Coastal Carolina receives champions’ welcome back at home ballpark

After being welcomed home by a sizable throng of well-wishers as the team landed at the Myrtle Beach International Airport on Thursday night, the celebration of Coastal Carolina’s College World Series championship continued Friday with a parade through Conway and a reception back at Springs Brooks Stadium.

And really anywhere else Chanticleers baseball coach Gary Gilmore went during the day.

The luster from the school’s first national championship of any kind is not likely to wear off anytime soon, and after grinding for 21 years to get to this point Gilmore has seemingly been enjoying every moment of it.

“As much as I’m happy for the baseball team and my players, to see the [outpouring] of people last night and today on the sides of the road and the middle of Conway ... I’ve gone into three places down in Pawleys Island and got a standing ovation in all three of them, and it’s just unbelievable,” Gilmore said. “I had no idea we would ever have this type of astronomical impact on all the people in this area. It’s unbelievable. We have a chance for the Teal Nation to really grow, and for me that’s the most satisfying part of it all.”

As the team pulled into its home ballpark Friday, the seats were already mostly filled as fans waited to welcome home the champs.

The characters of this 2016 Chants baseball team started the show with junior pitcher Andrew Beckwith, the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series, waving a Coastal Carolina flag to fire the crowd up, after sophomore relief pitcher Bobby Holmes had lip synced and danced to the music on the stadium PA system while others guys played it up to the crowd by showing off their elaborate handshake sequences

A number of the team’s veteran players took turns speaking briefly and soaking in the applause, but the loudest reception was held for Gilmore.

“Twenty-one years ago I got hired about this time of the year, and for six months I lived in a pop-up trailer with no indoor plumbing back here on the back side and all I had with me was passion and a dream. These young men here have made that dream of mine come true,” he said to the fans, as they responded with loud applause.

“The other dream of mine was to one day see the school that I love so very, very much to grow up with us, to walk around town, everybody wearing teal, people doing ‘Chants Up’, just being like a power-five school,” he continued. “Well you all have made us feel that way last night and all day today.”

That drew even more applause, and as Gilmore walked away from the podium the fans chanted “Gary-Gary-Gary” until university president David DeCenzo encouraged him to come back for an encore.

Gilmore raised his hands in the air and reciprocated his appreciation.

“My love for you [is] just as much. I love all of you Chanticleers. This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life, and I love you all. And let’s grow this Chanticleer nation. Let’s keep it going,” he said.

University officials, including DeCenzo, chairman of the board of trustees Wyatt Henderson and athletic director Matt Hogue were joined by local politicians in welcoming home the Chants.

“We’re so excited to be a part of all that is Coastal Carolina and Coastal Carolina’s championship win yesterday,” Conway mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy said. “This team, this coach, this administration has given to us bragging rights that will last an absolute lifetime. We are the home of the College World Series champion[s]. And you know what kind of pride that brings. Our backs have gotten just a little bit straighter, our smiles are broader and we have a new resolve that anything that we work hard enough at and pray hard enough for and stick to our guns we can actually do.”

She then led the fans in a CI-NO chant and presented Gilmore with an honorary key to the city.

When it was the players’ time to talk, they too thanked the fans for the support that has grown significantly during this postseason run. The response at the Myrtle Beach General Aviation Thursday night – there must have been at least a couple thousand people waiting behind the chain-link fence to cheer on the returning champs – had been overwhelming and came as a great surprise to them.

The response Friday was no less impressive.

They chanted “MVP-MVP-MVP” when Beckwith started off the player speeches and they continued to celebrate each guy that spoke thereafter.

“Man, I feel like I’m living a dream right now. I still [haven’t] woke up. Thank you all so much,” junior designated hitter G.K. Young said. “We stuck together pitch by pitch, game by game and we pulled it off. And you don’t have to hear about 2010 anymore – it’s 2016.”

That was a reference to the Chants’ 2010 NCAA super regional team that came close to a College World Series berth and had been the model to which future Coastal Carolina teams had been compared against – until now.

“You all have been absolutely amazing this whole journey,” Holmes said. “We expect each and every one of you to be out here opening day next year. If you’re not, I’ll be knocking on doors in Conway and Georgetown and Myrtle Beach. I just want to thank you all again, and Chant nation, we love you.”

Said senior infielder Tyler Chadwick: “Chant nation, this has been a great experience for all of us. We can’t thank you guys enough for all the support we had back in Omaha. Believe me we could feel all the support back home, but this is awesome. Chants Up, love you guys.”

The hope for Gilmore and the returning players is that the outpouring of support they have received during this unforgettable run can sustain into the future with larger crowds and a ballooning fan base.

“They’re hooked right now,” Gilmore said. “We’ve just got to not let them off.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2016 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina receives champions’ welcome back at home ballpark."