University of Richmond Athletics
California Dreamin'
05/29/2003 | Baseball
May 29, 2003
Sophomore Jim Fasano
After winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time, the anxiety of whether or not we were in a Regional was not an issue. On Monday, the Spiders were going to find out, by way of ESPN2, where we would be heading in our quest for the ultimate goal -- the College World Series.
The midway commercial of the selection show came and our site had still not been determined. Most of us had gone into the day expecting to be sent to Wilson, N.C. for the N.C. State Regional.
The first pairings of the Stanford Regional was announced: Stanford vs. Illinois-Chicago. Then came the next pairing: Richmond vs. UC-Riverside.
The room completely erupted. I remember looking at Bobby LeNoir and seeing the same look on his face as when we won the Wake Forest Regional last year. I high-fived him and repeated a few times, to no one in particular, "I can't believe we are going to Stanford!"
Getting up at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning prepared us for the challenge of this weekend, competing in one of the hardest Regionals in the tournament. Yesterday was the longest day of my life. I was so exhausted last night, but I didn't mind at all.
The Sunken Diamond is generally regarded as one of the finest college baseball facilities in the nation. Although much different from most of the places we played this year, the bases are 90 feet apart and the pitcher's mound is still 60 feet 6 inches away.
Practicing on the field today gave us a sense of what the weekend will be like. We were able to get comfortable in our surroundings without the pressure of the 5,000 fans rooting against us. Practice went very well and gave us some confidence heading into tomorrow's game.
This is our chance to show the West Coast who we are. We are the Richmond Spiders and we are ready to prove what we have known all along -- we can beat any team in the country.
