[LINK] Carter Strickland, AJC
Georgia Tech is on its way to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The Yellow Jackets, staring at an 0-2 count after being swept in two straight Super Regionals, finally made contact with a 12-3 win Saturday over College of Charleston in front of 3,911 at Russ Chandler Stadium.
- - - - - "When we got that train
rolling, we knew they weren't going to stop us," Tech senior Mike
Trapani said. "Especially coming up short so many times. "Don't kid yourself. There is always that demon the back of your
head: 'What is going to happen this year? How are we going to break our
hearts this year?' When that didn't happen, it was kind of a sense of
relief: 'Hey, we can do this.' " They did it with their bats — 10 home runs in five NCAA tournament games from six different players. They did it with their arms — Blake Wood didn't give up an earned
run Friday. Lee Hyde tied his career high with eight innings and gave
up just two earned along the way Saturday. And they did it with hearts — Wes Hodges limped through every game
with a stress facture in his leg. Jeff Kindel partially tore his
posterior cruciate ligament three weeks ago and never missed a game.
Trapani injured his knee Friday, then begged, pleaded and finally did
talk his way into the batter's box in the ninth inning Saturday. His
entire family, both grandfathers and one grandmother were all there to
be a part of the standing ovation he and every other senior received. "I just wanted to be a part of it," he said. "Then when the crowd
did that, it just blew me away. It's something I will never forget." Neither will senior Steven Blackwood. A year ago, he was drafted in the 26th round by the St. Louis
Cardinals. He passed for a chance at the College World Series. The
draft came and went this year. "The phone never rang," he said. "But no regrets since we are doing
this. The fact that I can have this as one of my last memories in
baseball makes it special. This is going to stick with me further than
any sort of minor league or pro experience that I could have." Tech knows more than most how this experience will have to be
treasured. In 23 postseason appearances, this is only the Jackets'
third trip to the CWS (1994, 2002). They'll face the winner of the
Clemson-Oral Roberts Regional on Friday. Tech was 3-3 against Clemson,
the tournament's top seed, this season. "I've got some special guys on this team that have been through a
lot of battles and injuries," Tech coach Danny Hall said. "But day in
and day out, they never stopped believing they could go play in the
World Series." It was just they didn't know how to get there. That changed when the
team's focus started to change in the ACC tournament. The Jackets
didn't win it but proved to themselves they had what it took to win in
the NCAAs. "Something happened," Trapani said. "We just came together." "That started our run," Blackwood added. "Then to come into
regionals and go 3-0 and then to come in against a team like College of
Charleston and do what we did, that shows the depth of our lineup and
our pitching." The lineup and staff still aren't healthy. Tim Gustafson, MVP of
last year's regional, hasn't pitched a game this postseason and is
questionable for Omaha with a bad shoulder. Said Blackwood: "In order for us to come out this year and face so
much adversity over the course of the year and to be able to get
through and make it to Omaha just shows the depth of this program and
how good we are."
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