Started a new thread because this team under Esquer deserves spotlighting. I have played in and watched more baseball games than I can count, and to the best of my recollection, I don't think that I have ever seen as much sustained drama as Esquer's teams have shown in the past three years going back to that loss to Vandy the year before last. Last year's regionals and super were incredible and now they duplicate it again. Back to back years of winning 5 elimination games and doing it with sitting-on the-edge-of-your-seat games - enough to call them the Cardiac Cards.
I mean, these are college kids and somehow they muster up the abiity to not only fight against the odds, but show the mental and emotional toughness to get through all kinds of difficult game situations, failures, mistakes, bad breaks, and even weird happenings. These kids are not only talented but mature (despite Eager's assumption
. They have played with the true heart of a champion. I'm impressed with their baseball abilities but I'm far more impressed with mental toughness and heart. There have been better teams and teams that are just as tough or tougher, but I don't recall teams that respond to adversity so well. It's special and though difficult, fun to watch. Clearly, Esquer must have a major hand in our the players respond. The couple of times that I have had the chance be around him and talk with him, I was extremely impressed by his knowledge of the game, understanding of his players, and his basic person and character. Winning is terrific and I hate losing, but the joy of the game is really the most important and these teams under Esquer truly exemplify it.
So on to the next adventure in the CWS. We must have bribed the committee to seed us for a matchup with #1 Wake so we can get to the losers bracket quickly. We have an unreal difficult bracket with Wake and LSU, and Tennessee is no slouch. Actually, the committee really f'ed up. No way should they have arranged the brackets so that Wake and LSU could end up in the same CWS bracket. Those are the best two teams and should have a chance to meet in the finals. Florida is good, but not as good as those two. I'm not expecting us pulling rabbits out of hats like we have done in regionals and supers the past two years, so my expectatations are low - maybe lucky to win one game before being eliminated. But that doesn't affect my respect and admiration for this team, players and Esquer. I'll be happy just to see them play loose, have fun, be competitive, and if they exceed expectations, better still. Glad to see that we are getting at least one P12 team in the CWS.
Co-players of tonight's game: Pancer and Dixon. If Pancer doesn't shut down Texas then they might well have gotten momentum and put up big numbers on the scoreboard and let Morehouse quiet our bats. With only one day's rest, Dixon pitched a terrific 9th (with Texas being amped after we had gaffes and stranded runners in prior innings), allowing us the chance for the walk off win.
I mean, these are college kids and somehow they muster up the abiity to not only fight against the odds, but show the mental and emotional toughness to get through all kinds of difficult game situations, failures, mistakes, bad breaks, and even weird happenings. These kids are not only talented but mature (despite Eager's assumption
. They have played with the true heart of a champion. I'm impressed with their baseball abilities but I'm far more impressed with mental toughness and heart. There have been better teams and teams that are just as tough or tougher, but I don't recall teams that respond to adversity so well. It's special and though difficult, fun to watch. Clearly, Esquer must have a major hand in our the players respond. The couple of times that I have had the chance be around him and talk with him, I was extremely impressed by his knowledge of the game, understanding of his players, and his basic person and character. Winning is terrific and I hate losing, but the joy of the game is really the most important and these teams under Esquer truly exemplify it. So on to the next adventure in the CWS. We must have bribed the committee to seed us for a matchup with #1 Wake so we can get to the losers bracket quickly. We have an unreal difficult bracket with Wake and LSU, and Tennessee is no slouch. Actually, the committee really f'ed up. No way should they have arranged the brackets so that Wake and LSU could end up in the same CWS bracket. Those are the best two teams and should have a chance to meet in the finals. Florida is good, but not as good as those two. I'm not expecting us pulling rabbits out of hats like we have done in regionals and supers the past two years, so my expectatations are low - maybe lucky to win one game before being eliminated. But that doesn't affect my respect and admiration for this team, players and Esquer. I'll be happy just to see them play loose, have fun, be competitive, and if they exceed expectations, better still. Glad to see that we are getting at least one P12 team in the CWS.
Co-players of tonight's game: Pancer and Dixon. If Pancer doesn't shut down Texas then they might well have gotten momentum and put up big numbers on the scoreboard and let Morehouse quiet our bats. With only one day's rest, Dixon pitched a terrific 9th (with Texas being amped after we had gaffes and stranded runners in prior innings), allowing us the chance for the walk off win.
