The Highest of Highs...and the Lowest of Lows

(Written by Tyler Lobe, Sports Information Something at Sonoma State University)

Well, I didn't expect to be the only one contributing to this blog, so I apologize for the lack of posts during this trip to North Carolina.

Don't worry, I'll make up for it.

Well, where do I start? Between my last post (Friday) and now (1 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday)... Wow, okay, that's quite a while. This post goes out to you, Brad Byrne.

Again, I apologize. Being that it IS in the wee hours here in North Carolina, please forgive my scattered mind, especially after that heartbreak of a game a couple of hours earlier.

I'll start off with Saturday's uplifting clinic that the team ran for the Boys Club of Wake County here in Raleigh. About 30 boys, anywhere from age 5 to age 13, came running from all directions as soon as our team bus arrived in the parking lot. The Boys Club had been ravaged by a tornado just a few weeks prior and the roof was clearly under reconstruction. It seemed that having the Sonoma State baseball team there to lead the boys in a quick, two-hour clinic, it was a breath of fresh air for the Boys Club. As the morning went on, you could tell that everyone involved started enjoying themselves as everyone began feeling comfortable. Coach Goelz was handing out packs of baseball cards to the kids as they worked through different stations and he also handed out SSU t-shirts and free tickets to Sunday's game to the parents in attendance. By the end of the clinic, everyone had a smile on their faces and the kids' new favorite baseball team was the Sonoma State Seawolves.

It was then off to practice at the field, something the team hadn't done the day before because of the inclement weather (inclement is a nice way of putting it, you know if you read my previous blog). As a former baseball player, turned manager by my senior year of high school, to a Sports Information...Specialist, I wanted to put on the glove and roam the outfield during BP. Now, nothing against my fellow sports information colleagues, but most of them aren't the most athletic people around. Therefore, you could imagine the surprise on half of the players and coaches faces that I could actually catch a fly ball and look athletic doing so. Myself included since I hadn't taken fly balls in...who knows. What a blast, though, to just hang out amongst the guys that I hadn't really gotten to know until this week, even though I have covered them all season long.

Yada yada yada, practice finished, we did dinner, bed time, WAH-LAH (or how ever it's technically spelled), it's Sunday and we're about to snap Grand Valley State's 32-game win streak...but not before eight or nine heart attacks. I'm not sure how you all (or ya'll) felt at home watching it on the broadcast, but in person, it was 10x or 12x worse. Don't ask how I came up with the logic on that math (we're pushing 2 a.m. Eastern time right now).

O'Koyea's home run to tie the game up in the bottom of the ninth inning was a "no doubt about it" ball. The Grand Valley State SID (which is short for sports information director), immediately dropped his head and, of course, I had to bottle my emotions as there is a strict "no cheering" policy in the press box. Any press box for that matter. I knew from that point on, we were going to win this game. The Lakers wanted to take a lead in the 11th inning, putting runners in scoring position, but Bordagaray did his job to get out of the inning, allowing Alex Todd to hit his line drive single to right field in the bottom of the 11th, scoring "Flip" from second base. The SSU dugout erupted into a frenzy, along with the group of Seawolf fans in the stands, celebrating the fall of the No. 1 team in the nation. What an unbelievable feeling it was to be a part of something that great. The adrenaline was pumping, the team was in high spirits, and it was only one win.

(I might add that everyone working this tournament is surprised at the following by Sonoma State fans, making the cross country trip for this event. I'm not surprised one bit, however, we've had a great following all season long. Thanks to everyone who has, and is, supporting the guys.)

By the way, I extend a sincere apology to Alex Todd for initially writing that he won the game on a bloop single, when in fact it was a line drive to right field that got underneath the glove of the sliding right fielder. I'm not going to make excuses for myself, but I was worried about photographing the dugout's celebration and did not see the actual hit. My bad.

"Can I get a bloop single?!" as heard by Alex has he passed by me on the bus later that night.

Got it.

Anyway, we all got to sleep in on Monday and then was treated to a Durham Bulls game later in the evening.

(Side note: thanks to our Associate Athletic Director, Yvonne Burbank, for helping to set the food and entertainment up for the week. Huge kudos, especially when you gotta walk into a sandwich place and make 40 different sandwich orders, all with specific requests. The place eventually ran out of bread, but Subway saved the day.)

It was a great opportunity for the guys to go watch the Triple-A Bulls team (an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays) face the AAA affiliate for the Cleveland Indians. However, the temperature was in the 90's still and the humidity made it worse, forcing half of the team to leave early. The rest of us left in the eighth inning after the hometown team took a lead on a three-run home run that was hit at least 450 feet. Come to find out, the home run was hit off a guy that I faced in little league back in Washington State...small world.

So, after the win over the top team in the nation just a couple of days prior, coupled with an off day on Monday, the Seawolves were ready to face West Florida. BUT, before we could take it seriously, we had to celebrate the birthday of head coach John Goelz (and who would want to lose on the head coach's birthday?)...Yeah, the title of this post is now becoming clearer, right?

We had so many chances to keep West Florida from scoring and we had so many chances to take the lead. You could look at the double play that occurred just before O'Koyea hit the double, which was six inches from the top of the wall. In my opinion, it should have left the yard, but the humidity in the air on Tuesday night was so thick, I'm pretty sure that's what prevented the ball from going over the wall.

You could look at the six runners left on base in the final three innings, including the bases loaded situation with just one out in the top of the ninth and the No. 4 and 5 hitters at the plate.

You could look at other things too, but quite frankly, it's now 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time and this guy is exhausted. To make a long story short, as a spectator, the game of baseball -- and sports in general -- is so frustrating.

Coach Goelz was quoted in the post-game press conference as saying "If I could have that situation again, bases loaded with those two particular players up to bat, nine times out of ten, we would win that game. Those guys are hard working guys, reliable guys, I know they are disappointed. They are good situational hitters, but (West Florida's) pitchers did a great job."

Thomas Lee said it best in that same post-game press conference: "It was a tough loss, but we've bounced back before. We bounced back in the regional tournament after our loss (to Cal Poly Pomona) and we have to play one inning, one pitch at a time like we have all season."

HIGH: We snapped No. 1 Grand Valley State's 32-game win streak on Sunday,
LOW: Down 5-4 with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth and one out, we couldn't score anyone on Tuesday.

All within two days.

The beauty of sports.

Goelz finished Tuesday night's interviews by saying: "We are just excited to be here (at the CWS). We expect to play our best. Our players are going to play with a lot of enthusiasm and, win or lose, we are going to give it our best shot and I think our best shot is pretty good, so someone is going to have to beat us."

I would have to say that by watching this team, who was humiliated at the CCAA tournament a couple of a weeks ago, has a lot to prove...and they aren't done yet.

The best is yet to come.