Michael Lev: UA baseball season sadly comes to an end, and big changes appear to be imminent

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Chase Davis’ eyes were red and watery.

Even for Arizona’s Mr. Cool, the moment hit him.

For Davis, his UA teammates and whoever else is fortunate enough to play college baseball, those years are the best of their lives — the most fun they’ll ever have.

And then, just like that, it’s over. One minute you’re envisioning an improbable run to Omaha, a la Ole Miss a year ago. The next, you’re lamenting a 9-3 loss to Santa Clara in the NCAA Tournament’s Fayetteville Regional that brought that dream to a sudden, sorrowful end.

Just 10 minutes or so after the conclusion of Saturday night’s rain-delayed elimination game at Baum-Walker Stadium, Davis was ready to move on — yet wasn’t quite ready to let go.

“That’s the past,” Davis said. “For right now I’m just kind of cherishing all the moments, man. Three years with the Cats.”

Davis will become a millionaire in July, a likely first-round pick in the MLB Draft. He will look back on those three years with the Cats with fondness and appreciation.

College baseball is the best. If you know, you know.

That’s what makes the inevitable breakup so sad. I’ve covered UA baseball for eight years. Whether the Wildcats make it to Omaha or go two-and-barbecue, every season ends with hugs and tears.

Then come the hard decisions.

Based on his postgame comments Saturday night, you got the feeling that UA coach Chip Hale already has come to grips with what has to be done. It would be surprising at this point if he didn’t move on from pitching coach Dave Lawn. I’d be surprised if they didn’t have that discussion before the NCAA Tournament even began.

“When you don’t get to where you want to get, which is Omaha and winning national championships, you’re always searching for what you need,” Hale said. “We’ll search the portal high and low. We’ll re-evaluate our coaching. That’s my job. I’m the leader of the staff, and I have to decide; I have to make tough decisions. But we have to get better in all areas.”

No area is in greater need than pitching. Arizona had a 5.97 ERA this season. It was 5.04 the previous year. That’s simply not good enough to get to where the program wants to get.

I asked Hale how he planned to upgrade that part of the team.

“Like I said, I have to make decisions and I have to evaluate — we’re in the midst of that,” he said. “I’ve been doing that for the last month, and we’ll see where that goes. I really can’t comment on how we’re gonna fix it or how we’re gonna do something until I get my thoughts together and put it on paper and decide what we’re gonna do.”

In one sense, this is an easy call for Hale: The pitching staff simply hasn’t produced in his two seasons. The Wildcats rarely won if they didn’t score a bunch of runs.

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In another, it’s difficult: As one person in the UA athletic department put it, Lawn is “an A-plus human being.” I’ve never heard a bad word about “CL” (Coach Lawn) from anyone who’s known him. I’ve found him to be generous, personable and knowledgeable — a walking Wikipedia page of West Coast college baseball.

But something didn’t click these past two seasons; some message wasn’t getting through. Talented arms such as TJ Nichols and Aiden May were wildly inconsistent. Other pitchers, such as Trevor Long, regressed.

Sometimes a new voice is needed — a new approach, a new viewpoint. That time has come, and it appears Hale knows it.

Change is constant in college sports, and plenty is coming for UA baseball. Besides Davis, the Wildcats will lose stalwarts Tony Bullard and Nik McClaughry — and probably Mac Bingham and Kiko Romero too. That’s a ton of production.

Even if Arizona were able to fill some of those holes through the transfer portal, don’t be shocked if next season is something of a rebuilding year. As much as UA baseball has won and established itself as one of the sport’s bluebloods, the idea that the Wildcats can simply reload every year is a fallacy. Arizona’s baseball success is much more cyclical than you think.

This season marked the first time since 2012 that Arizona reached the NCAA Tournament three years in a row. Before that: 2005. Before that: 1987.

Between 1988 and 2002, the Wildcats made the tournament only four times. Andy Lopez brought prosperity and a fourth College World Series title to the program, but Arizona missed the tournament in each of his final three seasons.

The 2016 run to the CWS finals under Jay Johnson came out of nowhere, and the Wildcats failed to make the field of 64 in 2018 and ’19. It took him time — almost five years — to build another team that had what it took to make it to Omaha.

For what it’s worth — and I think it’s worth a lot — Hale’s players love playing for him. I asked Davis what he thought about the direction of the program under Hale.

“The highest direction possible,” Davis said. “This man knows how to lead a squad. He’s ... family to me, and he knows that. He’s the best coach I’ve ever had.

“As a man — forget the baseball part. He’s just someone I know I can call late at night. He’s awesome.”

Saturday’s six-hour rain delay offered a window into the vibe of the program. The Wildcats spent most of their time in the Randal Tyson Track Center, which doubled as the media workroom. We got to see them in their natural habitat — just hanging out and enjoying one another’s company while waiting for the storms to clear.

The most entertaining moment, by far, came when McClaughry and Garen Caulfield imitated Davis’ batting stance — especially the way he extends his hand over the plate after a borderline call as if to say: “You better not call that a strike, blue.”

Everyone was howling with laughter. About six hours later, many were crying.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.