It was one of those miraculous endings that make sports worth watching. Having trailed most of the game and going into the bottom of the ninth still down by three, the Golden Bears looked to be finished for the season. The game would determine who advanced to the NCAA super regional. The loser would go home. Afterward, even Coach David Esquer had to admit his doubts. "I told the guys that we could do this, but when it actually happened, I don't know that I actually believed it," he said.
What actually happened was this: After Cal brought the game to within a single run, first baseman Devon Rodriguez, who hit a two-run homer earlier in the game, stepped up to bat with two outs and bases loaded. With the count at 1-2, he hit a shot to right field that scored Austin Booker and Tony Renda, who slid home for the winning run. Calling the game for KALX (see video below), a hyperventilating Danny Fry sounded like Joe Starkey calling The Play. There was no band to rush the field, but the Cal dugout spilled across the diamond in joyous exultation.
After the game, Esquer seemed as amazed by his team as anyone. “We've come back from the dead so often this year. We’ve never died, we’ve never stopped playing.” Amen to that. All season long, I've been blogging about Cal Baseball under the heading, "The Last Season," in reference to the decision last summer to cut baseball and four other programs from the University's varsity lineup. It's no longer the case, of course. Thanks to some $10 million in donor pledges, Cal Baseball lives on (as do Rugby, Men's and Women's Gymnastics and Women's Lacrosse).
Shortly after the cuts were announced, I asked Esquer what he has was saying to his players to keep their morale up. "I told our team, ‘We stand for something, and if what they’re telling us is that we stand for the very last team in the history of California baseball, we can give them one hell of a team.’ And I really do believe that. We can give them one hell of a team this year."
They should get this guy to do all radio games for all sports. Until he loses his voice permanently...
Posted by: Maya | June 10, 2011 at 02:56 PM