June 18, 2002
That was a strange end to a great season. This team did overachieve. And without Hopper we had a really short lineup. This team was not anywhere near as good as the last two years. Van Horn did a great job. Our team had enough talent to win it last year. They were under too much pressure being the home team.
As for the South Carolina game: Again it was managed completely different than the season. The constant pitching changes I didn't agree with. Duensing and Marsden needed a little more leash. Duensing was throwing strikes and so I would have let him go awhile. We ran ourselves out of two innings with the steal of home and Blevins getting a poor jump to steal third late in the game. I was there and I guarantee that Bruce was safe if Groce takes the pitch. I think we panicked and probably over-managed. But, one thing I am sure is he told Becker to throw that homerun pitch in the dirt, but our inexperienced kid missed. In the most important two games of the year we played a great deal of the time with pitchers with very few innings this year. That really puzzles me.
The crowd was even quieter than Friday, but I will tell you that the flow of
the game made it hard to stay pumped up. As for Van Horn, it sounds like I
was wrong and he is leaving. I think he is wrong to do it. We would not
have made the series without him. But I think the program and facilities
and Bryne ensure that we will get a quality head coach. We shouldn't be
bummed about losing in Omaha, because it is a great pleasure to
be able to complain about the way the team played in the CWS. I was sure
for a long time I would never get this chance. In two months we are playing
football, so there is a great deal to look forward to.
-- The Colonel