Former Randleman baseball player Trey Way goes through pregame testing prior to an outing with the Burlington Sock Puppets this summer. (Bob Sutton / Randolph Record)
BURLINGTON – Trey Way hasn’t played much baseball the past couple of years. He wants that to change.
Way, who was a key part of two Randleman state championships, has a new role and a new team.
“It has been an up and down journey, for sure,” Way said. “You have to see the good in everything.”
The quest for more baseball satisfaction hasn’t waned. He’ll attempt to gain that at Radford.
An infielder for Randleman and once projected as a catcher at higher levels, he’s settling on pitching.
That has been an adventure. He has been a Virginia Tech student the past two years.
He was redshirted in 2023, when he was still a position player. He was expecting to have a role with the Hokies this year, but he wasn’t part of the roster.
“It definitely caught me by surprise,” he said, pointing out that he felt he had a strong fall season. “It really, really caught me off guard. It was so unexpected to me. … It was definitely some hard feelings.”
In between the two school years at Virginia Tech, Way suited up last summer for the Asheboro ZooKeepers. He played sparingly and was stuck with a low batting average.
“I’ve been having some bad beats the last two years,” he said. “Turn the page. Let’s start over.”
He didn’t attend Virginia Tech baseball games this year, but remained in Blacksburg, Va., to complete the semester.
Way, who turns 21 in November, was a regular on the travel ball circuit, a member of the 2019 Uwharrie Charter Academy state championship team and played in 2022 for Randolph County Post 45. So even without logging much playing time since then, he said there’s a level of comfort entering a new program.
“I feel more experienced,” he said. “I’ve been around a lot of good players, good locker rooms.”
Way, older brother of rising Liberty freshman pitcher Seth Way, said he considered High Point and UNC Wilmington before settling on Radford, which is about 20 miles from Virginia Tech’s campus.
“Hungry to win,” he said. “I saw it as where I could get a lot of opportunity. That’s my goal for my baseball career.”
Way’s layoff from game action extended until recently.
“I took this summer to just work on my training,” he said.
With Appalachian League teams in need of late-season roster fillers, Radford coaches reached out to Way. He said he jumped at the chance for what he knew would be only an outing or two with the Burlington Sock Puppets in the final week of that team’s season.
He gave up one run and struck out two in a home victory against the Danville Otterbots.
“The one day I’ve been in the Appalachian League, I’m very impressed,” Way said.
Playing at Burlington Athletic Stadium was familiar to Way. That’s where Randleman won state titles in 2021 and 2022.
“It gives me chills just thinking about it,” he said.
