Who Were These Guys?!

[38 Special]

I just got back from Hoover and am still shocked. Who were these guys? The team I saw over the last four games was as foreign to me as all of the new posters on this site. (By the way, we've played 59 games, where have you been?)
If anyone tells me that they thought that our boys would be celebrating another tournament championship, I'll say you're a liar. In all of my years in baseball, I have never seen a team come together in every aspect of the game like they did this week. Since JoJo's computer is down, I'll break it down...

Pitching A+
Every pitcher we ran out this week did his job. Woodward set the tone against South Carolina. Take away the errors, and that game is 9-1. I told you Tank would be back. When he got LSU to roll into a double play tonight, he sprinted off the field. He was excited and looked to be having fun again. Carter, well, was Carter. Another solid outing. After he held the Tigers at bay, Tank put them away. Seth Johnson set a postseason strikeout record and embarrassed a team that should be embarrassed enough by wearing those ridiculous colors. Norris...what can you say about Norris? There is a certain magic that luminates over Jeffrey in Hoover. Coach Wells has been dialed into it for years, now that magic is being passed to our players. Congrats to Norris, who is only the second pitcher to win back to back SEC Tournament championships. REEEEED! Who else do you want on the hill in the 8th and 9th? Great job guys, you really stepped up.


Defense B+
After Thursday's game, there weren't that many defensive blunders. Even on Thursday, they all seemed to come in a single inning. I won't dwell on the negatives.

Offense A+++
Now let me get this straight; we get 4 hits off of Jacksonville State a week and a half ago, then go to Hoover and rake. Not only did we hit, we hit hard and often. Travis struggled a little, but who cares? He'***** enough for all of us. Travis struggling is sub .350. He's still the best leadoff man in the conference. Pac was 9 for 16 with a bomb. I don't think I need to elaborate. Nor do I need to elaborate on the tourney MVP...Beau Hearod. Simply amazing what this guy does every week. Zac Welch hit in every clutch situation he faced. Any other year, Zac or Pac would get MVP. They'll have to settle for All Tourny. Beagle did what I said he would do if he got the chance. Great defense too, Ryan. Meiners, Lyons, and Bush all had clutch hits all week as well. Then there's my boy Rice. You're too little to hit the ball that hard. I told you! Now, button your shirt.

Congratulations guys! You deserve this. 4-0 in the new season.

RTR
38

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"We don't really care if it is Auburn or the Yankees." --Coach Jim Wells when asked about the AL/AU showdown in Hoover.

[This message has been edited by 38 Special (edited May 26, 2003).]

 

[BAMATRAML]

I ran into Mrs. Welch at the end of the game to congratulate her and her son. I really thought Zac was MVP. I didn't realize the achievments of Beau. Zac's were more of the spectacular type and caught my attention, while Beau just had anothe day at the office.
When I left the "Joe" after the Jacksonville State loss, I did not have any hope for success in the tourney. Heck, I was doubting we would even get in. In the opener against USC, there was that one bad inning where we committed four errors (only two were charged) and several mental errors were committed as well. I was ready to get the season over with then. After the close of that fiasco, Coach Wells called the team over for a little prayer meeting and then the game turned around. At the end of the big innning, we scored off of a double steal. It was then I saw something that was missing in this team, HEART. Pavkovich got up from his slide at the plate and pumped his fist in the air. From then on it was,"Look out SEC, Bama has come to play!"

 

[Tidefan in North Carolina]

As I stated earlier in the week on one of my posts. " They will get it together and take this thing". It is having faith that this team won't quit. With all the variables that befell these boys in the last month,these kids sat down,talked it over,asked for a little Divine intervention and did there thing.
Lets all remember that the boys for the most part,all read this board. When they see the entire Bamanation is standing behind them,and all the positive posts,even during the low times,they get excited and positive things start to happen.
No matter the outcome of the rest of the season, they proved once again that they can and will play through divirsity. This whole team stepped up and worked together to accomplish this outcome. Well done!!!!!
Although I loved last years team,I see a little different attitude in this team.
As Tug McGraw used to say," YA GOTTA BELIEVE",
I for one ,do.
RTR

 

[Tider in Illinois]

I agree with everyone's statements. This team is peaking at the right time of the year.
38 that's a great picture of the guys.
RTR

 

[WarEagleBB]

38,
You know exactly who these guys are - they are winners when given the tools to do so. Congratulations on the tournament championship. Bama played hard, well and deserved to win. In the games I have seen this year it is the first time I have seen this talented group of kids play with "passion". Hopefully they can keep it going all the way to Omaha this year.

In closing all I can say is - I told you so about Beagle. The kid can play and I'm glad Wells finally decided to give him a chance. If he would do the same for about three others this would be a strong, contending group.

I'm glad you guys won't be in our regional...LOL

 

[Diamond Tide]

38,
What's This! A JoJo clone! Great Post. These kids came in with a mindset of unfinished business. The way they were hitting, you could have thrown a dead dog up there and they would hit it.
Great to see Tank get back to the Tank we all know. This weekend allowed him to rest his arm a little by throwing sparingly.
Give Ryan Beagle the at-bats in a season, and he is a 300+ hitter. He did a great job. Congradulations to the team for bringing home Back-To-Back SEC Tournament titles.
Another great weekend in Hoover.

BTW 38, Great picture of the TEAM.

RTR,

Diamond Tide

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"You're the best.........baby."-Coach Jim Wells talking to senior catcher Jeremy Brown.

 

[Bo]

I thought Evan had a good tourney. He had some very big atbats that gave us some momentum. Like y'all said, everyone had a great tourney. RTR

 

[Siouxsie]

I'll go along with the kudos, but wasn't *that* surprised. The Met is to our baseball team what Neyland is to the football team. We should pay taxes because we OWN the place. I think it is safe to say the swagger is back!

 

[JoJoforHeisman]

38 Special,
Thanks for picking up my slack with that one! Hopefully my computer will be fixed soon and I won't have to be restricted by the library hours any longer. I would have never expected five days ago that we would have entered the tournament and not only won it all, but captured yet another title playing as well as we did and with absolute drubbings of the Barn and LSU. This team's back was to the wall and it didn't seem to bother them the slightest bit. Our players were out there having fun and enjoying the game; they were confident and playing like they know they are capable of playing. I can't begin to express how proud I am of this team right now. No matter what happens in the regional or beyond, I'll still look back on this season and that performance in Hoover and without a doubt say that despite the many difficulties encountered along the way, the 2003 Crimson Tide ultimately proved to be a success, and the guys played like champions when everyone had dismissed their potential and written them off entirely.

38 hit the nail on the head with his analysis. I echo his sentiments completely. I was particularly proud of Evan Bush this weekend. As a true freshman, it's never an easy adjustment from the high school level to the most competetive conference in college baseball (with only a few rare exceptions). Throughout the season, very little seemed to go right for Evan, who essentially became thrown into the starting role at third base by default after Carlos Sosa's season-ending injury in the preseason, and after struggling defensively and at the plate, Evan had to be experiencing some serious frustration at times. Yet when he stepped out onto the field at the Met for the first time, he played like a four-year veteran. What we saw this past weekend in Hoover indicates that we have got a real talent on our hands that is just waiting to break out and will be a significant contributor for this team in the near future as his game will only continue to improve.

Beau Hearod. MVP. We wouldn't be here today without him, and this team is really going to miss him. Aaron Hill may have won the SEC Player of the Year, but think about it this way - if you take Hill out of LSU's lineup, do they still finish with 20 SEC wins and the regular season title? More than likely. If you take Beau Hearod out of the equation at Bama, do we stand where we do now? Not in a million years.

Zac Welch. I don't care how many bombs C.J. Smith is hitting down in Gainesville, or how good people think Clay Harris may be at LSU, or anything about that grossly overrated DH Amonite at the Barn, the bottom line is that there is no other first baseman I would rather have on my team right now than Zac. Dramatic improvement from his freshman year. 38 called it a long time ago, though. On this very board, he told us all that there was a ton of potential in Zac on the verge of a breakout campaign, something a mere casual observer such as myself failed to notice prior to the season.

BamaSis, it was nice to meet you and your family this weekend. Charlie had an oustanding tournament behind the plate and I am glad that we will have his presence there at the position and his bat in the lineup for quite a while. I thought he was deserving of All-Tournament recognition, but I suppose the voters felt the need to appease the Barners for some reason unbeknownst to me.

If there was one aspect of our pitching performance that impressed me the most this past weekend, it was the confidence that was exuded by every one of them. Jared Woodward started it all against South Carolina. Some defensive miscues allowed the Gamecocks to make the game a lot closer than it should have been, but Woody refused to allow any of that to faze him, and just kept right on cruising and we held on for what was trule a huge win. We could have easily collapsed altogether had we fallen short in the opener, but we kept fighting and that win provided us with the initial springboard, the burst of momentum that would keep us charging ahead throughout the tournament. Just when I thought Tank's arm was about to fall off, the guy immediately bounces back and looks like the dominant Tank we are all used to seeing. He also appeared visibly confident on the hill for the first time in what seemed like months. He looked like he just knew all along that he was going to shut down the opposing hitter, and when he did, you could tell that he was having fun again and enjoying the game. All of those struggles in recent weeks were nothing more than irrelevant, distant memories. As for Brent Carter, I will continue to fully believe that any SEC coach who failed to vote for him for All-SEC is a blithering idiot. Brent "Blood & Guts" Carter. Seth Johnson was solid once again, as he ate up some valuable innings and improved his overall record with a complete game win over the Barn. I really hope that he decides to return for his senior season, as he will be an integral part of the staff in 2004. As for Reed, I have been saying it all season and I will continue to stand by it - there is no better closer in the SEC, maybe in all of college baseball. You can't say enough about Jeffrey Norris. Although he had a respectable record, Norris had not been having the season he had probably expected to, but if there is anyone on this team that realizes that there are more important things in life than baseball, it is Jeffrey, who became a father this season. I don't know him personally, but everyone I have talked to that does have all been quick to acknowledge what a good person, husband, and father he is (and will continue to be). His second championship game win was tremendous, and it simply could not have happened to a better guy. We're proud of you #9.


Congratulations to the 2003 Crimson Tide
Back-to-Back SEC Tournament Champions

Now on to College Station, to whip up on some Texans!

RTR

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"When we put on that Alabama uniform, we felt like superheroes."
--Roberto Vaz, 5/10/03

[This message has been edited by JoJoforHeisman (edited May 26, 2003).]

 

[BAMAStrick]

i know i'm a bit late with this, but congrats to the team and to Woody for finally get the chance he has earned all year. I live in Montgomery, but went to most of the weekend games this year and there toward the end it looked like the heart and confidence was just simply shattered. This weekend it looked like they stopped at the Galleria on the way to the Met and picked up a bunch of each.

once again congrats and kick some butt in aggieland....