‘Thank You, Jesus’: WVU All-American Pitcher Shares Pregame Ritual That Keeps Him Grounded

Published: June 12, 2026

Baseball MLB — Photo from Jose Morales via Unsplash

By Mallory Mattingly

West Virginia Mountaineers pitcher Chansen Cole has one pregame ritual that helps him stay focused on Jesus.

“God already knows what’s in store for my life. I prepare through the week and through the whole year to go out and pitch, and when it’s time to go pitch, at the end of every national anthem, I just look up and say, ‘Thank you, Jesus, I’m grateful for this opportunity, I love you,'” Cole said on “The Walk” podcast.

After that, whatever the result is of the game, the athlete will go home with the same thought as the night before: “I’m a son of God.”

“And then it’s from there, it’s just whatever happens, happens, and again, I’ll go lay my head on the pillow each night with the same thought I had the night before, of I’m a son of God, and what else truly matters,” he continued.

Cole grew up in a family that went to church every weekend, but church became something that he would just check off his to-do list. When he finished high school and started at West Virginia, his faith was tested as he was so far away from home and completely on his own, which ultimately shifted his identity from baseball to Christ.

“Yeah, it all changed when my identity flipped from baseball to in Him, and whether I’m playing or not, I was able to go home each night and lay my head on the pillow with the fact that I’m a son of God, and nothing is ever going to be better than that,” he declared.

Now that Cole understands what it feels like to have his identity in Christ, he wants to reflect the Lord in everything he does.

“I think it all goes back to what you’re doing behind closed doors,” Cole revealed. “I mean, are you truly spending time with God because eventually everything is going to come out in public? And I mean, if you’re spending quality time with Jesus in your room alone when nobody’s watching, I think you’re naturally going to want to live a life like Jesus lived.”

“Because I mean the sacrifice that He paid for all of us, it’s definitely worth giving your love to Him because He’s loved us unconditionally,” the pitcher continued. “So I think just in your personal time, just when you spend quality time with Jesus, it’s going to come out naturally and what people see in you publicly.”

As West Virginia advanced into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men’s College World Series, Cole was named a Second-Team All-American. The Mountaineers will face Troy today at 2:00 p.m. in Omaha, Nebraska.

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