Kate Morrison, WFAA Sports 2:22 p.m. CDT June 13, 2015
Pat Cantwell of the Frisco RoughRiders(Photo: Melisa Oporto)
The College World Series is upon us, with the first four teams facing off Saturday, June 13th. To get an insight into what it's like to travel the road to Omaha, and make it there as an underdog, I spoke with current Frisco RoughRiders catcher Pat Cantwell, who was the starting catcher for the Stony Brook Seawolves in 2012. The Seawolves were the fourth-seed in their region that year, and won four elimination games to advance to the College World Series, adopting the slogan "Shock the World" along the way.
What was it like, getting to the college playoffs with Stony Brook?
'We were underdogs the whole year - coming from the northeast, no one really gave us a shot anyway, but if anything it made us closer and it probably helped us out. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world."
What was the best part of your journey to the College World Series?
"Probably winning at LSU, because we were such big underdogs. I tell people this all the time when people ask me about it - going to Omaha was great, we were the Cinderella story, everybody was cheering for us, but there's something different about being the underdog when nobody wants you to win, nobody expects you to win, and our guys came out and answered the call. It was just one of those things where everybody came together at the right time and we got hot. It was a pretty special two or three days."
General view of logo before the 2015 College World Series(Photo: Steven Branscombe, Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports)
Stony Brook faced top pitcher Kevin Gausman in the LSU super-regional. What was that like?
"He [Gausman] was the best pitcher in college baseball that year, he closed out game 1 - the game that we actually lost because of the rain delay, so he finished out that game and [started] in Game 2. He did what he's best at - used both sides of the plate, good offspeed, good changeup, good slider. We were fortunate enough to get a couple of big hits, couple of guys on, and a couple of runs, and our pitching staff and bullpen did a great job, our defense was - I think it was nationally ranked that year, top 10 in the country. We made all the plays that we needed to make and fortunately we came out on top against a great pitcher and better competitor."
What advice would you have for someone with a team that's made it to Omaha this year?
"My advice would be to enjoy it, but don't let it take away from your competitive edge. Guys go there and they fall in love with the city and the people, everybody's very welcoming and very nice to you, everybody knows you're a baseball player when you're walking around. Go and enjoy it but you have to be ready to play when the time comes, so don't lose that competitive edge, but it's an experience you'll remember for the rest of your life, so you've got to try to have some fun with it too."
Any last thoughts or favorite memories of the College World Series?
"I mean, just the city of Omaha itself. You know, it was real cool when we got there - all the streets where the hotels are are named after the teams that are there, that was awesome. Everywhere you went there was some type of memorabilia from each school that was playing that year. The field was amazing, we played the first year at the new ballpark, and that's a beautiful facility. It was just a great experience. Everything that that city does for this time of the year is amazing, and I wish everybody could experience it once in their life, but it's just one of those things that you have to see for yourself."
The College World Series begins today at 2:00 PM CT when the Arkansas Razorbacks face off against the Virginia Cavaliers (ESPN), and continues with Florida versus Miami (FL) at 7:00 PM CT (ESPN). TCU will kick off its campaign for the title against LSU on Sunday at 2:00 PM CT (ESPN), with Cal State Fullerton facing defending champions Vanderbilt at 7:00 PM CT (ESPN2) that night.
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Source: http://www.wfaa.com/story/sports/mlb/rangers/2015/06/13/college-world-series-stony-brook-pat-cantwell/71177056/
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