The Road to Omaha

 Can South Carolina and Arizona Make Back to the Championship Series?

By Kelvin Read 

Last year’s College World Series produced a plethora of interesting storylines. From underdogs Stony Brook and Kent State making it to Omaha, to three SEC schools making the final eight, the CWS did not disappoint. But perhaps the biggest storyline of the year was that Arizona, a program that last won the championship in 1986, was able to knock off two-time defending champion South Carolina (SCAR) in a dramatic championship series.

AP Photo/ Nati Harnik

Arizona and SCAR came from opposite ends of the college baseball spectrum. While Arizona has been a relatively quiet team since the turn of the century, SCAR has dominated college baseball since the start of the 2010s.

SCAR, which made its third straight championship series appearance under skipper Ray Tanner (who is now the Athletic Director), went to the championship series with a team centered around defense and pitching, the assumed recipe for success in the BBCOR bat era.

Arizona, on the other hand, won the championship with almost no relief pitching and a power outburst that was more common in college baseball before the bats were deadened by the introduction of BBCOR three years ago.

How likely is it that we see the two teams next year in Omaha? Both teams depended heavily on stars, which have since graduated or were drafted, but cupboards are not empty at both schools.

South Carolina loses All-Americans Michael Roth and Christian Walker, both of which played in the past three CWS appearances, as well as closer Matt Price. Roth, especially, is a huge loss. He holds the record for innings pitched at the CWS with 60.1 career innings. He is also second in career victories at the CWS with four, only behind his teammate Price, who has five. Roth not only ate up innings for the Gamecocks, but was the team captain for two years.

Luckily, SCAR can replace Roth’s spot in the rotation with freshman All-American pitcher Jordan Montgomery, who pitched eight shut-out innings against Arkansas at the CWS. Several other freshman Gamecocks also saw playing time in Omaha. Shortstop Joey Pankake, outfielder Tanner English, and catcher Grayson Greiner all earned Freshmen All-SEC honors and will be the core of this year’s offense. English stole twelve bases last season and may be the fastest player in all of college baseball. Pankake (.264 AVG/ 42 runs scored/ 2 HRs) and Greiner (.222 AVG/ 26 runs scored/6 HRs) both put up solid offensive numbers and played superb defense.

Arizona suffers from similar losses entering this season. The Wildcats line-up, which was fourth nationally in batting average and second in runs scored, loses CWS Most Outstanding Player Ryan Refsynder (.364 AVG/8 HRs/ 64 RBIs) and team captain Alex Mejia (.357/3/54). However, Arizona will return junior outfielder Johnny Field (.370/3/44) and sophomore catcher Riley Moore (.301/1/38).

Probably the biggest loss for the Wildcats will be All-American pitcher Kurt Heyer, who was drafted in the 6^th round of the MLB draft. Heyer led Arizona with a 2.24 ERA, 113 strikeouts, and 13-2 record. He also led all of D-I baseball with 7 complete games, two of which came in the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats will return junior Konner Wade, who won 11 games and threw three consecutive complete games in the postseason to lead Arizona to the title. Unfortunately, the rest of the pitching staff is not very strong.  

While Arizona and South Carolina provided us with one of the most entertaining championship series in recent years, it is unlikely that we will see the match-up again. South Carolina has established themselves as a dominant school in the SEC and new head coach Chad Holbrook was ranked in the top 10 for recruiting in all D-I sports by ESPN the Magazine.

Arizona is still trying to establish itself as a consistent power in the Pac-12. Head Coach Andy Lopez has gained success everywhere that he has coached in his 30-year coaching career. However, Arizona has not attained the recent recruiting success that South Carolina, or west coast rival UCLA, has had. The Wildcats lost 3 All-Americans, which is a tough blow for any program to take.

Parody is a theme common throughout college baseball, and while certain powerhouse schools will make it back year to Omaha year after year (expect South Carolina to make another push for a title), anything can happen.