The journey has reached its end. The Ole Miss Rebels are the 2022 National Champions! In a year where this seemed the most unlikely of circumstances, this team stuck together and made history.
From the beginning of SEC play, there were many doubts about this team. Questions were raised about who the ace would be down the stretch and if the offense would regain that explosiveness we saw the year prior. After being dead-last in the conference at 7-14, the Rebels found a spark.
Dylan DeLucia settled into that ace role and did it wonderfully, making quality start after quality start. The offense started to come around again with veterans like Tim Elko and Kevin Graham leading the charge. But still, Ole Miss’s post-season chances were very slim.
Until they got in. The last team to make it in this year’s tournament found themselves the last team standing, with the trophy in hand.
Game 1 of the CWS Finals pitted sophomore Jack Dougherty against Oklahoma ace Jake Bennett. In what was planned to be a bullpen day for the Rebs, Dougherty was perfect through five innings. This is crucial for many reasons. While a perfect game has never been recorded in the CWS, many had their attention focused on that and rightfully so. But truthfully, the biggest impact this had on the game and series was that it saved arms.
When you get to a tournament like this, it comes down to who has more quality arms and how long they can go. When you have pitchers like DeLucia, Hunter Elliot and Dougherty going five-plus innings, that puts you at ease.
In the first game, Ole Miss never trailed and took an early 4-0 lead after the first three innings. The Sooners would soon cut that to a two-run lead after plating two in the bottom half of the sixth. Then came the top of the eighth.
The Rebels – both players and supporters – were in dire need of some insurance runs going into the final two innings. They got it and then some. The Rebs hit three home runs in the inning going back-to-back-to-back, starting with a two-run blast by TJ McCants into the Ole Miss bullpen. McCants would be followed by Iowa’s own Calvin Harris with a solo shot to right-center, then by a Justin Bench bomb to left-center.
The Sooners would scratch one back across in the bottom half, only to give two back to the Rebels in the top of the ninth. Ole Miss would go on to win Game 1, 10-3, leaving them a date with destiny on Sunday.
Sunday’s matchup was a bonafide pitcher’s duel between Ole Miss lefty Elliot and Norman’s own Cade Horton. Lefty against the righty, freshmen vs. freshman. And boy did they deliver.
Elliot went six and two-thirds, surrendering two runs on just three hits. On the other side, Horton went seven and a third and allowed two runs on four hits. Both of these guys battled, going back and forth with nasty pitches that made both of these red-hot offenses go cold.
Ole Miss broke the deadlock first with a towering solo shot from Jacob Gonzalez, who had his best day at the College World Series, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. The Sooners would respond in the seventh with a two-run inning that gave them a 2-1 lead. Then, the eighth inning happened.
After having all of the momentum swing in favor of the Sooners, the Rebs were in need of a kick-start. In steps McCants. For the second day in a row, he provided a crucial base hit that started this rally in the bottom of the eighth. While Sunday’s game didn’t see the Rebels hit three straight home runs, Ole Miss plated three in the half-inning to give them a 4-2 lead going into the ninth.
Looking to slam the door, Ole Miss turned to closer Brandon Johnson. Johnson hadn’t pitched in the CWS yet, but he came out firing to stifle the Sooners and claim a 1-2-3 inning.
Something like this is truly very difficult to put into words, as you genuinely had to see it to believe it. It seemed like everything went right for the Rebs, leading head coach Mike Bianco to his first national title.
Congratulations to the Rebel Baseball team! Until next year, Hotty Toddy.
