Marlin baseball team falls in regionals
by Chad Lounge
While most students were cleaning out dorm rooms, and preparing for graduation, my teammates and I spent the day on the baseball field waiting to see if we recieved a bid to the South Regional tournament.
After winning the ODAC title for the first time in school history, we had compiled a school record 29 victories for a season. We had beaten the top teams in the south except first ranked North Carlolina Wesleyan, and yet we practiced every day wondering if we would get a bid. This season we had finally cracked into the top 25 after the ODAC tournament, and we had the confidence and the momentum heading into what we hoped to be post-season action.
The day we recieved the bid our team was beginning to lose hope. No phone calls from the tournament committee and lack of press from the Virginia Pilot were taking a toll on the players and coaches. When we received the call, the intensity at practice was raised to a new level. Our performance at the regionals would help put our school on the map as a baseball powerhouse, along with getting the recognition that we had lacked outside of our own college campus.
The chartered bus pulled into the gym parking lot and the relief of knowing that we wouldn’t be cramped in the minibus was an added bonus. The trip seemed to go by much faster to Rocky Mount, N.C., than times before, and the mood was that of excitement and anxiousness. We wanted to prove to everyone that we deserved to be there.
The first game was disasterous. We had to play N.C. Wesleyan on their home field. With the thought of playing the number one team in the nation in the back of our minds, we folded with a loss. Our momentum was cut off, but our confidence wasn’t. We then took on Mary Washington College. We had defeated them earlier in the year for the first time, and we took it to them again, this time with an idea that we couldn’t lose to anyone.
Emory University was next, and we were pumped up. One more win and we would get a chance to redeem ourselves against the favorite. We jumped out to a 4-2 lead, eventually holding on to a 5-4 win.
Game day was Saturday afternoon affair. There were scouts, parents, and fans filling the stands. We were prepared to move on to the College World Series if we could just figure out how to defeat N.C. Wesleyan. We would have to beat them twice in the regional because they were undefeated, but we were ready for a battle.
The game was intense from the start. We scored, they scored and it was tight until the 7th inning. This is when their experience and preparation outlasted ours, but we still felt like we were the better team.
The memories of this trip will never be forgotten by those who played and watched and the relationships the players had with each other during the season will not be matched by any other in our lifetime. This season was one to remember, and now we are working even harder to produce greater memories for the new season approaching us.