A National Championship Within Their Grasp
While Coastal Carolina baseball took its first step Friday in its quest for an NCAA Division I Championship, the ultimate prize - a College World Series title in Omaha, Nebraska - sits three weeks and several games away for them and the 63 other teams still in the hunt.
Meanwhile, as Chanticleer baseball makes local headlines by hosting the NCAA Regional at Coastal Federal Field, an astounding development is playing out 375 miles to the north. For the Chanticleer men's golf squad, the Holy Grail is only one day, 18 holes and two strokes away.
Less than two weeks after needing to win a playoff just to earn a spot in the 30-team field, Coastal Carolina (at 10-under-par 830) trails only national powerhouse Stanford (828) heading into Saturday's final round of the 110th NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship at Golden Horseshoe Gold Course in Williamsburg, Virginia. And it looks to be a two-team sprint to the finish, as the next-closest teams (Charlotte and Alabama) sit 10 strokes off the pace.
As tantalizingly close as the possibility is of a national title, perhaps Coastal Carolina's biggest challenge is not getting overly giddy about it. "(Tonight) I don't want them thinking about writing any history books tonight, that's for sure. We're going to keep things as consistent as we can," said Coastal coach Allen Terrell.
"We're just going to have fun. That's what we came here to do - enjoy the moment, enjoy the experience, and it just so happens we're in the last group. We're just going to have fun within ourselves, worry about Coastal and enjoy tomorrow."
CCU's Dustin Johnson (-5; pictured above) and Lindsay Renolds (-3) are within one and three shots of the lead, respectively, in their pursuit of an individual national title.
Coastal Carolina tees off Saturday at 9:21 a.m.; you can catch live streaming video of the final round on the Web at Golfweek TV. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1033/525674538_c90f8ffc20.jpg
Regardless of Saturday's outcome, the Chants are assured their best-ever season finish by advancing to the final round of the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history (Coastal finished tied for 15th in 2006, and tied for 20th in their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Championship in 2005). A well-earned congratulations are in order for Terrell, his five competing players this week (Johnson, Renolds, Cameron Hooper, Zack Byrd and Dan Obremski) and the entire 2006-2007 team for a job exceptionally well done.
Go get 'em, guys, and bring the trophy home!
Heck of a run, guys. Congrats on a great season!