2016 CWS: Dalbec Pitches Arizona To Finals
OMAHA—In the middle of all of the well-documented dugout antics, the rally mustaches, the coffee-drinking mimicking and exuberant dancing that the Arizona Wildcats have become known for is a player who couldn’t be more stoic—the opposite of all of the above.
Bobby Dalbec isn’t the type to display his emotions, positive or negative. Head coach Jay Johnson said he’d never want to play poker with him, and Dalbec certainly had his best poker face on Saturday.
Even after the righthander twirled his third straight postseason gem, even after he helped carry the Wildcats to a 5-1 College World Series win, even after his team celebrated on the field for clinching one of two spots in the championship series, Dalbec’s face in the post-game press conference was mostly expressionless.
| GAME AT A GLANCE |
| Turning Point: Oklahoma State righthander Thomas Hatch hadn’t allowed a run in 26 innings going into Saturday’s start—a streak that dated back to the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Arizona quickly ended that streak. Cody Ramer led off the game with a double, stole third base (despite getting caught in no-man’s land on a delayed steal) and came home on Zach Gibbons’ groundout. The Wildcats added another run later in the inning, forcing the Cowboys to play from behind all game.
The Hero: Bobby Dalbec was drafted in the fourth round by the Red Sox as a third baseman, but he dominated Oklahoma State from the mound during the CWS. After holding the Cowboys to one run in eight innings Monday, he threw seven more innings of one-run baseball Saturday. He struck out six batters and scattered four hits and two walks to pick up the victory. You Might Have Missed: Oklahoma State second baseman J.R. Davis went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in the Cowboys’ lone run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the third inning. It was his second multi-hit game of the CWS. |
He said he was happy to win, but he also made clear that he isn’t satisfied. Not yet.
“It feels good, obviously,” Dalbec said. “But as soon as we say we’re satisfied, that’s when we lose focus. From Day One, coach has always said he wants to win the national championship . . . and none of us have been able to be in the postseason since we’ve been here.
“The fact that we’re doing this just feels really good—but, again, not satisfied.”
Dalbec’s postseason success on the mound is a remarkable storyline in what has been a remarkable postseason for the underdog Wildcats—the third-place team in the Pac-12 and the No. 2 seed in the Lafayette Regional. Arizona has gone 6-0 in elimination games this season—the most since 2008 Cinderella team Fresno State.
In their latest elimination game Saturday, Dalbec led the Wildcats to victory, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out six in seven innings. That start came on the heels of an eight-inning, one-run, 12-strikeout start in a 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State earlier in the week and an 8 2/3 inning scoreless start in the Starkville Super Regional against host Mississippi State. On Saturday, he threw 102 pitches on four days of rest, outpitching Oklahoma State ace Thomas Hatch and adding another chapter to what Johnson called a “borderline legendary” postseason performance.
What makes it all the more remarkable is that the Red Sox drafted Dalbec in the fourth round as a third baseman—and that’s where most evaluators see him despite his down year at the plate. Dalbec, who pitched most of the year as a closer and has since flourished as a starter, said he doesn’t even like pitching all that much.
“I’ve never been a big fan of pitching,” said Dalbec, who is 11-5, 2.65 on the mound this season. “I’ve always liked hitting a lot more, even though it’s a lot harder. This could end up being my last time pitching, so it’s kind of a weird feeling, but I’m looking forward to just focusing on being a position player.”
Whether he likes pitching or not, his teammates certainly like playing behind him.
“He’s an incredibly talented human being,” said shortstop Louis Boyd, who plays on the left side of the infield with Dalbec and who flashed some leather in the field Saturday.
“Hitting, he’s a great hitter, he’s got unbelievable power. He’s got a great arm, obviously, and just commands three pitches, and that’s something you don’t see every day, and all I know is I’m just glad he’s on my team.”
Johnson said it wasn’t a difficult decision to start Dalbec on Saturday. The Wildcats weren’t going to extend him, but a couple of quick innings in the middle of the game allowed him to pitch into the seventh. Johnson said the goal was for the Wildcats to build some momentum early, and Arizona was able to do that at both the plate and the pitcher’s mound.
Hatch hadn’t allowed a run in his last 26 innings—23 in the NCAA tournament—when he started for Oklahoma State on Saturday, but the Wildcats jumped on him early nonetheless. Leadoff hitter Cody Ramer started the game with a double, stole third base and scored on a Zach Gibbons ground out, a few batters later, another run scored on a sacrifice fly. By the end of the second, RBI doubles by Boyd and Gibbons gave the Wildcats a 4-0 cushion.
The Wildcats, as they’ve done all postseason, came in loose and ready to attack. Boyd said having played in five elimination games before Saturday gave the Wildcats a sense of confidence.
“I feel like we had a good advantage there, because Oklahoma State, they hadn’t lost a game all postseason, and no one had really gotten to their pitching,” Boyd said, “and we had a feeling that if we got to Hatch early there, they might crumble a little bit. They still put up a fight, but we were able to put them away.”
Dalbec’s performance on the mound, in protecting that early lead, was a large reason why the Wildcats were able to put them away. Johnson raved about Dalbec’s significance to his team after the game, pointing to his presence at the plate, at the end of the game as a closer and in the postseason as a starting pitcher.
“I could talk 30 minutes about it because that’s how important he’s been to his team,” Johnson said.
Dalbec said he didn’t think his stuff was as crisp Saturday as it was in his previous start. His fastball mostly sat in the low-90s and he mixed in two breaking balls, a changeup and a sinker he’s been tinkering with—all of that for a guy who doesn’t really like pitching.
“An athlete—that’s what he is, in terms of competitiveness, in terms of heart, in terms of discipline,” Johnson said. “And he just happens to be able to get the ball up there at 93 mph with a changeup that’s a major league ready pitch right now and a breaking ball that’s making some of the best hitters in college baseball look bad.
“So I think if he keeps doing that, he might like (pitching) a little bit more.”
Maybe he’d like it more, too, if his next win is for a national championship.
Comments are closed.