Former Wildcat Wes Clements discusses historic Arizona baseball season, Chip Hale's success

Wes Clements is attached to some of the most important moments for the Arizona Wildcats baseball program.

Clements, a former All-American first baseman for the Wildcats, helped Arizona win its first Pac-10 championship — in any sport — in 1980, before leading the program to its second national championship later that season.

Fast-forward to Arizona’s last season in the Pac-12 this season, Clements was on the Pac-12 Network broadcast for the Wildcats’ walk-off win over Oregon State at Hi Corbett Field to secure the conference regular-season title. Clements was also in Scottsdale for the Pac-12 Tournament, where he witnessed the Wildcats, once again, winning the championship in walk-off fashion over USC, one of the schools that kickstarted the demise of the “Conference of Champions.”

When 13th-seeded Arizona hosts a NCAA Baseball Regional this week in Tucson, Clements will be in Corvallis, Oregon for the Oregon State Regional, but he’ll be monitoring his Cats from afar.

Arizona hosts Grand Canyon, West Virginia and Dallas Baptist for the Tucson Regional, and will face GCU on Friday at 6 p.m. at Hi Corbett Field on ESPN+.

Clements joined ESPN Tucson’s “Spears and Ali” this week to talk UA baseball’s historic season, Pac-12 power and Chip Hale’s success at the UA.

What’s your assessment of the Wildcats entering the postseason?

A: “If you watched them last Thursday and Friday, you would’ve said there’s no chance they’re hosting after the first two games against the Beavers. As the beauty of our game will show you, you get to strap it up again the next day and it doesn’t matter what happened the previous day. That game last Saturday night, I’ve been broadcasting for the last 10 years, and that’s one of the Top 10 games I’ve ever done.

“The game was immaculately played by both sides, then you fast-forward to last week in Scottsdale, they get there and have a big win against Stanford but the atmosphere in Scottsdale Saturday night was incredible. You couldn’t hear in the booth.”

In the last year of the Pac-12, how do you think the conference fared overall?

A: “It’s a reminder. It was God reminding everybody who the best was, who the best is and who the best will always be, and it was us sticking out our chests saying, ‘Hey, we’re here for a reason and we’re the Conference of Champions for a reason.’

“We were blessed, truly blessed. Everyone in the country was watching the game Saturday night on ESPN2. That goes all the way back to the east coast and SEC. So much, that the SEC boys said something unprecedented: they went out on a limb and said Arizona deserves to host.

“You can’t win the Pac and win the tourney and beat Oregon State, who is hosting, and not host. I thought that was really classy.”

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As a broadcaster, objectivity is a cardinal rule, but as a former Wildcat, how would you describe the emotions of Arizona’s walk-off wins to secure the Pac-12 championship?

A: “Full confession, last Saturday night (against Oregon State at Hi Corbett Field), Daron Sutton was my partner, and once (Brendan Summerhill) hit the ball and it was halfway through the gap, he stood up, I stood up and for the first time in a decade, I put my hands straight up and said, ‘Nope, can’t do that, because you just don’t know who’s looking.’

“Then I put them over my head to act like I was stretching. That’s the emotion I had, because I couldn’t have been happier for the boys and Chipper and the staff. Remember, this is a team that was picked to finish ninth in the preseason in the Pac-12, and they walked off a team that I think could flat-out win the World Series in Oregon State, because that lineup is loaded.

“We went down afterwards and it was just awesome to be a part of it.”

What’s the recipe for Arizona advancing after this week?

A: “It’s going to sound obvious, but they’re going to have to take care of Grand Canyon, take care of them and send them a message.

“You gotta win Game 1 before you can win Game 2, and Grand Canyon is not an easy out. This regional, to me, there’s not one tougher. Period. And I don’t think it’s close.

“You got a Dallas Baptist team that everybody thought was going to host all the way up until the last week, then you have a West Virginia team who won 19 games in the (Big 12). There are three teams that can win this and the fourth is about 20% behind the other three. That’s how good this regional is for me.”

Chip Hale is the only person to win Pac-10 Player of the Year and Pac-12 Coach of the Year. In your earnest opinion, why do you think he has succeeded as a baseball player and coach?

A: “His attitude. I remember some people called me prior to all of this happening and the only thing I said was, ‘Nobody will ever out-positive and outwork Chip Hale as a skipper. That’s just who he is. He’s always been that guy.

“In the big-leagues, he was the utility guy. He wasn’t a Mason White, for better words. He overachieved, but he overachieved because of his hard work. He’s still the hits leader in the history of the Cats. He’s a professional in every aspect of life and every aspect of coaching. He’s never going to get outworked, and he’s got a tremendous staff.

“It’s a great story and well deserved for Chipper.”