From the Bench: BHS Alumni have Key Roles in WVU Baseball Run and Hoping to Have Fun on the Bayou
By Jeff Toquinto on June 07, 2025 from Sports Blog
For those who have been following what, by any sane person’s standard, has been an insane postseason by the West Virginia University baseball team, you probably saw the moment a Bridgeport High School graduate came through huge.
That would have been the Mountaineers second game of the Clemson regional against the host school. He came in during a pretty intense moment.
Score was standing at 9-6 in favor of WVU in the bottom of the ninth. Clemson had the bases loaded and the batter at the plate had the count in his favor at 2-0 when Ben McDougal was sent into the game to save it. All the BHS alum did was throw four pitches – three of them strikes – that included a swing and a miss on a 3-2 count to end the contest.
That got a lot of play nationally, statewide, and back here in Bridgeport – as it should have. What a lot of folks may not know is that there was more than just McDougal in the WVU dugout at Clemson. And they will be with McDougal when the Super Regional against host Louisiana State University starts today in a best-of-three series in Baton Rouge.
Drew Hefner, a 2017 Bridgeport alum, is a member of the staff. In fact, he is the WVU baseball team’s director of player development. You can find him in the dugout, and you can find him – as you would have easily been able to do so during that particular game with Clemson – heading to and standing in the bullpen.
There is also another Indian that can be found in the dugout. In fact, he is getting as much television exposure as anyone that used to wear red and white.
Hefner’s alumnus buddy and friend, 2016 BHS graduate Ross Marra, has been along for the entire postseason ride. Unlike McDougal and Hefner, his role is not limited to baseball as he serves as the assistant athletic director of creative and digital for West Virginia University.
He has been in that role since August of 2023.
He has been in that role since August of 2023.
“The regional was something special to be part of and that close to,” said Marra.
Understand, in his less than two-year period with the Mountaineers, he has been involved with some pretty unique things. Marra has had a front row seat to things like the WVU uniform reveals, including the Coal Rush, which was a hit with so many of the Mountaineer faithful.
But, in my mind at least, the coolest thing he has been up close and personal with has been the hirings of Darian Devries, Ross Hoge, and Rich Rodriguez. Up close is not hyperbole. Marra was one of just a handful of individuals on the chartered jet that went and picked up the new coaches and brought them back to go to work in Morgantown.
“Being a part of some of those moments has made this job even more enjoyable. I also got to be part of last year’s super regional (baseball against North Carolina), which was the first in school history,” said Marra. “What’s odd, is back in 2018 the baseball team hosted a regional (in Morgantown) and I was a student at South Carolina, but interning here as a video lead so I’ve got to see a lot of really good WVU baseball.”
Knowing that Marra is a huge baseball fan (a player on the Indians’ state title squads), and a fan of WVU prior to his arrival in a professional capacity, I asked him how hard was it to not cheer while standing in the dugout at a potentially historic moment for the program.
“I got experience attending South Carolina and then working at Wake Forest and that allowed me to be more of a professional than a fan, even though I know the fandom is there,” he said. “I focus on the job I have to do and my celebration, or when I realize it’s okay to exhale 
and enjoy what happened, which is an hour or two later when I’m done editing or whatever task I have going.”
and enjoy what happened, which is an hour or two later when I’m done editing or whatever task I have going.”
That does not mean he is not aware of what is going on. It also does not mean he is not aware of his Bridgeport roots when those roots get intertwined with someone else’s – such as the case with McDougal getting called onto the field.
“Obviously, you feel the situation when Ben came in. Even if he’s not from Bridgeport, you’re feeling it there. Knowing where he’s from, though, makes the emotion even harder to contain,” said Marra. “What a superb job he did.”
Marra said that in most of his duties with WVU sports there is little interaction between himself and players. Baseball, with its occasionally laid-back atmosphere in the dugout, is different. Because of that, he spent more than a few minutes interacting with Hefner during the regional
“I keep my distance, but I know from having played that you have players who are bench players that will talk, which is fairly standard,” said Marra. “At Clemson, the person I stood beside the most was Drew Hefner, who was ready at a moment’s notice to go to the bullpen.
Him being there is another level of Bridgeport connection that is unbelievable.”
Him being there is another level of Bridgeport connection that is unbelievable.”
That is likely because Marra and Hefner not only played together, but they have also known one another their entire lives. He said standing there was almost like being at the BHS field watching a game, but on a bigger stage with a much, much bigger audience
It should be noted that it was Hefner who was clearly visible walking to the bullpen and actually in it during the Clemson regional. It was the same bullpen surrounded by the Tigers’ student section seen having a few words with the WVU players and, as a matter of fact, from every team that played the Tigers before they were eliminated.
“Drew lit up social media Saturday night because of how insanely close the students were to the bullpen,” said Marra. “It worked out because he’s legitimately one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and he ended up keeping the situation loose and even made a few friends.”
Marra is hoping his friend Hefner, his fellow alum McDougal, and the rest of the Mountaineer nation will be flying out from the state of 
Louisiana as early Sunday evening/Monday morning or perhaps Tuesday as possible with a berth to the College World Series in hand. And he said he has confidence in Hefner getting done what he needs to get done – including prepping McDougal if needed.
Louisiana as early Sunday evening/Monday morning or perhaps Tuesday as possible with a berth to the College World Series in hand. And he said he has confidence in Hefner getting done what he needs to get done – including prepping McDougal if needed.
“Drew knows baseball and I know that Ben, who handled that Clemson moment like a seasoned veteran, is made for these types of games,” said Marra. “He won a lot of big games and came though in a lot of big games at Bridgeport, and that moment against Clemson was the biggest of them all. I’m hoping he tops it against LSU.”
Game 1 is set for 2 p.m. today, Saturday, June 7, on ESPN. Game 2 is set for 6 p.m., Sunday, June 8 on ESPN2. If a third game is needed, the time and network have not yet been announced, but it will be on Monday.
Regardless of games and times, one thing is for certain. Bridgeport High School will be well represented on the bayou.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows, from left, Ross Marra, Ben McDougal, and Drew Hefner. Second and third photo shows McDougal in action against Clemson, including an emotional reaction in the second photo after securing the win for WVU. In the third photo, Hefner watches over a WVU pitcher in a bullpen surrounded by Clemson faithful. In the bottom photo, Marra is shown working WVU football game with Jake Herron, WVU's Associate Director of Creative Content.
Leave a Comment
Log in or create an account to post a comment.