CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—It was 29 years ago Monday that Chip Hale won a College World Series title with Arizona as a player. June 9 also happens to be the birthday of his wife, Judi, but she wasn’t able to take the trip to Omaha to support her school and her future husband back in 1986.
“Yeah, we didn’t have girlfriends like these guys do, have the girlfriends on the road,” Hale said after leading his alma mater back to the World Series. “We didn’t have enough money to get them to Omaha. We started dating that year. I did something like I took my helmet off and rubbed my head and said that was for your birthday.”
There will be no shortage of UA fans making the trip to Omaha for the program’s 19th CWS trip, first since 2021 and first under Hale. The Wildcats were well represented at the Big 12 Tournament in Texas, the regionals in Oregon and this weekend in North Carolina.
“I want to thank our parents and alumni and fans who showed up here in Chapel Hill and in Eugene on the way here and at Globe Life for the Big 12 Tournament,” Hale said. “Just fantastic families. When we recruit kids we recruit their families. And just so proud that they get the opportunity to go on to Omaha, too.”
Our game recap from another late comeback win for Arizona (44-19) can be found here. Below is what Hale, shortstop Mason White and pitchers Smith Bailey and Casey Hintz had to say after the victory to clinch a Super Regional title:
Hale on North Carolina: “We’re getting an opportunity to go to Omaha and move on, and I don’t know, we’ll see when we get there, but it’s going to be hard to find a team that’s as good as them. Lineup, pitching the way they play the game. So I want to congratulate them on a great year, and I know they’re disappointed. It’s just, this is a hard deal. I know winning is great, but sometimes you learn a lot in a loss.”
On the fielding error that started the winning rally: “When it happened, obviously it’s a great opportunity for us. It’s a crack to get through and we did it. But I feel real bad. I’ve been in that situation before. I’ve had it in pro where we lost playoff games that way. It’s not a good feeling, but you have to take advantage of mistakes. Early, middle of the year, we did a lot of swinging and missing on that pitch, so at least we made them make the play.”
On Arizona having an error in the bottom of the 6th on a double play attempt: “That was unlike us, just trying to be too quick on a double play instead of just getting the sure out.”
On his emotions after the win: “Relief. One-run games are tough in college baseball. The key thing is to keep guys off base and Tony (Pluta) did that. Obviously, we’re just overwhelmed with emotion. You sit after the game and you just think about the next one. I’m just so happy for these kids. I’m happy, like I said, happy for these families. They have grinded so hard, spent so much money coming here and raising these kids, putting them in travel baseball and high school baseball, and now they get get a payoff to go to Omaha. We’re going to go there and put our best foot forward and try to win our fifth national championship.”
On winning two straight after an 18-2 loss in the opener: “They were able to flush that. We’ve had some issues on Fridays. Once that game got out of hand, we knew that that wasn’t really what the score to us was. It looked bad, I kept looking (during) these other good games, it’s up in the corner, let’s just get rid of that 18-2 game. But that’s who they are. They’re very gritty, and the one thing they do is play pitch to pitch like they’ve been talking about and don’t worry about anything else. And we’ve been through some tough times. I think that was the thing with this team, we felt like this was a team that could get Omaha in the fall. Really felt like it, and then we hit some real roadblocks along the way, and it ended up being a blessing to us, because we got hot at the right time.”
On the ‘Chasing Five’ mantra: “It’s been a theme since day one. In the fall we had banners up, we had T-shirts made. It’s really important. These guys want to make history at Arizona. This is a program that’s won four national championships, and we want to be in Omaha, and we want to win it. It’s been a huge theme for us. And there was a point in the season, I think everybody, if we’re honest, where it did look very good for us, but these kids sucked it up and they’re doing like Mason did today, what you have to do to win. Find the holes, instead of going for the going for the fences he put his head down hit a line drive to left field to get two runs.”
On UNC starter Ryan Lynch: “I was very impressed, because I felt like it was gonna be a lot like the first two guys. And really no change, fastball/slider. And I could tell from pitch number one on Brendan that there was something going on, whether it was his extension, or it just was getting on our guys. We love guys are going to challenge us with heaters, and he was beating us. We made some adjustments, but I don’t think really we ever were on to him.”
On Easton Breyfogle following his on-field collision: “I think he’s okay. We had the opportunity with that head injury or upper extremities, to take him out and put him back in if we have to, if he shows okay. But James, our trainer, came right to me in the next inning and he said he’s not going to go back in the game. So he there was some concussion-like symptoms. He seemed good after the game, but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow. Probably have to do some concussion protocols.”
On Smith Bailey’s poise in big games: “He’s been fantastic. And I I say it again, it’s it comes back to his upbringing. His parents are fantastic parents. He’s got an older brother that’s pitched all through college, at Grand Canyon against us this year, and those things are big. And there’s not a moment that’s too big for him.”
White on the 8th inning rally: “The way this game was going, we just needed a crack. Chip said that before it happened. We just need a crack and we can push through the wall.”
On his game-winning hit: “I was just trying to put a ball in play, specifically in the air just to get a guy in and tie the game. They’d been shifting me the whole weekend, so I knew just stay in the middle on the field. He gave me a good pitch, the pitch I swung at before was a really good change up in the dirt. So I put that in the back of my mind and I just got a pitch up and swung.”
On being a Tucson kid making the College World Series: “To be a third-generation guy, I’m the first one. My dad and grandpa didn’t get to go. I was at every game in ‘12 when they were in the regionals and Supers. I watched every game in ‘16. It’s almost like a dream.”
On using his Saturday at-bats with Tanner McDuffie: “He showed me what he was trying to do. He attacked me the same way he did yesterday, he just did a better change-up.”
On Lynch: “He has a lively 95 … it feels like 100. That was getting at us. We battle against that stuff. But when someone attacks like that, and it’s just guy after guy gets out. I think it kind of bulldozed you, guys see that. Our whole message was being ready for the fastball and he was beating us with it.”
On opening the CWS against Coastal Carolina: “Part of this dream, it’s just unbelievable that my first game—I’ve never been to Omaha, fan or anything—my first game to play in Omaha would be against Coastal. I watched every pitch against them. And to see a team like Coastal beat my Arizona was heartbreaking. It was just unbelievable. And I know some of the players that played on that team, so I know they’re gonna be watching, and I feel like it’s destined, like it was in the script.”
Bailey on his approach: “The only thing I think I really thought of and talked to myself about was just execute, execute ground balls. I knew with their at bats I wasn’t going to get a whole lot of strikeouts. That’s a great hitting team. Just want to get ground balls.”
On if it changed after giving up the home run: “I don’t think it changed at all. I just continued to try to execute. On that home run I just didn’t execute the change up, and I knew if I got that little bit lower it would have been a swing and miss. The whole goal of the day was just execute my pitches.”
Hintz on getting called on again after allowing a homer on Saturday: “It’s my goal to go in there and help the team get outs and they know to trust me in this situation, to get ground balls and I’m going to be able to go down there and get three outs. So what happened yesterday was in the past, it is what it is. I go in there pitch by pitch, and just get outs.”