Is it possible for a memory to be frustrating and fond at the same time?
That’s how several members of the 2016 Arizona baseball team look back at the end of that season. If ever there was a time to look back, it’s right now.
The ‘16 Wildcats lost to Coastal Carolina in the final game of the College World Series in crushing fashion. On Friday, the Cats and Chanticleers meet again to open this year’s CWS in Omaha, Nebraska.
Coastal coach Kevin Schnall was an assistant for the Chanticleers back then. The first subject he brought up at a news conference at Charles Schwab Field on Thursday? That fateful day nine years ago.
“June 30, 2016, was one of the most remarkable days of my baseball career,” Schnall said. “That was the day that we dogpiled after winning the national championship. As you can imagine, that moment, that day, that team changed Coastal baseball forever.”
Cody Ramer, left, with coach Jay Johnson, can’t bear to watch the last at-bat, with two on base and two out, as Arizona tries to come from behind in a deciding third game of the 2016 College World Series championship round in Omaha, Nebraska.
In addition to Schnall, the Star spoke with three members of the ‘16 UA squad: outfielder Jared Oliva and pitchers Cameron Ming and Cody Deason.
Oliva, who appeared in 26 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and ‘21, is playing for the Nashville Sounds, the triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. His teammates include Bobby Dalbec, who played a central role in that final CWS game and for that 2016 team.
Ming, who played three minor-league seasons, is the pitching coach for the Arkansas Travelers, the double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
Deason was the highest draft pick of the three, going to the Houston Astros in the fifth round in 2018. He played in the minor leagues through 2023 before retiring to become a project engineer for a construction company and start a family.
What follows are their recollections and reflections on the finale vs. Coastal Carolina and the 2016 season:
Out! Or not
Picked to finish ninth out of 11 baseball-playing Pac-12 programs, Arizona won multiple elimination games to reach the CWS championship series.
Arizona’s Cody Ramer, left, can’t avoid the tag from Coastal Carolina catcher David Parrett as he gets caught trying to score from third on a high bouncer in the infield from Zach Gibbons in the third inning in the deciding game of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park on June 30, 2016, in Omaha, Neb.
The Wildcats won the first game of the best-of-three, 3-0. The Chanticleers won Game 2, 5-4. Game 3 was postponed because of inclement weather, pushing the deciding game to Thursday, June 30, at noon local time.
The contest was scoreless entering the sixth inning — but might not have been if college baseball had the full-fledged version of instant replay that it has now.
Arizona’s Cody Ramer was ruled out at the plate after trying to score on a chopper to the pitcher hit by Zach Gibbons in the bottom of the third. Replays suggested Ramer was safe. The play was not reviewable.
Deason: “Unfortunately, we didn’t have replay then. But I would like to say we probably would have been national champions had that been a thing. ... It definitely is a bummer. It would be cool to be wearing a national championship ring. But it’s part of the story. It was still a really cool experience.”
Oliva: “I feel like our whole postseason run or even the last part of the season ... if we got the early lead, it was just a big momentum shift. I know it’s just one run. But it’s more than that. ... It’s a momentum shift for them because they got the big stop instead of us getting a run and we’re all of a sudden on top. I think everyone knows that with replay he would have been safe.”
Arizona's Cody Ramer, left, reacts to being called out at home by umpire Joe Burleson against Coastal Carolina as Ryan Aguilar (21) looks on in the third inning in Game 3 of the College World Series finals in Omaha, Neb., on June 30, 2016.
Ming: “There’s so many things that didn’t go our way. It’s easy to look at different avenues for why we should have won it. But hat’s off to Coastal too. They were a gritty team.”
Errors, empathy
Coastal took a 2-0 lead in the top of the sixth when Ramer, Arizona’s reliable senior second baseman, made two errors on the same play — equaling the number of miscues he’d made in the previous 35 games.
Dalbec, the Wildcats’ starting pitcher, then surrendered a two-run homer to make it 4-0. As he was being taken out of the game, Dalbec squeezed Ramer’s shoulder and rubbed his back. The gesture was picked up by ESPN’s cameras and shared via social media.
Deason: “It’s baseball. It’s a lot like life. Things happen that are unforeseen. You make mistakes all the time. It’s unfortunate that it happened, but you live and you learn. I’m sure (Ramer) carries it around with him. He’s probably lived and learned from it and is able to share that experience with a young athlete or somebody else who’s going through a hard time.”
Arizona pitcher Bobby Dalbec, third from right, is congratulated at the dugout against Coastal Carolina in the fifth inning in Game 3 of the College World Series finals in Omaha, Neb., on June 30, 2016.
Oliva: “Honestly, (Dalbec’s gesture) just represents how close our team was. First off, it goes to show the type of dude Bobby is, (amid) the emotions in the game and everything, (to) be able to recognize what’s going on. Giving him that little hug gesture just shows him like, ‘Hey, we got you.’ Second off, Ramer was one of the freaking staples of our team — defensively, offensively.
“To have that happen in that sort of moment, it’s just part of the game sometimes. But it definitely wasn’t the reason why we lost. If we don’t have Ramer, we don’t get there.”
Ming: “It goes back to ... how much we loved each other. It was just about fighting for the guy next to you and not wanting to let that guy down. I’m sure Ramer, in that moment, was like, ‘I just let the team down.’ There’s no worse feeling than that, especially when you have the tight-knit group that we did have.
“Everything’s just amplified in those moments when you’re playing for a national title, when you’re on ESPN. Everything’s just amplified and makes it hurt worse.”
Excruciatingly close
Arizona rallied. Oliva hit a two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Ming and Deason kept the Chanticleers off the scoreboard.
The Wildcats made it 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth on Gibbons’ sacrifice fly, which scored Louis Boyd. Ramer, who had singled to advance Boyd to third, had to remain at first.
Ryan Aguilar then hit a double into the left field corner. Coastal’s Anthony Marks fielded the ball cleanly on the warning track and made a perfect relay throw to shortstop Michael Paez. Head coach Jay Johnson, who also coached third base, had to hold Ramer.
Ryan Haug — who had to enter the game when starting catcher Cesar Salazar exited because of a concussion — came to the plate with two outs. Alex Cunningham struck him out on a 3-2 pitch to give Coastal the CWS crown.
Oliva: “That guy in left, he made a hell of a play. ... Don’t get me wrong. We made a couple mistakes. And even the game before, we could have had some timely hits to put us in a better position. But they made some great plays, too, some big plays. So it’s one of those where you just tip your cap to them.”
Arizona pitcher Cameron Ming dishes off the ball as he throws out Coastal Carolina's David Parrett on a sacrifice bunt in the seventh inning in the deciding game of the College World Series, on June 30, 2016, in Omaha, Neb.
Ming: “No doubt in my mind, (Ramer) was scoring. It was one of the better plays I’ve ever seen in the outfield ... two perfect cuts. It was a special play. ... To come that far and you just don’t make it, it sucks.
“We were that freaking close (to) a national title for U of A. That’s what makes sports great, though. There’s a winner; there’s a loser. It sucks to be the loser, and it feels the best to be the winner.”
Comeback Cats
The comeback illustrated the resilience of the 2016 Wildcats. Expectations were low in Johnson’s first season following three straight campaigns without an NCAA Tournament berth.
Several seniors had career years — an uncommon occurrence in college baseball — as Arizona clawed its way into and through the postseason.
Deason: “We just always had that fight in us. I remember we did that a few times that year, notably the game against UCLA (when Dalbec hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth to complete a rally from a 5-1 deficit). We always had that resilience in us, that we were never out of a ballgame. It kind of parallels a lot of what I see this year.”
Arizona's Zach Gibbons, left, celebrates with Jared Oliva after scoring on a Bobby Dalbec single against Coastal Carolina in the first inning in Game 2 of the College World Series finals in Omaha, Neb., on June 28, 2016.
Ming: “To start out the season, we’re nobodies. That coaching staff brought us all together and showed us potential that Gibbons never experienced, Ramer never experienced, Banny (starting pitcher Nathan Bannister). We were playing on house money, which I believe is huge. You’re not playing tight. Nobody expects you to be there.”
‘The brotherhood’
Although the season didn’t end the way they wanted it to, the 2016 Wildcats wouldn’t trade their experience for anything.
They played longer and better than anyone could have imagined. And they came within one hit of winning a national championship.
Deason: “That was a special team. I still think back to those days. ... The best time of my life was those two weeks that we were in Nebraska. And I truly mean that; it’s not just cliché.
“Ryan Haug was a groomsman at my wedding. He got married a week before I did. I was a groomsman at his wedding. Michael Flynn, one of my all-time friends. Robby Medel, we work alongside each other and see each other at work events, softball games.
Arizona’s Cody Deason (15) gets drenched by his teammates in the dugout before the fourth inning against Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the College World Series finals in Omaha, Neb., on June 27, 2016.
“It was more about the team than anything. It’s just the experiences you get to share with your best friends. ... Pro ball is not like that.”
Oliva: “We think about it all the time; (it’s) hard not to think about it this time of year when the World Series starts happening, regionals, Super Regionals. But honestly, man, it was a hell of a ride. We got hot at the right time. Our team chemistry was through the roof.
“Definitely the ending, painful; you could say sad. You go through this whole ride. One, just to have it be over, whether it’s over for the seniors, over for the guys being drafted. That took a hit, I think, on everyone emotionally.
“But ... in the same breath you’re just like, man, this is pretty freaking cool. Not every kid who plays in college gets to experience this. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for most people. Yeah, it’s disappointing. We couldn’t pull out the W. But man, it was a hard-fought series, through and through. We got to be there. I think it was 16 days in Omaha. It was a blast.”
Ming: “Anytime that you get to suit up with the guys for another game, it’s just a blessing. ... Just the brotherhood with the guys. You remember the College World Series stuff. You remember the Super Regionals, all that stuff’s great and awesome lifetime stories and memories. But everything comes back to the dudes that we all played with. Just a really tight core group of guys.
“I remember losing at the end of the World Series. It wasn’t even the fact that we lost the national championship. Yeah, it sucks. But it was the fact that you were never going to have that same team again. That’s what crushed us. We just loved each other so much.”
