No one ever will forget the Arizona Wildcats’ thrilling, expectations-defying run through the 2016 College World Series.
Ryan Haug never will forget the final out.
Because he made it.
Haug, the UA’s backup catcher, struck out with runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth inning. A hit would have, at the very least, tied the score. It might have won the national championship.
Instead, Coastal Carolina celebrated a 4-3 victory on a sun-splashed afternoon in Omaha, Nebraska, that concluded a wild emotional ride for both the champs and the runners-up.
No one felt it more than Haug. It remains a painful memory for the junior from Rohnert Park, California, as the 2017 season approaches. It’s also a source of inspiration.
“I remember it all crystal clear,” Haug said. “It stung. It definitely stung. It stayed with me. It’s still there.
“If anything, I’d say it’s motivation. It definitely made me work a lot harder. It made me work that much harder in rehab, in the weight room. To put it into words, I’d just say ‘hungry.’ ”
What most probably don’t remember about Haug’s first season at Arizona is that he was injured for a good chunk of it. He missed time because of a back injury that would prevent him from playing summer ball and limited him to rehab work in the fall. He wasn’t 100 percent when he stepped to the plate for the biggest at-bat of his life.
“Not even close,” UA coach Jay Johnson said.
But it isn’t the outcome of the last at-bat that Johnson chooses to remember. What stands out most to him is Haug’s toughness and the contributions he made along the way.
“When I look at Ryan, I don’t think of that,” Johnson said when asked how Haug has handled himself since the June 30 season finale. “I think about, we made a run in Pac-12 play where he actually became the starting catcher, and our pitching staff started pitching at an incredibly high level, and a couple big hits he got throughout the year.
“He started the game in Omaha against UC Santa Barbara and played great. (Haug had a hit, threw out a baserunner and caught nine shutout innings in Arizona’s 3-0 victory on June 22.) I look at it more like, if we didn’t have him, last year’s team never would have been last year’s team.”
Haug ended up playing a secondary role for the Wildcats after freshman Cesar Salazar emerged as the starting catcher. But Haug was among the first batch of recruits Johnson added after taking over the program in June 2015. He didn’t know how good Salazar would be and had to fortify the catching situation. Johnson signed Haug from Santa Rosa Junior College, where he had batted .368 as a freshman.
Haug started the 2016 opener, an 8-1 victory at Rice. He shared time with Salazar before taking over the catching duties for much of April. Then his back shelved him for all of May. That start against Santa Barbara was Haug’s only one after April 29.
Yet there he was, stepping into the right-handed batter’s box at TD Ameritrade Park with everything on the line.
Haug entered the third and deciding game of the College World Series finals in the bottom of the seventh inning after Salazar got hurt. Salazar was forced to exit after getting hit on the head by Michael Paez’s backswing on a strikeout to end the top of the seventh.
Arizona trailed 4-2, and it remained that way entering the bottom of the ninth. Louis Boyd scored on Zach Gibbons’ sacrifice fly to make it 4-3. Ryan Aguilar then doubled to left, putting runners on second and third with two outs.
As he walked toward the plate, Haug suppressed any thoughts about what a hit might mean. Johnson always preaches being in the moment. Haug’s sole focus was on the next pitch.
“I really remember stepping in the box, having that tunnel vision, going, ‘You know, this is why I’m here; this is why I worked to get back,’” Haug said.
“When I got in that box, it was me and that guy 60 feet, 6 inches away. The outcome never really crossed my mind.”
Haug worked the count to 3-2 against right-handed reliever Alex Cunningham. The sixth pitch of the at-bat was a fastball, slightly above the belt and an inch or two off the outside corner. With two strikes, it was too close to take.
Haug swung. He says he actually foul-tipped the ball. It landed squarely in catcher David Parrett’s mitt. It was Cunningham’s only strikeout in three innings and the first save of his college career.
“You don’t ever want to be the final out,” said pitcher JC Cloney, Haug’s batterymate for the Rice opener and the Santa Barbara game and his roommate in Omaha.
“It hurt at first, like it hurts everybody, especially since you can’t play the next day. It sits with you.
It sucks that it happened, but I think he’s going to be better off.”
Before they boarded the plane to return to Tucson, Haug and Johnson talked about the unhappy ending to an otherwise thoroughly satisfying season. Despite the circumstances that led up to it, Johnson assured Haug that he was the right guy in the right spot. He just didn’t get a hit.
After spending about a week back home with family, Haug spent the summer and fall getting his back right. He worked on strengthening his core and added several pounds of muscle. Asked recently about his physical condition, Haug said: “Never been better.”
In his first “live” at-bat of the spring, Haug came to the plate with runners on second and third.
He singled up the middle.
