— One block south of TD Ameritrade Park stand nines flagpoles, where during the College World Series flies the United States flag, bracketed by flags representing the two four-team brackets competing in battle on the nearby ballfield.
Day games will become scarce, giving way to a lot of long, hot Omaha nights that will ultimately lead us to a new college baseball champion.
The Root, Root, Root for the Home Team: NC State Wolfpack 2021 CWS Record: 2-0.
After eyeballing the amount of red and white being worn in the streets of O-Town and talking to the Baseball Village vendors about the amount of Wolfpack merch they’ve been moving, it’s been easy to see that this year’s anointed semi-home team is NC State.
Lost Game 4 to Mississippi State, 2-1, and won elimination Game 7 vs.
While they have already sent six different hurlers to the mound in two games, five of them pitched three innings or fewer and ace Ty Madden, who was so good in the Mississippi State opener, will be rested if needed ASAP.
The Breakfast Club ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ Team: Stanford 2021 CWS Record: 1-1.
After suffering a thumping at the hands of NC State, Stanford was almost creepily calm against old Pac-12 foe Arizona as it rapped 20 hits, the most since the CWS moved to TD Ameritrade in 2011, scoring two touchdowns to win 14-5.
The Ivan Drago ‘You see? He’s not a machine!’ Team: Vanderbilt Commodores 2021 CWS Record: 1-1.
If Vandy can get past the Cardinal to set up a Friday rematch against NC State, Vandy’s chances to repeat as champ will rest right where we all expected them to when the season started, squarely on the shoulders of Rocker and Leiter.
The StriKeout Team with a Capital K: Mississippi State Bulldogs 2021 CWS Record: 2-0.
Bednar, who was roughed up earlier in the postseason, says he became the hero of Omaha by “moving my fingers maybe an eighth of inch when I grip the seams.” Oh, by the way, those bats are waking up, too.
The Pym Particle Small Ball Team: Virginia Cavaliers 2021 CWS Record: 1-1.
How has this unheralded, unranked team battled its way deep into this year’s CWS bracket, including Tuesday night’s heavyweight bout with the strikeout kings of Mississippi State? Old-school Punch and Judy small ball, that’s how.