Gritty, tough champs keep finding way despite odds
Thirteen players (by my calculation) have been unavailable for various periods of time due to suspension and/or injury, the latter occurring with astounding frequency, yet USC has not missed a beat.
Three starting pitchers selected in the first round of last week's MLB Draft have taken the mound against USC, yet each left the ballpark the losing pitcher.
Two top-ranked teams have met the Gamecocks for three-game sets, yet both dropped Sunday rubber games and the series.
One hated rival, through now infamous shenanigans (term a registered trademark of Ray Tanner), created a statewide furor that engrossed every man, woman and child from Abbeville to York and had the nine innings that would settle the matter in its own backyard, yet lost to the garnet and black — again.
And now, through all the adversity, here they are. Back home in Omaha for the second straight summer and the fifth time in 15 years under Tanner and the 10th time in school history.
Many people, myself included, wondered aloud just how USC would handle and approach its existence as the defending national champion. In many ways, a team wearing the figurative championship belt for the first time is the most unpredictable thing in sports because the year after can go in any direction.
Some defending champions get better and win another title with stunning ease. Some have reached their peak and go as far as possible until they run into someone better. Some get fat on the glory of the past, underachieve and flame out. Some think they can turn it on and off, either to have their confidence rewarded or their internal switch malfunction at the worst possible time. Some catch every bad break after being the benefactor of every friendly one the year prior.
This Gamecock team falls into none of those categories. Rather, they are their own. Never before have I seen a team so hell-bent on defending what they have, capable of overcoming every pitfall that should sink them. They are the grittiest, goofiest, most fearless group of champions you can imagine.
No one on this team approaches triple digits on the radar gun. No one on this team is pushing 30 home runs. But it doesn't matter. They scrap. They fight. They believe. And then they beat you.
They could've thrown in the towel when they found themselves in one of, if not the, greatest collegiate pennant races in history with their clubhouse functioning as a makeshift infirmary. Instead, they ended the regular season as one of three Southeastern Conference co-champions, although everyone knows they beat both Florida and Vanderbilt straight up and if not for a stupid lack of tiebreaking procedures, would have it all to themselves.
They could've fallen in a tough Columbia regional that featured a 3-seed masquerading as a 4-seed in Georgia Southern and a tough Stetson squad. Rather, they took the field in three games.
They could've given in to an experienced UConn team littered with draft picks that felt it was a team of destiny, much like USC was in 2010. Nope — they won both Super Regional games in convincing fashion.
And now, a mission that began to defend a championship as one of almost 300 Division-1 teams has only seven more foes left standing in the way of declaring that goal accomplished, simply because USC wouldn't step down, wouldn't be satisfied and wouldn't let itself lose, no matter how many knocks it had against it.
No matter what happens in Omaha, whether it ends with two games and a barbecue or another dogpile, this team is one that should be — and will be — cherished and remembered forever in the annals of South Carolina history.
Gamecocks, as the mantra goes, are supposed to fight to the death with honor. There's no doubt this team will do just that, assuming there's even anyone in Omaha tough enough to do the deed.