The eight teams headed to Omaha this year have been determined. Eight Anglers players on four teams advanced to the Super Regionals, and all moved on to the College World Series.
In Florida, two of Chatham's highly-touted arms threw in back-to-back contests against Mississippi State.
Hudson Randall tossed eight complete innings of the opening contest and gave up just one run in a dominating performance to get his 10th win of the year for the nation's No. 1 team. Randall put the Gators up 1-0 in a best-of-three series, but the Bulldogs threw everything they had at another Angler in the first elimination game.
The complexion of
Steven Rodriguez's outing was entirely different from that of Randall's. The sophomore came in to finish off game two of the series with two outs in the ninth, but saw his first pitch lifted into the seats to end the game in walk-off fashion. Rodriguez (3-2) had been almost unbeatable in the regular season, with a 1.44 ERA and 34 K's across 31 innings pitched.
In another close matchup, the Gators picked up the rubber match and moved on to Omaha, leaving two powerful arms out of the Chatham rotation as the pair tries to bring the CWS trophy to Gainesville. It all begins Saturday when Florida puts Randall on the bump to face Texas. First pitch in that contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Just above Florida in the CWS bracket sits North Carolina. No other team in Omaha has as much Chatham representation. 2011 Anglers
Chris Munnelly,
Cody Penny and
Matt Roberts all advanced with the Tar Heels in a two-game sweep over the Stanford Cardinal. None of the three 2011 Anglers saw time in a Super Regional that saw UNC utilize only five arms in total. Right-handers Munelly and Penny are available to throw significant innings in Omaha while the freshman catcher Roberts will play behind two-year Chatham catcher
Jacob Stallings ('09, '10). The Diamond Heels, College World Series participants in '06, '07, '08 and '09, meet Vanderbilt Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
The Cal Golden Bears bested Rice, TCU, and Alcorn State in the Houston Regional to play Dallas Baptist in the Super Regional. Sophomore second baseman
Tony Renda entered Super Regional play batting over .330. The standout who scored the game winning run to advance Cal out of the Regionals started with an 0-4 effort at the plate in a win for the Bears, but recovered in game two, notching three hits on Saturday to help Cal erase Dallas Baptist's upset bid.
Darrel Matthews dropped three hits for Cal, doing his part to eliminate the Patriots. Expect the versatile sophomore to be a mainstay in the outfield whenever the Bears' season comes to a close. Next up for the red-hot Cal crew is a meeting with Virginia with the first pitch slated for 2 p.m. on Sunday.
As a 3-seed, the Bears are the only non-No.1 seed to move on to Omaha in 2011. The surprise of this year's CWS, Cal (37-21) finished 6th in the Pac-10 with an even 13-13 conference record.
Evan Marzilli, the everyday centerfielder for South Carolina, rounds out Chatham's representation in Omaha. The Gamecocks' leadoff hitter had only one hit in a sweep over UConn, but still exited the series batting just a point under .300. South Carolina (50-14) matches up with Texas A&M (47-20) on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
Chatham is also represented by two coaches in the College World Series.
Chad Holbrook, an outfielder on the 1992 Chatham A's out of North Carolina, is in his third year as associate head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Robert Woodard, a pitcher for the A's from 2004 to 2006 out of North Carolina, is in his first year as assistant coach for the Tarheels.