Arizona Wildcats One Win from National Champions

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Arizona baseball notebook

Leadoff man Ramer again gets Cats going at College World Series

By Michael Lev Arizona Daily Star

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star photos

OMAHA, Neb. — Zach Gibbons has Arizona’s highest batting average, but Jay Johnson considers Cody Ramer the Wildcats’ best all-around hitter. Johnson likes to bat his best hitter first to put immediate pressure on the opposition. Ramer has been doing that all year long.

The senior second baseman jump-started Arizona’s 3-0 victory over Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the best-of-three College World Series finals on Monday with a leadoff double. It was the fourth time in six CWS games that he has reached base in his first at-bat. Only a ridiculous catch by Oklahoma State center fielder Ryan Sluder last Monday prevented Ramer from reaching in five of six games.

He went 2 for 3 against the Chanticleers with two runs and two walks. He also played perfect positional defense.

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star photos

“He did it the first game of the season,” Johnson said. “It’s cool that’s how it’s going here in Omaha. He stirs the pot for us.”

Ramer squelched a possible CCU rally in the bottom of the fourth inning. Playing in shallow right field against left-hand-hitting DH G.K. Young, Ramer charged Young’s slow roller, bare-handed the ball and got him at first. The previous batter, Connor Owings, had drawn a two-out walk.

Ramer scored the game’s first and third runs. The third came after a daring dash to second base on Gibbons’ sacrifice fly. The Chanticleers cut off the throw and nearly tagged out Ramer before Cesar Salazar crossed the plate.

“It wasn’t the most ideal thing,” Ramer said. “But I saw a little opportunity when both infielders vacated the bag, and I figured if I got to the outside I would be safe, which would get me in scoring position with two outs. And Ryan (Aguilar) was able to drive me in. But I’ve got to be a little smarter, especially with our catcher on third base.”

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star photos

Pitching update

Johnson planned to huddle with his staff to figure out a pitching plan for Tuesday. He said they would review Monday’s game and “evaluate some things that we did well and some things that we can expose.”

The possibilities include sophomore left-hander Cameron Ming, who has served as the team’s closer during the postseason, but started and pitched in long relief during the regular season. Ming threw 79 pitches Friday, but said he feels strong enough to start if called upon.

“I have no idea what the coaching plan is,” Ming said. “They’re going to go over it a million times tonight, figure out what’s best for our team. … I’ll find out when I find out, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star photos

Senior right-hander Nathan Bannister reported slight improvement in his strained right forearm. Bannister played catch from 45 to 60 feet Monday, tossing the ball about 20 times.

Bannister said his forearm didn’t feel sore, but still felt tight. He had to leave Friday’s game after 2º innings. He’s being re-evaluated daily.

“I’m still taking it day by day,” Bannister said. “We still have a bunch of pitching left.”

JC Cloney’s complete game enabled the Wildcats to rest their bullpen.

Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore said he would not start aceAndrew Beckwith, who threw 138 pitches in a complete game Friday.

“Absolutely not,” Gilmore said. “No shot.”

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star photos

Fun Bunch II

If Arizona has the most fun dugout in Omaha, Coastal Carolina is a close second.

The Chanticleers had an inflatable shark in their dugout during Saturday’s bracket-clinching victory over TCU and brought it back Monday. They also have been toting around a stuffed monkey named Rafiki. It has brought them good luck, or so they believe.

“Rafiki has become a part of who we are,” Gilmore said. “Those kids, they’re not going to the park, they’re not getting on the bus, they’re not doing anything without that monkey going with us.”

Baseball players and coaches are notoriously superstitious, and Rafiki isn’t the only one the Chanticleers have.

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star photos

On long bus rides during the season, Gilmore and assistant coach Matt Schilling would watch “Bull Durham.” Repeatedly.

“If we’ve watched it once, we’ve watched it 25 times,” Gilmore said.

“And it’s incredible: Every time we watch it, we win.”

Gilmore and Johnson, his Arizona counterpart, believe there’s value in having a loose dugout. The game is harder than their players make it look.

“It just keeps the moment in perspective,” Gilmore said.

“Anybody tells you every now and then (that) it isn’t hard to breathe out there, they’re not being truthful with you. We all put a lot into it. And it can be nerve-racking at times.”

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star photos

Inside pitch

• Aguilar has a team-high 13 RBIs in 13 postseason games.

• Arizona has 12 two-out RBIs during the College World Series, the most of any team.

• Coastal Carolina was shut out for just the second time this season. The first came against Wake Forest on March 8.

The Arizona Wildcats, the Cinderella Fellas of the College World Series, Power, Dance and Sing their way into National Finals

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For the fifth time in over one hundred years in college baseball the Arizona Wildcats are seeking the national championship.  This stunning collection of Cinderella Fellas with first year head coach Jay Johnson has defied the experts and defied the odds as they sang and danced into the finals of the College World Series.

Arizona baseball's hilarious bench now has a music video which shows you just how how far a group nobody gave a chance has come.  Picked to finish ninth in the PAC 12 conference, they now stand as one of two teams to be crowned national champions.  Go Wildcats - Make us Proud!

Be sure to click on this video and double click to make it larger. 

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University of Arizona Advances to Final Five in College World Series

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There are some stories I love to follow in this time of chaos and uncertainty.  One involves my alma mater, The University of Arizona, where long ago I went to play on their baseball and basketball teams.  I was a Wildcat, a jock, and a member of the Delta Beta chapter of Beta Theta Pi national fraternity.

The year before I arrived on campus to start the "fall freshman rush" the Wildcats baseball team won the College World Series and they were the defending kings of college baseball in 1964.  It was a proud program I was invited to join.

Arizona first fielded a team in 1904, and won four national championships in 1956, 1959, 1963, and 2012.  Legendary coach Jerry Kindall was coach when I arrived and he won three of the four national championships.

The Wildcats appeared in the College World Series seven times prior to this year, 1956, 1959, 1963, 1976, 1980, 1986, and 2012.

The Arizona Wildcats ranked 7th all time entering this year games won during the regular season, 2,347 wins.

Yet baseball is not the only talent of this team.  Here is a story about a creative group of Wildcat players who caught the attention of the ESPN network TV people, not for their baseball skills, but for their ability to make entertaining music videos to motivate the team. So impressed was ESPN they allowed the team to shoot a video used in all the promotion for the College World Series.  Here is the story.

Arizona baseball: Sawyer Gieseke produces music video for College World Series

Eric Vander Voort | NCAA.com

Jun 21, 2016 15:58 EDT

OMAHA, Neb. -- Plenty of talent is on display this week at the College World Series. Even some talent off the baseball diamond.

Meet Sawyer Gieseke, a junior utility player for Arizona. He's played 17 games this season at three different positions (third base, second base and catcher), and he's a film and television major.  Geiseke has a YouTube page for his film work, which often features his Wildcat teammates.

With Arizona in Omaha, Geiseke and ESPN teammed up to produce a cover video for "This Town," a song by O.A.R. (Of a Revolution) often used on College World Series broadcasts. This version is by "Bear Down Revolution," with Bear Down being Arizona's mantra. Gieseke and his teammates went around Omaha for the video, which he produced himself. The band features teammates Robby Medel (No. 34), Michael Hoard (No. 31) and Tyler Crawford (No. 30).

This Town Video

Let it Slide Video

Under the name Goo Goo Cats the boys did another music video called Let it Slide.

Omaha Hosts 66th straight College World Series

Every year since 1950 the College World Series is held in Omaha, Nebraska at Ameritrade Stadium, one of the best college stadiums in the nation if not the best.  About 35,000 fans attend every game in the annual series in June.  This brings up my second sense of pride in the CWS.

I worked for three Mayors of Omaha from 1969-1973 when major improvements were made to Rosenblatt Stadium, host site for the CWS, and a decision was made to begin plans for a new stadium to replace the original Rosenblatt Stadium so the series could remain in Omaha and continue to host the annual College World Series.  A story follows about the success of the Omaha project with the NCAA to use a permanent host city for the national championships.

  

College World Series History

It started as a public/private experiment and now, more than 50 years later, Omaha is synonymous with the College World Series. The College World Series was first played in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1947. Kalamazoo hosted it again in 1948. The tournament was then moved the following year to Wichita, Kan and that year former President George Bush Sr. was captain of the Yale baseball team. The College World Series was first played in Omaha in 1950 and total attendance was 17,805. Although the College World Series is now a profitable event, it lost money for 10 of the first 12 years that it was in Omaha 1950-1961. Four Omahans who maintained their faith and interest in the College World Series during those "lean" years are due much of the credit for the tournament's continued presence in Omaha. They are the late Ed Pettis of the Brandeis Stores, the late Morris Jacobs and the late Byron Reed, both of Bozell & Jacobs, and the late Johnny Rosenblatt, Mayor of Omaha and an avid baseball fan. How this community nurtured the College World Series from humble beginnings to its status as a nationally recognized event is quite a story. A story of how the people of Omaha, its business leaders, city officials and volunteers, embraced the Series and teamed up with the NCAA to make it grow.   Today, College World Series of Omaha, Inc., a non-profit organization, is the local organizing committee for the annual NCAA Division I Championship Baseball College World Series. Guiding the activities of the local contributors and the many volunteers involved in the Series is the executive committee of the College World Series of Omaha, Inc. board. This group of dedicated individuals meets each month to develop policies and plans that assure the success and growth of each year's Series. It has been our pleasure to host the CWS for more than 50 years.  The Series is an event in which we take pride. A lot of hard work, dedication and commitment of many volunteers, local business contributors and the city, has built the College World Series from its humble beginnings to the enjoyable event it is today. Continued fan support of the College World Series has made the event a very special place for teams that have had the opportunity to compete for the National Championship. .