CORVALLIS — It was a tense situation in a tight game and Oregon State Beavers right-hander James DeCremer was laboring through a make-or-break moment in his first career start.

The freshman had surrendered a solo home run, a single, a double and a fluke pop-up infield single to open the top of the second inning against the University of Portland, and his night was precariously close to ending bitterly.

In the middle of the mayhem, coach Mitch Canham turned to pitching coach Rich Dorman in the Beavers dugout and raised an eyebrow.

“All right,” Canham said. “Might be a good time for a mound visit, eh?”

“Just wait,” Dorman replied, peering out toward home plate at Goss Stadium.

Right on cue, senior catcher Wilson Weber popped up from his squat and sauntered to the mound for a little chat.

“It’s all right, kiiiiid,” Weber said to DeCremer, smiling. “Control your breathing. Be a smart pitcher and throw with intent. Whatever happens is going to happen, but if you throw your stuff in the zone, you have a really good shot at getting out of this.”

And just like that, the weight of DeCremer’s first start and glare of 3,542 anxious fans had been lifted. Six pitches later, he worked a pair of fly outs and a strikeout to slither out of the bases-loaded jam without further damage, then went on to pitch four solid innings during a 5-3 OSU win. Afterward, the casual fan likely didn’t put much value on the nondescript second-inning mound visit, but inside the Beavers’ clubhouse, its importance was noted.

And it wasn’t the first time.

As Oregon State has persevered through a relentless, road-heavy independent regular-season schedule to win 41 games and earn a No. 8 national seed in the NCAA baseball tournament, Weber’s steady, calming presence has proven invaluable. He’s swinging the hottest bat on the team, hitting .332 with 10 homers, 11 doubles, 49 RBIs and 38 runs scored. He’s started 49 of 54 games at baseball’s most demanding position. And he’s blossomed into a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, given annually to college baseball’s best catcher.

But it’s Weber’s easygoing demeanor, unique leadership and respect in the clubhouse that have made the largest impact this season.

“That’s the heart of the team right there,” junior outfielder Canon Reeder said of Weber. “And he’s a true Beaver. Whatever encompasses an Oregon State Beaver, he’s the definition of it. He does everything right. He’s the hardest worker in there. And that’s really contagious for the boys, especially the younger guys, who really see what it takes.”

But Weber’s evolution into the heartbeat of the Beavers has labored through a few moments of cardiac arrest.

•••

Nik Lubisich will never forget the first time he saw Weber on a baseball field.

The longtime family friend and sports agent was coaching a youth league scrimmage against Weber’s father, Ryan, and Lubisich was standing in the third base coaches box watching his team hit. One of his players hit a rocket into the hole between shortstop and third base, seemingly lacing a single, and Lubisich was about to celebrate.

But out of nowhere, the shortstop darted deep into the hole, made an impossible backhanded stab and threw a bullet to first base to complete an electric out. The shortstop was a 9-year old named Wilson Weber, and Lubisich was floored.

“Holy, (bleep),” Lubisich instinctively blurted out so loud he had to apologize to parents. After the game, Lubisich strolled up to Ryan Weber with a bold prediction.

“That kid is going to be a pro someday,” Lubisich said. “You look at his dad, he’s 6-foot-3 and jacked. His mom is 5-foot-10 and athletic. He had an insane arm and an insane bat. So you just kind of put the pieces together.”

Weber grew up just outside the Gresham city limits and went to Barlow High School, where he starred in baseball and basketball and blossomed into Oregon’s second-highest rated high school baseball prospect in the class of 2021. When Oregon State, his favorite college growing up, offered a scholarship, he pounced on the opportunity. It was a dream come true.

But Weber’s first few years in Corvallis were anything but dreamy.

He broke his hamate bone during a random hitting session as a freshman, fracturing the carpal bone situated on top of his wrist near his palm. The tricky injury derailed his season. Then, as a sophomore, he tweaked his shoulder during a weight-lifting session and battled an impingement for months. He played through the ailment, but couldn’t participate in long toss and other throwing drills required of catchers, further stalling his development. Then, as a junior last season, Weber torqued his oblique in February, then rushed back too quickly, extending the length — and recovery demands — of the injury. He missed nearly three weeks.

By the time Weber returned, Tanner Smith had seized the starting catcher job. The duo split time most of the season — Weber started 29 games, including three in the postseason — but he found it impossible to build consistency as he see-sawed in-and-out of the lineup.

“It was definitely hard bouncing in-and-out,” Weber said. “I tried not to think about it, tried to stay focused on, ‘Oh, I need to be successful and just keep playing.’ But the thought was always there: ‘If I go 0 for 4, I’m probably not playing tomorrow. But if I go 2 for 4, I’m probably back in the lineup.’ Thinking like that isn’t beneficial for you. So that was a struggle.”

•••

When the Beavers’ season ended with a loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in the super regionals, Weber walked into his exit interview with OSU riddled with uncertainty.

He had a decent season, hitting .276 with seven homers and 22 RBIs. But he knew he needed consistent playing time to show the depth of his potential. Also, the MLB draft was roughly a month away and scouts were telling Weber he might draw interest late-round interest.

So Weber didn’t beat around the bush.

“I want to stay,” he told the staff during his exit interview. “But I’m not going to stay if you guys don’t think I can play every day. And I don’t want to be told that just so you can have me stick around.”

Canham didn’t flinch.

“I know how much he loves this place and I knew what he was capable of doing,” Canham said. “I said, ‘Dude, come back and run it. This could be yours. If you do the job, I’d be silly to not to play you every day.’”

But the message also came with a caveat: Weber needed to grow as a leader. He had never been a vocal part of the clubhouse and it was not in his nature to challenge teammates and speak up in tense situations. He was a hard worker and a beloved teammate, so he always let his work ethic and performance do the talking. Besides, Weber said, it had been pretty hard to be speak up when he wasn’t an everyday player.

“It was a wishy-washy spot to be in,” Weber said.

Even so, Canham’s message was clear.

“He pretty much just called him out,” Ryan Weber said. “He told Wils, ‘I need you to lead other people. I need other people to have what you have.’ And he used this metaphor, which I just think is amazing. He said, ‘Wilson, I’m married. I have kids. If someone is going to hurt my family, I have to protect them. It’s my job. I know you believe in this family. Anything that’s a threat to your family, you have to stand up for them. I need you to use your words. I need you to be forceful. I don’t care if it means you have to kick people out of practice. I need that.

“I trust you. I believe in you. I want you to speak up and care for other people.’”

Oregon State senior catcher Wilson Weber (left) has evolved into a leader for Dax Whitney (3) and the Beavers’ pitching staff. Leon Neuschwander for The Oregonian

Afterward, when Weber confided with his father about the chat, he said he was eager to embrace Canham’s challenge. But he planned to do so in his own way — a way that did not involve kicking teammates out of practices.

“Dad,” he said, “That’s not me. I don’t need to control other people. I’m not an angry person.”

So, instead, Weber leaned on his humble, aw-shucks demeanor and unique ability to read and relate to other people.

When the team gathered late last year for fall ball, he organized regular duck hunting and fishing trips with teammates. He set up random skeet shoot expeditions with pitchers, introducing them to the art of clay shooting. And he made it a point to get to know every freshman and transfer pitcher that arrived on campus, sitting down with them at Goss to conduct interviews about pitching and their in-game preferences, all while scribbling down notes with a pen and pad. He occasionally took freshmen out to lunch.

On top of it all, Weber was always present. He caught countless bullpen sessions, and even when he didn’t, he lingered in the bullpen, watching and chatting as pitchers went through their work. He lounged in the training room while the staff received treatment, even if he was done for the day. And he was — and remains — a regular visitor to the various off-campus houses where OSU pitchers live.

“They don’t really notice half of the time I’m around them,” Weber said in February, chuckling, before the Beavers opened the season. “But I just like to be around them and help them with whatever needs to be done. I just want to show them I’m there for them. The biggest thing is developing trust and respect. Not all the pitchers need to love you, but there has to be trust and respect with everything.”

The love, it turns out, happened organically.

“He is kind of like a security blanket,” right-hander Eric Segura said. “He’s there to just give you comfort and give you that confidence to go out and throw your stuff.”

Added Wyatt Queen: “When he meets me on the mound, I just feel like a sense of calmness. He gives me all the confidence in the world.”

It also doesn’t hurt that his right arm launches baseballs like a bazooka and each pitcher on the staff feels safe to throw any pitch, anywhere, in any situation, because of Weber’s exceptional blocking acumen.

After Canham challenged Weber last June to become a leader, he still had a chance to turn professional. During the MLB draft, multiple teams called during the final five rounds to see if he was interested in leaving Corvallis. He rebuffed the overtures, betting on himself and his strong Christian faith.

And while Canham challenged his leadership, Lubisich challenged Weber’s defense, telling him he needed to show to scouts he had what it takes to handle Big League pitching staffs.

“He has to be one of the top catchers in the country,” Lubisich said in February.

Three months later, Weber has committed just two errors and thrown out 15 would-be base stealers, anchoring a defense that ranks sixth in college baseball with a .982 fielding percentage.

Of course, his bat isn’t too shabby, either. Weber has produced career highs in batting average, homers, doubles, RBIs and runs scored, and he closed the regular season on a tear, hitting .381 with six homers, three doubles, 22 RBIs and 11 runs scored in May. And he did it all while producing a 3.65 GPA, polishing off a business degree.

“It allows me to sleep a little bit more at night knowing that there’s a guy like that out there (behind the plate) running the field and being a strong leader,” Canham said.

Ask Weber about his breakout season, about his late-season hot streak, about his ability to play every day, and he aw-shucks the praise. He never doubted his baseball talent, if afforded good health and opportunity. Everything just finally clicked.

But tell him that a teammate called him a “true Beaver,” that Reeder said Weber’s leadership has blossomed so much his “voice in the clubhouse travels a long way,” and the burly 6-foot-1, 220-pound kid from Gresham can’t help but blush.

“It means a lot to hear that,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time here and to hear that guys see me as that is important. It just means I’ve done my job and applied myself to other guys, poured myself into them, and not really focused on myself. That’s what I came back to do this season, to pour into other guys and help them, and be successful along with them. That’s the focus, that’s one of the goals in life, to pour into others and bring a lot of happiness to others and just be a servant.”

Added Ryan Weber: “He’s such a kind kid that he never wants to hurt anyone’s feelings. He’s always been very humble. But inside, there’s an absolute raging inferno of competition. There’s just this fierce desire to compete. It’s been wonderful to see it all come together.”

 — Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.