Charleston...

Article from last night's game from Omaha paper...

Shatel: Gamecocks show leather can be lethal, too
Column by Tom Shatel
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

It's one of those little ironies that come to you after you gather your senses and put your jaw back in place.

We had to spend more than $130 million, move downtown and abandon a classic baseball theater ? to find old-school baseball.

TD Ameritrade Park is getting broken in like a new catcher's mitt ? the kind South Carolina catcher Robert Beary used to backhand a short-hop throw and force a runner at the plate.

Old-school baseball is in session at the New School. Relentless pitching. Mind-blowing defensive gems. Sacrifice bunts. Sacrifice flies. Move the runner over and pray for a run. A chess match on grass and dirt.

Somewhere, north Omaha native Bob Gibson approves. It's 1968 all over again. Ain't it great? You do like, right?

How can you not? This is baseball the way it ought be, the way it used to be, but hardly ever was at Rosenblatt Stadium the past 20 to 30 years. Rosenblatt was the icon because of all of the ghosts. Well, TD Ameritrade Park is already filling its own scrapbook.

The players, the coaches and the fans who saw South Carolina edge Florida 2-1 will not soon forget this classic on the College World Series championship stage.

First, there was Friday night's extra inning bunt-a-thon. Now, Monday night. TD Ameritrade Park is fast getting its baseball cred.

Last night, it came in many forms. Florida starter Hudson Randall sailing through seven innings on 68 pitches, allowing just two hits.

Then came the bottom of the ninth, with Gators on every base and no outs. South Carolina brought the infield in.

Second baseman Scott Wingo snared a hot shot by Tyler Thompson that he had to dive to smother. He popped up and made a throw home, which hopped just to the right of the plate. Beary turned his back, extended his glove, backhanded it and snatched it cleanly.

One gone. South Carolina coach Ray Tanner kept the infield up rather than play back for a double play. He got one, anyway.

Florida's Daniel Pigott hit a sharp ball to Wingo, who threw quickly to Beary for the force at home. Beary reared back and threw out the runner at first. Double play. Double wow.

Then came the bottom of the 10th. Florida's Cody Dent had singled and was moved to second. Mike Zunino singled to left, and Dent tried to score. Left fielder Jake Williams threw toward home.

Earlier in the game, Florida scored its first run when Williams caught a sacrifice fly and his short throw was cut off at third base. This time, Williams had more than enough. It was to the left of the line, but Beary caught it and reached over and tagged Dent.

By this time, everyone in the place knew they were watching something special. Even better, everyone in the place was still present and applauding. In fact, with each defensive gem, each incredible play, they stood and cheered.

Who said the masses won't accept pitching and defense?

The only downside to this one was how it was won and lost. Florida had two errors on the same play in the top of the 11th. After singling up the middle, Christian Walker attempted to steal second. Catcher Zunino's throw was high, into center field. Then the throw to third was wild, and Walker scored what turned out to be the winning run.

In the end, there were a couple of similarities to the “ping" fests we used to see at Rosenblatt. The game took three hours and 35 minutes. But it was 11 innings. And it didn't seem that long. Captivating baseball rarely does.

Then there was the revolving door on the mound. Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan lifted Randall with two outs in the eighth. He finished with 84 pitches after a brilliant night, but Randall had gotten behind every hitter in the eighth.

O'Sullivan went with four more pitchers. Meanwhile, South Carolina's Tanner used four. In the old days, that meant the ball was flying around the park ? or out of it.

But in these new, old-school days, it means you do anything you can to stay in and win a game where the first to blink loses.

The Gamecocks didn't blink. Again. They did it again, with late-inning magic dust. They did it starting freshman Forrest Koumas, who hadn't pitched in the CWS. They did it with Walker being cleared to play a half hour before the game with his broken wrist.

They did it like they always do it, with guts and guile and a whole lot of old-school stuff. Florida had some, too. The Gators played with poise and guts, too, up until the two-error inning that sealed their doom.

It's not over, but Florida will have to figure out how to beat South Carolina twice here, in Omaha, a place where the Gamecocks are at home. They do look and play with that LSU swagger. But they do it with big gloves, not bats. The bats don't work so well in this new stadium. And old school.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com