OMAHA, Neb. — My name is Charles Schwab Field and do I know how to open a Men's College World Series or what? A walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth and North Carolina feels magical while the Virginia Cavaliers — needing both hands to count all the runners left on base — are sicker than if it was food poisoning. But we’ll get to all that in a second.
This is my annual fortnight to shine. People can’t wait to see me in June. There were cars lined up for my parking lots before 6 a.m. Friday morning, which was seven hours before the game. I get that a lot because the Men's College World Series never goes anywhere else. I’m Churchill Downs, I’m Augusta National, I’m Wimbledon. “Just pick one, this matches it,” Florida State coach Link Jarrett was saying. Except I can get a little toasty. It was 85 degrees at the first pitch.
Notice anything new about me this year? Yeah, there’s a Ferris wheel out there beyond the centerfield gates, so the pitching ERAs won’t be the only thing going up and down the next two weeks. Also, they mowed my outfield grass to form the image of the national championship trophy. It means the centerfielder is standing in a big green circle. This year, I’m artsy.
There’s a lot of conversation about my guest list this year, since they all come from the SEC or ACC. Take my opener Friday: Virginia vs. North Carolina. It sounded like an ACC weekend series in Charlottesville in April. They’d met 313 times before, but never here.
Here is different. And it was the perfect first act Friday. I have to thank North Carolina, of course. The Tar Heels came here feeling like the Fairy Godmother or the Good Witch of the North or someone had blessed them. Won their regional opener with a walk-off. Won their super regional opener with a walk-off. What next? No team had walked off first games in the regional, super regional and Men's College World Series this century.
Until now.
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That’s when Vance Honeycutt’s liner zipped into left field in the ninth inning, driving in Jackson Van De Brake to beat Virginia 3-2. Honeycutt is becoming North Carolina legend. His homer was the super regional winner against West Virginia. He’s the only Division I player to reach 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season over the past 20 years — and he’s done it twice.
WALK OFFS IN OMAHA>>> x
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“He's shown in his career that he enjoys the big moment. He invites the big moment,” coach Scott Forbes would say later.
His teammates certainly appreciate how he’s leading this drama parade. “You shouldn't feel like he's going to come through every time, but that's how I felt,” Casey Cook said. “That's just how it's been going recently.”
Ho-hum. Another day, another North Carolina victory on its last at-bat, something the Tar Heels have done five times in their last nine wins. That confidence is a valuable commodity to bring through my gates. “We’ve done it so many times now it’s hard to be surprised,” said Van De Brake. “There’s not a team in the country we don’t think we can’t beat.”
"I told you the other day we were hoping to put up a 10 spot, but that didn't happen"
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ANOTHER walk-off win for the (4) . is with after the Game 1 win.
Speaking of Jackson Van De Brake, here I go, being the stage for another unexpected hero. The senior was sitting on the bench with his .194 batting average when Forbes sent him to the plate to pinch hit in the ninth. What does he do? Doubles, for only the third time all season. He set the table for Honeycutt, and poor Virginia was hanging halfway over the cliff.
Must be hard to sit there in the noise and heat for three hours and then be asked to do that.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy but if you stay locked in and that’s something we talk about a lot... if your number gets called you’ve got to be ready,” Van De Brake said afterward. “Obviously you can’t really look at the stats too much with me.”
Biggest hit of his life, right? “I hadn’t really thought about that, but probably.”
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That was his 73rd at-bat of the season, which are 145 fewer than 2023, when he was second team All-ACC. He hasn’t seen the field nearly as much this year, and that’s had to be difficult. Still, there is a C on his uniform, as a team captain. “I’m more proud of that than most things in my life,” he said.
So no sulking, no pouting. Stay up, stay positive. One day the moment might come.
It just did.
“There's a reason this team is like it is,” Forbes said. “There's a kid, All-ACC last year, hasn't gone like he wanted it to, and he steps up there and hits a double.”
Said Cook. “You don't want it for anyone else other than Jackson. He's our captain, and we love it for him. And we have full confidence in him.“
Yes, it didn’t take me long to get up to what-could-happen-next speed. You could tell right from the start Friday that things will be intriguing as always. For example, North Carolina sent out a true freshman as its starting pitcher. There are a lot of things Jason DeCaro couldn’t do most of this season. Make a will... buy a beer... serve on a jury... apply for a credit card... purchase a lottery ticket... go sky diving. You have to be 18 years to legally do those things and he wasn’t, until April 17. What’s he doing on my mound? Shouldn’t he be at his high school graduation?
“I don’t think the age is a big part of it. I’m here playing against guys a lot older than me so you can’t really look at it too much,” he said afterward.
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Anyway, he threw the first 30 pitches of the 2024 Men's College World Series. That’s how many pitches it took for him make it out of the first inning, but he got a huge strikeout with the bases loaded to escape clean and ended up going four innings and allowing one run. Only then did he allow himself to savor my MCWS aura. “I tried not to look at it during the game but once I came out I took it all in,” he said.
So we’re rolling here and already I have been up to my tricks, thrilling one side and breaking the hearts of the other. I don’t play favorites, either. Virginia coach Brian O’Connor grew up just across the river, went to college just up the street at Creighton, and is one of the figures on the statue outside my main gate. Yet I’ve treated him like dirt. Two one-run losses last June and now this. It was the first walk-off win in a MCWS opener in 28 years. Fun history, unless you’re on the wrong side of it.
“Be better. Be better, period. End of story,” he said of Friday's loss, which included 10 runners stranded and some mishaps in the field. “Unacceptable. That's not Virginia baseball.”
Meanwhile, all were smiles on the North Carolina side, including former Tar Heels coach Roy Williams, who was in the house. This team just keeps finding ways to win. Forbes said the most fun part of the day was when his first baseman Parks Harber said to the coaches afterward, “How do you guys make it through the game? I don't even know if I'm going to live to be 50. I think my heart's going to just fail.”
Welcome to The Schwab, Coach Roy Williams 🐐 x
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball)
Said Forbes, “I can relate to what Parks Harber feels like, I can tell you that.”
Tension, joy, sorrow, fate separated by the smallest things. Just the way I like it. I am Charles Schwab Field and it’s June again in Omaha. My time.
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