The past two weeks have been a crazy ride. After losing twice last Saturday in the WIAC tournament to UW-Whitewater, we were stunned. Although we didn't earn the automatic bid, we were granted an at-large bid into the Midwest regional tournament. We knew the road wouldn't be easy, because third-ranked UW Whitewater, fifth-ranked St. Thomas, and eighth-ranked St. Scholastica were also in our regional.
We departed for Whitewater on Tuesday night so that we could get settled in for our game against St. Scholastica the next day. The game was slated to start at 4 p.m., so I was able to get my government finance exam proctored by our athletic trainer, Beth Kinslow, at the hotel that morning. A bunch of us on the team developed a routine, walking as a group to the Subway near the hotel. I think I ate Subway five times this past week.
We were able to beat St. Scholastica 12-1 on the back of Joel Deloit's amazing pitching performance. We were firing on all cylinders, and it carried us through the tournament.
After the victory over the Saints, we were in for a dogfight against the defending National Champions, the St. Thomas Tommies, the next day. We knew we had to play our absolute best to win. We beat the Tommies, 2-1. Jeremy Richter's home run in the fourth inning was all we needed to keep our winning streak going. Now 2-0, we needed to beat Whitewater to control our destiny. Our bats came alive once again as we beat the Warhawks, 12-4.
Remaining undefeated in the tournament, we needed to lose twice on Saturday to be eliminated by Whitewater. We played poorly in the first game, and lost to the Warhawks 9-3. Game two was a flat-out battle. The game bounced back and forth until the top of the ninth, when a squeeze bunt by catcher (and my roommate) Steve Considine put us on top, 4-3. Scotty Williams pitched an amazing four innings of relief, coming into the game after another outstanding performance by Delorit. Scott retired the Warhawks 1-2-3 in the ninth to clinch the regional. I have never ran in from left field that fast in my entire life to get on top of the dog pile near the mound. It was an amazing end to an amazing tournament.
Getting to hold the regional championship trophy and knowing that we are going to the World Series is something I'll cherish forever. I could not ask for a better group of guys to share the moment with. After all we have been through as a team, all the hard work, the sacrifices and the mental and physical exhaustion, we are officially champions!!! A major shout-out goes to all the Pointer fans who made the trip to Whitewater to cheer us on. This upcoming week will be exciting as we prepare to win a National Championship.
I finished up my finals on Monday, and since I had to move out of my house this past weekend, the guys on the team who don't have a place to stay checked into the Ramada Inn in Stevens Point until we leave for Appleton on Thursday morning. The week will be filled up with practice, relaxing and getting ready to win a National Championship.
Appleton, here we come!
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