2015 was a down year for the South Carolina baseball team. The Gamecocks put together a 32-25 record and missed the NCAA Baseball Tournament for the first time since 1999. As the successor to the incredibly accomplished Ray Tanner, last year's campaign put head coach Chad Holbrook on the hot seat, and he fell out of favor with a number of fans.
Throughout the 2016 season, "Fire Holbrook" has been seen plenty of times on social media following losses or coaching decisions that don't work out as planned. After South Carolina's comeback from the dead in the Columbia Regional, it's time to put the idea of offing Holbrook to bed.
After losing their NCAA opener to Rhode Island Friday night, the Gamecocks were seeking to become just the 20th team out of 544 to win four games in a row to qualify for super regionals. With a struggling offense and a shortage of pitching, Holbrook had to pull some strings to make it happen.
Saturday's game against Duke was the closest of the four wins. Tied 2-2 in the ninth, the Gamecocks had a runner on second with two outs as little-used catcher Hunter Taylor stepped to the plate. Even the broadcasters expected John Jones to pinch hit, but Taylor delivered, hitting a grounder off the bag down the third base line, scoring Dom Thompson-Williams and giving South Carolina the decisive lead.
Sunday, the Gamecocks would need to win two ballgames, so pitching was certainly at a premium. Adam Hill got the ball in the rematch against Rhode Island, and Holbrook burned him out, allowing him to throw well over 100 pitches over the course of seven innings, despite the fact that the game was a blowout. Holbrook, surely with the help of pitching coach Jerry Meyers, continued to preserve his arms by calling on Tyler Haswell, who likely wouldn't pitch in a close game, to throw the final two innings.
Sunday night, the SEC East champions took on UNCW for the first time, and flame-throwing reliever Tyler Johnson made his first start of the year, and he sure didn't disappoint. Johnson went the distance against a team that scores over eight runs per game by holding the Seahawks scoreless after allowing a home run in the first inning. The lengthy outings from Hill and Johnson represent decisions that went better than Holbrook could've asked for, setting up plenty of available arms for the regional final.
With rain pushing the rematch to Tuesday, Gamecock pitchers had a valuable extra day of rest. Despite considering starting closer Josh Reagan, Holbrook went with Taylor Widener, who allowed just one run over four innings as the Gamecocks jumped out to a 5-1 lead.
Offensively, a couple of bunt calls did wonders for South Carolina. In the five-run fourth inning, Jonah Bride stepped to the dish with runners on first and second and nobody out. With Madison Stokes, who at the time was 2-for-15 in the regional, behind Bride, Holbrook put trust in his first baseman, calling for Bride to bunt. That decision, like many others over the weekend, paid off, as Stokes ripped a single up the middle to score two, putting the Gamecocks up 4-1.
After a leadoff double in the fifth, Holbrook would bunt Bride again, and this time, it turned into an infield single. Again, Stokes would single, scoring the runner from third and proving Holbrook's decision right.
Coaches will make bad decisions. Players will fail to execute. Baseball is a game of failure, so these things are expected to happen. But it is completely asinine for fans to want Holbrook out as head coach after he took a 32-25 team and turned around the following year to qualify for the super regionals (and this team may not be done yet). This season has been a success for South Carolina, winning the SEC East and hosting a regional and a super regional (thanks, Clemson). I don't care if the Gamecocks get blown out twice by Oklahoma State in the supers, Chad Holbrook deserves praise for the job he has done this season.