Chants basking in the glow of first College World Series berth

Waiting in the lobby of the team’s hotel Monday morning before the trip back home, Coastal Carolina baseball coach Gary Gilmore said he had already received more than 400 texts from former players, fellow coaches and friends congratulating him on the Chanticleers’ first College World Series berth.

While nobody has lived and died emotionally with every game, every surge and setback these last 21 seasons more than Gilmore, there are so many others who had bought into his dream of the Chants one day being on college baseball’s marquee stage as they are now.

And, as he made sure to reiterate, so many who have contributed to making that dream a reality.

“I’m so happy for this group of kids and just so many teams and coaches and people that over the 20 years I’ve been here have had a part in this,” Gilmore said. “This team accomplished what all of us had worked so hard to do, and all of those guys that feel so much pride right now in what’s going on sweated and toiled and everything trying to get there themselves and they set the stage to allow these guys to be in that position. I’m just so happy for all those guys.”

The Chants didn’t get much sleep Sunday night after defeating host Louisiana State, 4-3, on junior Michael Paez’s walk-off RBI single to complete a two-game NCAA super regional sweep of the Tigers at Alex Box Stadium.

Nor did they really want the night to end after clinching their place on the eight-team bracket for the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., which starts Saturday.

The Chants (49-16) will be matched up with Texas Tech, TCU and Florida on their double-elimination half of the bracket, and will open with the Gators at 8 p.m. Sunday. The other side of the bracket features Miami, UC Santa Barbara, Oklahoma State and Arizona.

“I had to wake up and check the internet just to make sure it was real,” junior designated hitter G.K. Young said Monday morning. “I pinched myself a couple times. It’s just amazing.”

Said senior right fielder Connor Owings: “What an incredible experience last night was. Just getting to play in that atmosphere, getting to get a huge win for this program and Coach Gilmore and now we get the opportunity to go to the College World Series. It’s crazy to think there’s only eight teams left in the country, and we’re one of them. ... I don’t think I went to bed until like 4 and I woke up at like 6 and I’m still wired right now.”

Gilmore, meanwhile, hadn’t even started to look ahead to what awaits in Omaha.

“I’ll worry about that later today or tomorrow or something. Right now my head’s still spinning,” he said.

As he thought back to the game, two moments remained vivid for him.

First was sophomore reliever Bobby Holmes’ strikeout of LSU pinch-hitter Brody Wofford on a full count with the bases loaded and the score tied in the top of the ninth. Holmes then got Beau Jordan to fly out to left to strand the bags full and keep the score tied.

The other was, of course, the ending soon thereafter, as senior Anthony Marks led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, stole second and scored on the next pitch as Paez chopped the ball over the Tigers’ drawn-in third baseman.

Paez, who was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Mets on Friday, will go down in Coastal Carolina baseball lore as the guy who delivered the most significant swing in program history.

“It’s amazing. I had a tough night, definitely didn’t feel like I was helping the team out all day, and to have the biggest hit in Coastal history is one of the biggest moments in my whole life,” he said Monday. “And I love to take Gilley to Omaha and the older guys, it’s incredible.”

It really is incredible – for Gilmore and the 21 years he’s put into getting to this point, for the players who will go down as the greatest team in program history and, really, for the school and its supporters.

“Actually I woke up this morning and the first thing I tweeted was, ‘We’re officially the best team in Coastal history,’ and that’s been a dream that I’ve wanted since I was 10 years old and I saw [my] first game at Coastal Carolina,” Young said.

The thing about dreams is there’s no telling when they will end.

No matter what, the Chants are no doubt going to enjoy this experience, but now that they’re in this spot, well, who’s to say what is possible?

“I don’t know, we’ll see. With this bunch, never say never. They find ways,” Gilmore said. “No betting man would have thought we’d come in this place and win two games in a row, so we’ll see. No reason why they can’t win it all.”

This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Chants basking in the glow of first College World Series berth."