Dream Is Over, Wake Up Tomorrow

LONG BEACH, Calif.-It's the bottom of the ninth again. Josh Satin is leading off. But this isn't a tie game anymore. It's not the third game against UCLA. It's not Senior Day. Hell, this game isn't even in Berkeley, despite the home white uniforms.

With the Bears down 9-2, it's pretty much been a foregone conclusion for two innings now-Cal is out of the playoffs. Down seven runs, having only produced seven hits in two games, there's not much chance for a comeback. Too bad there's no trick play, no fumble-rusky, no last-second desperation shot, no 15-lateral miracle hiding around the corner. All that's left are outs to be made, meaningless runs to score, a locker to be cleaned out and a bus ride home.

There's the voice of experience, head coach David Esquer, who guided the Bears into the postseason for the first time since 2001. Esquer was the shortstop on a Stanford team that won the College World Series. He's been around the block a few times.

"We just didn't play the quality of baseball that got us here, and that's unfortunate," says Esquer. "But I'm proud of our guys for what they've done in getting us to this point."

There's the voice of optimism, coming from sophomore Blake Smith, who hit the only playoff longball and knocked in Cal's only two runs of the postseason. Smith is the type of player that gives you 110 percent even when he's sleeping. With a vicious swing, a 96-mph fastball on the mound and boundless heart, he is the face of the future of Bears baseball.

"I think that next year, we're going to come out good," says Smith when asked about the future of a team that wasn't, so to speak, a darling of the Pac-10 when the season started. "We've been here now, and we've got a lot of young guys who have been here and seen how the older guys do it. I think we're going to have a lot of older guys who are going to step up, and a lot of younger guys who are going to step up. I think we're going to be a pretty dang good team next year, too."

Then there's the voice of one stuck in between. In between college and real life, in between the blue and gold and whatever colors he puts on next, in between the greatest moment of his baseball life-a walk-off homer against the Bruins on May 25-and the premature end of his dream for the past five years. Senior Josh Satin sits next to Esquer in the press interview tent, brooding. His brows are knitted, lips clenched tight until finally, someone dares ask him a question.

Asked what his plans are from now until the draft, the most substantive thing that he says is that he'll go back to Berkeley and hang out with his teammates. But when asked to reflect on his career as a Golden Bear?

The ice melts, and his hard glare softens.

"It was fun," he says. "It was fun."

Now the program, the younger players and those on their way out must move on. There will be no trip to Omaha, or even to Tempe, Ariz., for the Super Regional. At least not yet.

While Cal may be losing Satin, lights-out junior closer Matt Gorgen, three-year weekend starting pitcher Tyson Ross, slugging junior first baseman David Cooper, senior team captain Michael Capbarat, junior left fielder/catcher Charlie Cutler and possibly others to either graduation or the Major League draft, what they have coming back next year may be just as good.

On the mound, freshman Kevin Miller is ready to take on the mantle of weekend ace. In center field, Brett Jackson is the type of all-around athlete that can win MVP awards. Smith will be throwing himself around with reckless abandon in right. Sophomore third baseman Jeff Kobernus will still be stealing bases and sophomore catcher Dylan Tonneson will add even more power to his swing.

What this team did this year was to set a foundation. Now the kids know what it takes. They know what playoff baseball looks like, and they know the path to get there.

It took six years for the Bears to find their way back into the postseason, and perhaps a College World Series berth was a bit much to ask. But it does serve as a learning experience. The team that averaged nearly seven runs a game couldn't score when it counted because the big bats went cold. Now the younger players have seen the old adage at work: it's not the best team that wins championships, it's the hottest team at the end.

So while this may be the end of the road for the pro-bound juniors and graduating seniors, it may be just the beginning-a new beginning-of a tradition of winning for the Cal baseball team.

Tags: