Cole, Yehl Named Pitcher of the Year Semifinalists
April 22, 2026 02:00 PM | Baseball
"This group of pitchers has been clearly dominant, and in most cases have put their teams in position to have great seasons," National Pitcher of the Year Award chair Brian Melakian said. "As we near the final stretch of the season, it will be exciting to see which players step up to help lead their teams to postseason success and emerge as finalists for the National Pitcher of the Year."
Yehl is 5-1 this season and leads the Big 12 with a 2.41 ERA while his 62 strikeouts are most on the team and sixth in the conference. Cole leads the Big 12 with six wins on the mound while his 2.82 ERA is third in the league.
West Virginia is one of seven teams with multiple pitchers named semifinalists along with Auburn, Liberty, North Carolina, Oregon State, Texas, and UCLA. Cole and Yehl are the first WVU pitchers named a semifinalist since Alek Manoah in 2019, who went on to be one of five finalists.
2026 National Pitcher of the Year Award Semifinalists
Name, Position, Class, School, Conference
• Hunter Alexander, RHP, Senior, UCA, ASUN
• Cooper Allen, RHP, Junior, UNCW, CAA
• Andreas Alvares, RHP, Sophomore, Auburn, SEC
• Max Bayles, RHP, Junior, Santa Clara, WCC
• Ben Blair, RHP, Junior, Liberty, CUSA
• Chansen Cole, RHP, Sophomore, West Virginia, Big 12
• Sam Cozart, RHP, Freshman, Texas, SEC
• John Damozonio, RHP, Senior, Saint Mary's, WCC
• Jason DeCaro, RHP, Junior, North Carolina, ACC
• Mason Edwards, LHP, Junior, USC, Big Ten
• Andrew Evans, RHP, RS-Junior, Southern Illinois, MVC
• Jackson Flora, RHP, Junior, UC Santa Barbara, Big West
• Braden Gebhardt, LHP, Senior, Youngstown State, Horizon
• Caden Glauber, RHP, Freshman, North Carolina, ACC
• Lucas Hartman, RHP, Graduate, Virginia, ACC
• Aidan King, RHP, Sophomore, Florida, SEC
• Will Labonte, RHP, Freshman, Portland, WCC
• Ethan Lay, RHP, Senior, Sacramento State, WAC
• Nathan Leininger, RHP, Senior, Toledo, MAC
• Chris Levonas, RHP, Sophomore, Wake Forest, ACC
• Isaiah Magdaleno, RHP, Junior, Hawaii, Big West
• Micheal Malki, RHP, Sophomore, Cal Baptist, WAC
• Jake Marciano, LHP, Sophomore, Auburn, SEC
• Walter McDuffie, RHP, Sophomore, North Carolina, ACC
• Wes Mendes, LHP, Junior, Florida State, ACC
• Wylan Moss, RHP, Sophomore, UCLA, Big Ten
• Mikiah Negrete, LHP, Senior, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
• Chris Olivier, RHP, Senior, Lamar, Southland
• Ryan Peterson, RHP, Junior, Sam Houston, CUSA
• Eli Pillsbury, LHP, RS-Junior, Jacksonville State, CUSA
• Logan Reddemann, RHP, Junior, UCLA, Big Ten
• Bryce Riggs, RHP, Junior, Eastern Illinois, OVC
• Albert Roblez, RHP, Senior, Oregon State, Independent
• Michael Sharman, LHP, Senior, Clemson, ACC
• Patrick Steitz, RHP, RS-Senior, VCU, A-10
• Dakota Stone, LHP, RS-Junior, North Florida, ASUN
• Cayden Suchy, LHP, Sophomore, UConn, BIG EAST
• Max Vaisvila, LHP, Senior, Northern Illinois, MAC
• Tomas Valincius, LHP, Sophomore, Mississippi State, SEC
• Dylan Volantis, LHP, Sophomore, Texas, SEC
• Dax Whitney, RHP, Sophomore, Oregon State, Independent
• Maxx Yehl, LHP, RS-Junior, West Virginia, Big 12
• Bradley Zayac, RHP, Sophomore, Liberty, CUSA
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