Alabama baseball isn't scared of 'different' College World Series
· Yahoo Sports
When Alabama baseball last hosted an NCAA Super Regional in Tuscaloosa, Rob Vaughn was a freshman catcher at Kansas State. And during Alabama's most recent trip to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series, he was 11 years old, soon to turn 12.
Vaughn has been to Charles Schwab Field in Omaha before, bringing Maryland to the Big Ten Tournament. But nothing is preparing him for what Alabama secured Monday morning, for what the Crimson Tide will face Saturday afternoon.
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"It's going to be different for all of us," Vaughn said.
But it's a moment Vaughn knows Alabama is ready for.
Yes, this Alabama team: one that didn't hit 150 home runs or eclipse a .350 batting average, one that has the reputation as the worst fielding team in the SEC.
"Sometimes you look at our stats, you're like, 'What? They won?' But, man, they're just winners. They're winners," Vaughn said. "And when it needed to happen, when the pitch needed to be made, when the play needed to be made, when the swing needed to be made, we made it. And we did that consistently 40-plus times this year, and that's why we're still sitting here."
It's why shortstop Justin Lebron hoisted an NCAA trophy no Alabama baseball player had hoisted since 1999. It's why the screen at Sewell-Thomas Stadium exclaimed the Crimson Tide as "Omaha Bound" hours after the last pitch was delivered.
Alabama is a success story, one Vaughn always knew he could help write.
It's a story Vaughn couldn't help but reflect on as Omaha approaches. He moved across the country with a system, a dream, one that in a conference of talent, people matter.
It's one Jason Torres, Alabama third baseman and newly-christened Crimson Tide hero after his grand slam sealed the super regional-clinching win over St. John's, believes in, one he doesn't want to stop.
"That's all I thought about honestly ever since we started playing, even in the SEC Tournament," Torres said. "I just wanted to keep playing baseball. I love these guys. I love these coaches. So that's all we just want to keep doing. Just keep playing."
All left-handed pitcher Zane Adams wanted to do was play Alabama baseball.
He was a Crimson Tide fan placed in the middle of Texas and Texas A&M country. Everyone hated him for his love of all things Alabama, he said.
"Getting to come here, and go to Omaha with the team that I watched since I was a kid, you can't write it up any better than that," Adams said.
Vaughn realizes the weight of what Alabama faces next week. He's not smothering it. He wants his players to soak it in, to realize what they have built, that they are stepping into uncharted territory in Omaha.
But Vaughn is only giving Alabama a minute to realize the gravity of this College World Series berth. Then the laser focus returns.
"We have a job to do," Vaughn said.
Alabama will play Oklahoma in the first round of the College World Series at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 13. The game will air on ESPN.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama baseball on College World Series run