Growing up in Bridgeport, Billy Reep played a sport for each season. Settling into his high school years, he decided to concentrate on baseball. His efforts paid off as Reep, who earned All-State honors while attending Bridgeport High School and graduated in 1988, he went on to be a four-year letterman and two-time MVP for the West Virginia University Mountaineers.

 

Sunday, he’ll step onto the diamond once again, this time as a participant in the WVU baseball team alumni game to be played at Monongalia County Ballpark.  In the stands will be his wife Amelia, son Quentin, a freshman at BHS, and daughter Gabby, a sixth grader at Bridgeport Middle School. His four years at WVU marked a defining period of his life. His children and his role in their athleticism, however, are his life. He recently shared his story.

 

“As a kid, I played baseball from Little League up through high school (with the Bridgeport High School Indians), but I really wanted to be a basketball player,” Reep said. “But I got to the point in high school that college coaches started looking at me. I started getting scholarship offers.”

 

The offer he accepted was to go to WVU and he quickly discovered that he had made the right decision.

 

“When you get to college, you play with other guys who live it and love it as much as you do,” he said. “They eat it, breathe it. It’s their thing. Being around the environment is what I remember most.”

 

To stay on the team and be competitive, Reep and his teammates did have to live baseball.

 

“Being a Division 1 athlete is like having a full-time job. On top of class, there are morning workouts, weight lifting, running and conditioning,” he said. “After class there’s practice and in the evening maybe another practice on top of that. It takes a lot of dedication and time management.”

 

The Mountaineers had a good four years and so did Reep, who was a four-year letterman between 1988 and 1992, named team MVP in 1991 and 1992 and earning the 1992 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament MVP. He played both infield and outfield and during his senior year, led the Mountaineers in batting average (.370), home runs (12), runs (57) and RBIs (38). In 1991, he had eight outfield assists, the most for any West Virginia player in a single season. His 23 career home runs rank sixth in the program’s history.

While attending WVU, he studied sports management with plans to pursue work in professional baseball. Before that, however, he had a chance to play with the Sioux Falls Canaries in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

 

“I played with them very briefly and then got released,” he said. “It was very competitive.”

 

Being released from the team left a void in Reep’s life.

 

“You spend your whole life working toward something then it’s just over,” he said. “It leaves a huge void.”

 

He did stay on with the Canaries, working in the front office.

 

“When I was playing with them, I told them what I went to school for and the GM offered me a job,” he said. “I thought that’s what I wanted to do, but it just wasn’t what I expected. It was just tons and tons of hours with not a lot of money. Starting out, it pays peanuts. You can make it big, but you have to pay your dues.”

 

Besides that, Reep missed his hometown and family.

 

“So I ended up coming home and started working at Reep Graphics with my dad and brother,” he said.

 

He also found a good way to fill the void left by not playing baseball and utilize that talent in another way. He opened Reep Batting Instruction “RBI.”

 

“That was my next passion – teaching kids,” he said. “I had all ages. I worked with kids 7 and 8 years old all the way through college.”

Among those who grew up taking batting instruction at RBI were his cousin Jeremy Gum and friend Chris Enourato, both who went on to play for the Mountaineer baseball team.

 

When his own children came along, he became very involved in their athletic programs, coaching them in soccer, basketball and, of course, baseball - Quentin’s favorite sport.

 

“I literally had the time of my life coaching my kids and their friends,” he said. “My son’s (Little League All-Star) baseball team won three state titles and we played almost 80 baseball games. His teammates and their families became like family to me and my family. I came to know all of them so well. That’s a huge part of it.”

 

As he became busier with the kids’ sports, he started phasing out the batting instruction business. Now he works fulltime at the family business, Reep Graphics, which also has a big presence in the athletic community, selling sports apparel and other items with graphic design, everything from T-shirts to team uniforms. This past summer, the business located on Route 50 East, just outside of Bridgeport, embroidered officials’ towels which were gifted by Bridgeport’s Mike Cook to his fellow Little League World Series officials.

 

Sunday’s game is at 11 a.m. at Monongalia County Ballpark. Expected are more than 30 WVU baseball alumni, seven of whom played professionally.  They will play the current WVU team. Admission is free. The game will also be streamed live on the team’s Facebook page. Fans can follow WVU Baseball at Facebook.com/WVUBaseball.

 

Coaching the alumni team is Jedd Gyorko, a current member of the St. Louis Cardinals and a Mountaineer between 2008 and 2010. The alumni team includes players from five decades – between 1957 and 2016. A list of baseball alumni expected Sunday is below.

 

Jon Alexander (1989-90)

Wayne Austin (1957-59)

Zach Bargeron (2011-14)

Bobby Boyd (2012-14)

Grant Buckner (2008-11)

Kevin Cohen (2013)

Dan Dierdorf (2012-13)

Chad Donato (2014-16)

Mark Dvoroznak (2008-11)

Ray Guerrini (2014-16)

Jed Gyorko (2008-10)

Jared Hill (2010-13)

Eric Hinkle (2010-12)

Ryan Hostrander (2013-14)

Joseph Hudson (1990-92)

KC Huth (2015-16)

Jon Jones (2009-11)

Kevin Korzun (2005-06)

David Maust (2000-01)

Jerry Milliken

Matt Morrone (2010-11)

Max Nogay (2012-14)

Kevin Olkowski (1996-98, 2000)

Justin Parks (2006-09)

Billy Reep (1989-92)

Trent Ridgley (2004-07)

Blake Smith (2015-16)

Dwayne Smith (1998-01)

Eric Staffel (2006-08)

Joe Stupka (2006-07)

Ross Vance (2014-16)

David Wilson (1962-63)

Jordan Yost (2007-08)