BEREA, Ohio — Few thought Baldwin Wallace baseball would be playing in June.
“We’re here though,” senior Alex Ludwig said. “We’re here.”
After sneaking into the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid two weeks ago, the Yellow Jackets have ripped off five wins in a row, and are one of just eight teams remaining for a national championship.
“I think we always believed we have the talent and the ability to do it,” junior Luke Vonderhaar said. “We’ve been playing with house money, we’ve just been playing free and easy.”
Ludwig, a Brunswick-native, agrees the team has the right mentality as it heads to the Division III College Baseball World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“You don’t have to be the best team out there to win this,” Ludwig said. “We’re just having fun with the guys at this point, making the most of it.”
But the road hasn’t been easy. Multiple times, Baldwin Wallace has had to come from behind, including a walk-off win that kicked this postseason journey off in regional play.
“I think that goes to show the belief that everyone on this team has in each other and the belief each individual has in themselves,” Vonderhaar said.
The Yellow Jackets could have as many as seven games left to win a national title, and they’re planning for a long trip to Iowa.
“We got to go home, probably do three loads of laundry, before we head to cedar rapids,” Ludwig said.
“We’re going to go have fun–we’re gonna enjoy the moment and play for each other out there,” Vonderhaar said.
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