It Happened Again
What do you say when history keeps repeating itself?
I don’t know why I opened this document.
I was going to try to make some distasteful parallels to my romantic relationships and Seton Hall’s ability to beat Creighton when it leads in the bottom of the ninth of a BIG EAST Tournament game.
I was going to say that the only certainties in life are death, taxes, and Creighton walking off against Seton Hall when they look dead in the water.
I was going to wax poetic about #BIGEASTBASEBALLFEVER and how it permeates through the spirit of the game, this tournament, and the baseball Gods.
Instead, I’ll just let you know that it happened again.
That’s three times that it’s happened. I’ll let Matt lay it out for you:
There was a time where I thought to myself, as Seton Hall poured in three runs in the top of the ninth to break a 4-4, “There’s no way it can happen again.”
I believed it. Sort of. Not all the way, because I knew that anything is possible in this tournament. There’s so little an avid follower of this conference hasn’t seen on a ball diamond yet. It continues to gift the viewer an experience unmatched by any other baseball viewing experience. It draws you in with regional pride and then it snatches your heart and mind with a firm fist, like a pronated grip on a four-seam fastball, and it won’t let you go.
When Andrew Meggs walked to start the bottom of the ninth my heart skipped a beat.
When Alan Roden walked, following Meggs, my palms started to perspire.
When Seton Hall changed pitchers and Ryan Mantle worked a 7-pitch walk, I felt light headed.
When Sterling Hayes watched strike three breeze right by him, I thought about calling home, and telling my parents that my death was inevitable.
When Dax Roper blasted a double into the left-center gap to get the Jays to within one, my heart burst, a comfort washed over me, a smile grew on my stupid fucking face, and suddenly I knew exactly what was going to happen.
When David Vilches lifted a ball into left-center, forcing the centerfielder to his right to make the catch, to make an off-balance throw back into the field, to score Mantle on a tag from third, I felt the essence of the Baseball Gods shining down upon this motherfucking tournament.
And when Will Hanafan reached out and popped a base hit into right on the third pitch of the at-bat, it was all over. The fever won again. Dax rounded third, hit home plate, and the entire Creighton dugout poured onto the field to chase yet another dude around the outfield grass.
It was Danny Woodrow in 2016. It was Jared Wegner and Will Hanafan in 2019. Dax Roper, David Vilches, and Hanafan combined to do it again today.
Incredible.
Build a damn statue to Will Hanafan in the centerfield concourse at TD Ameritrade Park.
