WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., March 22, 2019 — Cody Shook is not your ordinary student-athlete at West Liberty University. The senior baseball player from Ashburn, Va., double majoring in broadcasting and journalism also is the sports editor of the newspaper The Trumpet and the face of the weekly show Inside Toppers Baseball.
Along with his broadcasting and writing talents, Shook is a pitcher as well as one of the leaders on the pitching staff.
He is constantly looking for ways to improve his pitching while motivating his teammates to give their best on the field. There is nothing else he cares more about than winning.
“It’s fun leading my teammates and making sure they are getting the best out of themselves and that they are prepared to play the games,” he said.
As a senior and a fifth year student at WLU, Shook is a veteran pitcher with a lot of experience on and off of the field, throughout his college years.
“He is a kid that we rely on everyday. He knows the ins and outs of the routines, he knows what he is doing and he also guides the young guys pretty well,” said Eric Burkle, head coach of the baseball team.
Baseball has always been part of Shook’s life. He started playing when he was six years old, and in high school he played baseball as his first sport but he also played other sports such as football for two years and wrestling for one year, but none of them replaced his passion for baseball. Playing baseball in college was not in his primary plans, as he came to WLU solely because of the broadcasting program. During the summer before he came here, he contacted coach Burkle, who ended up liking what he saw in his pitching. Then in the fall he tried out for the team and made it, which was something very exciting for him, as he didn’t expect to play college baseball.
His first appearance in college turned out to be a moment that he will remember forever. The team was losing against Seton Hill, a nationally ranked team at the time. Coach put him to play without high expectations in the first place. Nevertheless, Shook showed everybody what he was capable of. He struck the first three kids out, got three pop-ups and worked very quickly through two innings.
Shook also runs some of the WLU baseball social media as well as being the face of Inside Toppers Baseball, a program created by both him and Coach Burkle.
“Coach Burkle has been incredible towards me and broadcasting. Ever since we started doing our weekly show, it has been one of the highlights of my week. Being there in front of the camera beside him just talking about baseball is awesome and it is also very helpful towards my future,” said Shook.
Burkle enjoys having Shook in the program, as he said, “he is one of the better ones that came to the program and we get along pretty well.” Also, Burkle confirms that he is doing a great job towards his major and future career. “When people see us together on TV they go nuts and people always ask me who is that guy beside me,” said Burkle.
Shook has been the Sports Editor for the student newspaper for the past three years. Everything started when he was interning for the newspaper as a part of a class and he ended up writing a lot of stories every week, which made him fall in love with writing. The faculty adviser for the newspaper, Tammie Beagle, and the previous sports editor were impressed with his work, so they offered him the position, he took the opportunity and has done it ever since, which is something that he really loves doing.
Along with his writing talent and dedication through his hard work in everything he does, Shook has an exemplarily personality.
“Cody is a thoughtful, kind, generous and a fun young man. It has been a pleasure getting to know him and getting to work with him,” By following Shook’s trajectory in the newspaper, Beagle said, “He earned the job, since the beginning I saw the potential and he has grown up and matured a lot. He demonstrated his ability to not only choose good sports stories to write about as he also showed his leadership quality necessary to be in an editors position. I absolutely adore him and I would take a thousands more of him if I could,” Beagle said.
Working with the Trumpet staff is very important to Shook for many reasons, “There are really good editors beside me on the staff. In the past three years they really helped me a lot to become a better writer, as well as helping me by taking care of my articles when I have to be away for baseball games. It is really a team effort here and it is always good to have them beside me.”
Family means everything to Shook. His parents are his biggest inspiration in life, and his biggest priority is to make them and his future family proud. “I do everything to make my parents proud, whether it is on or off the field. I appreciate everything they taught me. Going through high school as well as walking onto the baseball team was a challenge but they have always been on my side pushing, supporting and helping me with whatever they can. I love my parents and they are definitely the inspiration that I look up to,” said Shook.
Shook is certain that he made the right choice by choosing WLU and he is forever thankful for his five unforgettable years as a Hilltopper.
“Baseball and college taught me to never give up and that I can be down in the game or down in life but I just need to keep working hard and take things slow and I can overcome anything,”