Commentary: Return to Omaha just business as usual

By Casey Michel     5/15/08 7:00pm

Most teams will savor it, every moment of it. The instant where a foot plants on home plate, where the batter whiffs at the final strike, when the outfielder cradles that fly ball like a newborn kitten. Whatever the circumstance of that series-clinching out or final run, winning a championship of any sort results in a mass gathering of jubilance and crushing bodies.

A dogpile may have strange etymology - I've never seen dozens of dogs leap all over each other, after all - but its resonance in baseball evokes imagery of the sports greatest moments. A Little League World Series Championship, any one of the Yankees' 26 championships, or Ken Griffey Jr.'s 1995 winning run, still emblazoned on the Safeco Field facade, bring immediate visions of pure, unadulterated bliss.

So when Rice forwent the dogpile after Sunday's 6-5, stamp-your-ticket-to-Omaha victory over Texas A&M, everyone watching knew something strange was happening.

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Television viewers had just witnessed Miami, the top-ranked team in the nation, pile on one another after clinching a spot in the College World Series. KTRU listeners heard the sounds of the final out but no hints of a joyous heap of Owls.

And the lucky few, those who were at Reckling to witness Rice make it to the CWS for the seventh time since 1997? Nope, they weren't privy to a dogpile either. No Bobby Bell rushing off the mound, no Wayne Graham hoisted in the air, no lopsided laughing from a team heading back to the Promised Land.

Instead, the smile of Adam Zornes said it all. There he was, skipping up and down the high-five line, looking like a tike on Christmas morning surrounded by Tonka trucks and candy canes. Redeeming the team's earlier defensive gaffes, Zornes' eighth-inning blast pulled the Owls from the depth of a "road" defeat and put them on the flight to Nebraska.

There was the California glow of Cole St.Clair, the dominating, domineering "Bull" whose rubber arm has finally seen its last days at the Reck. Although St.Clair didn't relieve Bell - whose own tale of Tommy John surgery is equally compelling - just getting the chance to glimpse the lefty grace the bullpen hill was magical. And to see his decision to return for his senior year justified, well, that was enough to make anyone tear up.

There were relievers Matt Langwell, Matt Evers and Bryan Price, laughing after shutting down a potent, threatening A&M offense. The bullpen, typically the place where pitchers' careers go to die, once again picked the Owls up, up and away from defeat. Price's outing - 2.1 innings pitched with only one measly hit allowed - gave Rice fans one last glimpse of the 45th pick in the 2008 MLB draft.

There was the blonde shock of hair generally known as Jordan Dodson, grinning from ear to ear after his Friday efforts proved undeniably essential. Following a spring of struggles - the senior entered the Super Regional batting a miserable .153 - Dodson started Saturday for the first time in over a month. With many left scratching their heads, Dodson came through on the biggest stage, going 3-for-3 with four game-changing RBIs.

Meandering through the line was the bespectacled gaze of Ryan Berry, a wunderkind master of the mound, congratulating the teammates that picked him up on the previous day. Even though the sophomore has consistently underperformed when the lights are brightest, Berry kept his head held high, knowing that Saturday's victory gave him the chance for a new start in Omaha.

And there was the prune-faced leader of the pack, Wayne Graham, taking one last look over the evening diamond before sauntering back to the clubhouse. He, more than most, knows that Rice's work has just begun. The Super Regionals were just a blip on the radar, and now comes the hard part.

No dogpile?

No problem.

- Casey Michel is a Brown College junior and former sports editor.

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