Travis Haney - Gamecock Encore: The 2011 University of South Carolina Baseball Teams Run To Back-To-Back NCAA Championships

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2012 by Travis Haney

All rights reserved

Cover design by Natasha Walsh

Cover images by Paul Collins

First published 2012

e-book edition 2012

ISBN 978.1.61423.404.3

print edition ISBN 978.1.60949.599.2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Haney, Travis.

Gamecock encore : the 2011 University of South Carolina baseball teams run to back-to-back NCAA championships / Travis Haney.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-60949-599-2

1. University of South Carolina--Baseball--History. 2. South Carolina Gamecocks (Baseball team)--History. 3. College World Series (Baseball) I. Title.

GV875.12.U75H35 2012

796.357630975771--dc23

2012005898

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

To Mimmie

No one will ever empower and encourage like you.

I am forever thankful.

Contents

Foreword

If youre messing with me, Ill kill you.

I was smiling, but that was what I told Coach Holbrook and Coach Meyers when they let me know I had been granted a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. That news led to my third year as a Gamecockand my second national championship in those three years.

I was getting ready to run the steps at Carolina Stadium when they stopped me. That was part of my self-imposed training plan while I waited to hear about the extra year. It was a lonely feeling, having to train without my teammates, all on my own. Without the NCAAs approval, this would be all that was left of my baseball career. It was a real disappointment to watch from the concourse as my teammates prepared to defend the schools only major national title. It was a national title that I had been part of, that I had helped win. An occasional Miss you, man or Wish you were out here, Brady only seemed to make the separation worse. For two seasons, I had battled with those guys. Through frigid February evenings in Columbia to blistering June afternoons in Omaha, we were brothersbrothers with a common goal.

Apprehension and anxiety were all I felt when the coaches called me their way that February afternoon. Coach Holbrook and Coach Meyers werent messing with me. It felt like a dream when I heard Coach Esposito tell me to meet him on the field before practice for one-on-one skill work. I couldnt believe it!

And thats the way my season started, with a lesson learned. From that day forward, I worked hard not to take for granted how blessed I was to walk on any field, much less TD Ameritrade Park.

After I left Florida State, there was a time when I thought I would never play ball again. But Coach Tanner took a chance on me. Because of that, my childhood dream of playing in Omaha would soon become a reality. Not only was he a great coach, but he also taught us so much more than baseball. Perseverance and hard work were two things Coach Tanner instilled in his players. His drive to win was like no other coach I had ever seen before.

Our team was the most well-rounded, humble group that anyone could ever imagine. To be with them for another season meant so much to me. Not long after I got the sixth year, my teammates elected me as one of three captains. Not only would I become a leader of our team, but I would also share the responsibilities with two of my longtime teammates, Scott Wingo and Michael Roth. To be one of the captains with such a close-knit group of guys was an honor.

From 2010 to 2011, the bond between us only got stronger. We expected to win, and we were coached to win every game. Battle and win anyway did not only become our slogans, they became who we were. We taught each other, as teammates, to be selfless and represent what it means to be a national champion. We certainly werent the biggest or strongest boys to wear the garnet and black, but Ill guarantee we were the toughest. We never feared any team that opposed us. No one was standing in our way.

There is a passage in Ecclesiastes that speaks of a strand of string that alone is not very strong and easily broken. But when combined with other strings, it becomes a rope that is unbreakable. Each one of uscoaches, trainers, managers and playerswas a string. Individually, we were nothing. But put us together?

We were the South Carolina Gamecocks, unbreakable and unbeatable.

Brady Thomas

South Carolina catcher, 200911

South Carolina captain, 2011

Authors Note

I wasnt sure whether I should write this book, even as of November 2011. Please do not misunderstand. I wanted to write it, but life changed pretty dramatically for me about a month after my second time covering the College World Series. I was asked in August to move to Oklahoma to cover Sooners football, a terrific opportunity in my profession at the tender age of thirty.

So, as I moved to suburban Oklahoma City, I went back and forth on whether I should write the sequel to Gamecock Glory. It had been another incredible run in 2011 for the Gamecocks; there was no doubting that. But would I have time? Would it be too much, considering the move and the Sooners football season?

Ultimately, and obviously, I decided that I should write it. Two reasons: the teams story was again that good, with dramatic victories and personalities that I would never get tired of describing. Whether were supposed to or not, I had developed friendships with guys on and around the teambecause theyre good people, and its impossible for me to shy from rooting for good people.

In addition, before I left Omaha in 2011, I met three of the eleven-member Peters family. I met mom Jenny, thirteen-year-old Charlie and two-year-old Teddy. I gave them a copy of the first book and explained that I would really like for Charlie to be part of the sequel, the story of the 2011 team.

To back up, I wrote a lot about Bayler Teal and his family in Gamecock Glory. Bayler, just seven years old, lost his battle with cancer during the 2010 series. Carolina played for him, won to honor him. As his dad Rob has said, it was a bittersweet story. It was sweet to see the impact of his life, but it was bitter to reckon with his death. It was easy to celebrate him, but it was hard to see him go.

Then came Charlie. In 2003, he had won his own bout with cancer. Years later, in 2011, he was South Carolinas batboy. That was incredible to me, in and of itself. Gamecocks coach Ray Tanner had reached out and befriended Charlie and his family eight years before, asking him to be part of the team. That says a lot about Tanner. Hes genuine. His profile in South Carolina elevated a lot after the first title victory. He constantly had speaking engagements and functions to attend. Yet a year later, he was unafraid to slow down and include a teenage boy in what was going on with his team.

When I met Charlie and Jenny, I understood I had to write this book. I reminded myself of that throughout the rest of the summer and fall, even when I literally moved halfway across the country.

I cannot explain to you how special this family is; I recognized that in the short time I spent with the Peterses in June and November. I was thankful that Jenny, Matt, Morgan, Abby, Ben, Charlie, Max, Emma, Mae, Teddy and baby Zeke opened their home to me. (Yes, its a rather large family.)