Miraculous catch sends Florida baseball to fourth College World Series Final
OMAHA, Neb. — The ball left Bradyen Taylor’s bat screaming at 110 MPH. “Nine days out of ten that ball is out of here,” a Florida baseball player said walking into the clubhouse after the Gators’ 3-2 win over TCU. “I thought it was gone,” a pitcher said following his teammate in.
It doesn’t matter what they thought or what would have happened on 364 other days. Wednesday, Michael Robertson would have climbed into the stands to make the play if he needed to.
“It was do or die,” Robertson said after the game. “I was going to run through the wall if I had to.”
On any other day Robertson wouldn’t have run as hard. He might not even have had to move. Per the Creighton Baseball analytics team (who are running the stats at the College World Series) at the MLB level, balls similar to the one hit by Brayden Taylor are home runs 97% of the time. They also have a 1.000 batting average. It was a flyout this afternoon to end the Horned Frogs’ season.
“Oof, I’m not going to lie to you,” closer Brandon Neely said. “I thought it was (out). Then I saw Mikey slowing down and was like, ‘maybe it will stay in? Sure enough, it did.”
No egos for the Florida baseball team
Robertson began the season as the every day starter in right field. An extended slump sent him to the bench but the redshirt freshman has accepted his role on the team. He pinch runs for one of the corner outfielders late or gets substituted into games late for his defense, which he displayed for the world on Wednesday afternoon.
Robertson has been playing this role without ego or complaint. He’s developed a strategy to be ready when his name is called, even when he has no assurance it will be. He has a routine that starts with some static stretching in the dugout. At Charles Schwab Field there’s a turf batting tunnel where he puts himself through a dynamic warmup and runs sprints to get loose. He started in the fifth inning on Friday and it paid off.
“This team is special. On the biggest stage, getting to do that for these guys — it’s special,” Robertson said. “I think it shows how tight we are as a group. We’ve come together and won some really tight games here.”
Robertson pinch ran for Tyler Shelnut, who doubled to start the ninth inning. He advanced to third on a long flyout by Colby Halter and scored when Cade Kurland legged out an infield single. His route to the ball in the bottom half of the frame was perfect. He jumped at the perfect time, disregarding the wall or his body as it came crashing into it. He was willing to sacrifice that for the play. For his team.
That’s just the culture the 2023 Florida baseball team has fostered. Credit is due to the coaching staff but even more to the players. You can have great coaches but to have the sense of team and lack of ego that Florida does has to come from inside the clubhouse. From the players themselves.
“It’s just something that we continue to preach. We don’t settle for anything else,” catcher BT Riopelle said. “That’s what is winning us games.”
It’s been a winning formula all season. No team in Florida baseball history has won more games than these Gators. They’re two more wins from being able to call themselves National Champions.
