Omaha-bound, via Corvallis?

FSU's Regional, even Link-less, was pretty cool stuff

That Link Jarrett. What a kidder! Getting himself thrown out of a game just so assistant coach Micah Posey, who’s suffered the slings and arrows of having a mostly lousy bullpen all season, can (A.) take over and guide the team to a not-that-easy win in the title game, (B.) convince little lefty Wes Mendes that he has the stuff and the cojones to go one inning further than the brilliant Jamie Arnold and (C.) can settle down the Seminole bullpen the way Abraham Lincoln quieted down a divided nation with his Second Inaugural “With malice toward none and charity for all…” and finally drive home to his family not chewing his nails, listening to yacht rock.

Well, Seminole Nation: What do ya think about Omaha now????

Of course, that’s not the way it’ll be explained — we’re revising all our history now, aren’t we? But hey, the Florida State Seminoles’ slam bang, “gee, maybe we’re pretty good after all” NCAA Regional win over Mississippi State Sunday evening, particularly in light of what seemed to be happening on diamonds across the US of A, meant something, didn’t it? (It still IS the US of A, right?) No. 1 seed Vanderbilt lost! No. 2 Texas lost! And Florida (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah) lost, Coach Kevin O’Sullivan apparently making even more of an ass of himself than usual in the process. (Read about it)

At least our Link just got himself tossed by quick-trigger Joe Burleson, who, judging from his ball/strike effort all night, you hope got home safely.

Sunday night’s win was the sort of victory that redeemed those of us who DARED to mention “Omaha” in the same sentence with “Florida State” a few weeks ago when some fans were wondering in which direction this team was headed. They can get there. Yes, folks, it CAN happen.

Now, it’s true, just because the Seminoles rolled to three wins at Howser Stadium doesn’t guarantee success in the next round, particularly if it ain’t here (We won’t know until later today) but Sunday’s game was the sort of QuarterFinal Examination where Link’s (and Micah’s) lads stepped up, even when the usual guns were misfiring, swinging at pitches in the dirt, questioning called strikes and leaving thousands of runners on base. They were a “free-swinging bunch” former Seminole Devon Travis kept saying, knowing that was seen as a most sacrilegious phrase to his previous coach, Seminole coach Mike Martin. There even might have been a bit of envy in Travis’s voice as he said it over and over again.

Instead of veterans Alex Lodise, Max Williams and Drew Faurot coming to the rescue on Sunday (though Max did redeem a strikeout-prone weekend (6 k’s in eight at bats or something like that) by bouncing a breaking ball into right field late in Sunday’s game to break it open, the real heroes were Cal Fisher, whose dramatic centerfield blast finally tied the game in the 7th after the team had left dozens of players stranded on the bases earlier and the remarkable effort of Wes Mendes, who threw eight magnificent innings, even after allowing a HR on his very first pitch of the night. Talk about a rotten way to open a game!

He allowed another solo home run but otherwise held the fort (and kept the bullpen seated) for eight long innings against a Mississippi State team that hammered 103 home runs, counting those last two. And this is a program that had Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro as alums. There is no way that Posey or Link or maybe even Mendes could have anticipated that sort of shutdown effort. Which is what you need to win these sorts of games.

Some pundit recently suggested, you can expect the unexpected in Regional play and aside from Mendes’ effort, the overwhelming surprise was how terrific the Seminole bullpen was all weekend. No, that’s not a misprint. Peyton Prescott, who got a win, Chris Knier and John Abraham were flawless in relief of a very hittable Joey Volini (thanks to the rain delay) as was pitcher/bouncer Joe Charles with three scoreless innings as well in two separate appearances. Whatever Posey said or did between the last time we saw these guys and what we saw over the weekend, it could not have been more impressive. And IF this team is going to get back to Omaha — and you bet, it can happen — that may well be the ticket.

And you can’t begin to mention FSU’s late-season success without talking about what is just an amazing freshman season by Myles Bailey, who continues to hammer home runs — he also got a key hit after Williams’ RBI single last night — playing like someone who’s been there, done that and is ready for what’s next. With Lodise cooling off (swing at strikes, Alex!) and Williams inconsistent (four whiffs in a game!, then two more the next game!), Bailey has been a force that Link could only have dreamed of. He’s so very strong — you saw that grand slam to left field — for just about anybody else in college baseball, that’s a fly ball to left field. It was stunning.

The road ahead: Oregon State faces USC this evening — they won 14-1 last night — and must win again to win their Regional and if they do, they’ll welcome the Seminoles next weekend. If USC surprises them, the Noles will be back home in the Super Regional and we’ll get one more chance to see Jamie Arnold sizzle from that Howser mound. That’d be nice to see.

Whether they’re home or on the road, you would hope that every single Seminole and coach can see that this is a wide-open college baseball season. A bunch of hot shot teams are playing for their tournament lives tonight (North Carolina, Oregon State, Wake Forest, LSU, Southern Miss, Ole Miss) while Link and Micah and the lads can rest up, have a cool drink, as Gene Deckerhoff always used to remind us, and root for USC and a few more ballgames to play together to see how far they can go.

It’s two to win the Super Regional, maybe, five or so to win the College World Series. I know, I know, that’s crazy talk. But ain’t this the season for it?