City Personals

Omaha, Neb., was transformed into a little Oxford during the College World Series. Greg and Boothe Gresham and Sam Pearson, all three die hard fans, made the trek up there. They stayed throughout the duration.

Ole Miss battled all season where they began as the number one team in the nation and quickly plummeted off the top 25. In the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala., the team was a one and done. Back to Oxford.

Memorial Day, the NCAA had their selection announcement for the teams in the country that would be heading to regional tournaments, the first in the road to Omaha. Team after team, some I never knew existed, were named. Last on the list, last team in a regional tournament - the mighty Rebels of Ole Miss. Having something to prove to not only the NCAA, but colleges around this country, they struck out to win both their regional tournament and their super regional one, as well. Not only did they win both, they swept them. The road to Omaha was paved with gold for the team chosen last to even get into a regional.

Teams Ole Miss faced during the regular season were in Omaha, actually four of the eight teams in were SEC. Three were in one bracket. Texas A&M was the only SEC team in the first bracket. We had Arkansas and Auburn in our bracket. The Rebels were undefeated in post season play until the second game against Arkansas. Bats were cold as stone and fielding was a little less than par. In a three game series to get to the finals, Ole Miss unleashed Dylan "Loosh" Delucia on the mound. If you did not watch that game, go find it on some form of media if you want to see a pitching display unlike any other. That kid threw strike after strike. Solid as a rock and working in unison with catcher, Hayden Dunhurst, they shut out Arkansas, sending the Hogs packing and signing their ticket to the Championship series.

Oklahoma won their side of the bracket. The Rebels faced off against the Sooners Saturday night. Needless to say, they went to their bullpen early and often. Ole Miss came out swinging on both sides of the ball ready to do battle to get past the first of possibly three games. Three back to back to back home runs, a feat that had not been accomplished since 1998. That put them up 8- 2. Two more runs scored (10-2 final) put the Rebels in a one more game to win it all situation.

Sunday afternoon, the Sooners apparently had an ace in the hole with the fella they started pitching. He was polar opposite from what the Rebels saw Saturday. It was strike after strike, out after out. Freshman Hunter Elliott from Tupelo followed suit for Ole Miss. Five complete innings and not one run on either side.

Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez for the Rebels struck gold in the bottom of the sixth with a bomb to the stands, a single home run but a run nonetheless. Needless to say, Oklahoma came out swinging in the top of the seventh, scoring two runs putting it at 1- 2 going into the bottom of the inning. The eighth inning brought Ole Miss success with TJ McCants being knocked in by Gonzalez tying the game at two all. The Sooners had a time keeping Justin Bench from crossing home plate as their pitcher sent one into the wild blue yonder. As the baseball gods would have it, another pitch just flew past Oklahoma's catcher allowing Justin Gonzalez to waltz across home as if it were a field of daisies. Score going into the ninth inning - Ole Miss 4, Oklahoma 2.

The Rebels put Brandon Johnson on the mound to hopefully deliver the final blow to the Sooners’ baseball season. Three up, three down and the Ole Miss Rebels are the College World Series Champions for the first time in school history. Not bad for a team of scrappy young men led by a Coach with two plus decades under his belt wearing the red and blue.

Not bad for a team everyone else had given up on except for their loyal fans. Not bad for the last team selected to even play in a regional. Sunday was not a bad day to be an Ole Miss Rebel!