ||
| 2025 | 45–28 | .616 | 1st | 1-0 | 1.000 | Won Championship vs.State College Spikes, 1-0 | N/A | ||
| Totals | 204–143 | .588 | — | 3–0 | 1.000 | ||||
 Sports teams based inWest Virginia | |||||||||
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(*) Outside of the city limits | ||
