Topes Notes: Players still have fond memories of getting to take part in College World Series

They’re all where they want to be: Professional baseball players chasing big league dreams.

But for guys such as Isotopes pitchers Austin Nola, Karl Kauffmann and Evan Justice, and most any former player who was fortunate enough to experience playing in baseball’s College World Series, the memories of Omaha are about as high on the list as just about any this side of the actual World Series.

“We won it all my first year, so I’ve got great memories of playing in it,” said catcher Austin Nola, now as veteran as one can be in a minor league clubhouse at age 35, recalling his time as part of the LSU Tigers’ 2009 CWS Championship team.

“Of course, I played four years at LSU and we never made it back while I was in school, but nothing beats that time we did,” he said.

Nola’s Tigers played in Omaha’s old Rosenblatt Stadium, which was replaced with the event’s current Charles Schwab Field in 2011.

He says he still remembers “the colors of that old stadium were something I hadn’t ever seen before.”

Kauffmann’s three starts for Michigan in the 2019 CWS were all equally memorable, he said, though admittedly for different reasons. He won twice against the Texas Tech Red Raiders to lead his team to the championship series against Vanderbilt. There, he started, and lost, the decisive third game.

“I won’t ever forget that, but the wins were memorable, too, fortunately. I remember the whole time there being special,” Kauffmann said, noting that he had a literal pinch-me moment before his first start against Texas Tech.

“There was a flyover and the chills were all over in that stadium and I remember pinching myself and it was bleeding, but I couldn’t feel any of it,” he said.

Justice’s memory is still fond in that it represents a bond with teammates who took an incredible journey together to get there, but there’s no getting around the bitterness of what happened to his NC State Wolf Pack team in 2021.

“To state the obvious for me, the way it came to an end for the team I was on, the 2021 NC State that unfortunately had a COVID situation and it was just over,” Justice recalled.

The Wolf Pack was removed from the CWS in 2021 after the team was left with 13 or fewer players, despite not all the players in health protocols having had positive COVID tests.

Instead, exposure to a player who tested positive eliminated players, bringing an abrupt end to what could have been a dream season.

“We’re all still brothers and see each other every offseason,” Justice said, still prideful when asked what could have been.

“Hell yeah I think we could have won it that year the way we were playing.”

Know the foe

The Isotopes (30-38, ninth place, Colorado Rockies Triple-A affiliate) start a two-week road trip with six games against the Tacoma Rainiers (33-36, eighth, Seattle Mariners Triple-A affiliate) at Cheney Stadium.

Half the story

This week’s six-game road series at Tacoma will end the first half Pacific Coast League race in the split-season format that awards a playoff spot to the winner of each half, or best finisher if the second-half winner is the same team as the first-half winner.

Last year, Albuquerque went 26-49 (.347) in the first half and was in last place. With six games remaining this year, the Isotopes already clinched a better record and are currently four games ahead of last place Salt Lake.

Fashion statement

The Isotopes are 7-1 in their home park this season when wearing the menacing color purple of their parent club Colorado Rockies.

They are 9-16 when wearing all other jersey combinations.

• 7-1 (.875) — purple
• 3-3 (.500) — red
• 2-3 (.400) — specialty jerseys
• 3-6 (.333) — white
• 1-4 (.200) — black
• 0-0 (n/a) — grey (have worn six times on road)

Three up, three down

Looking good:

1. OF Yanquiel Fernandez has a six-game hitting streak, including five multi-hit games and a .520 batting average (13-for-25) with two homer runs, two doubles and six RBIs.

2. 3B Warming Bernabel is hitting .324, good for second best in the PCL behind Oklahoma City OF Drew Avans (.328).

3. OF Sterlin Thompson had two doubles Sunday, his third time this season with double-doubles.

Look away:

1. The Isotopes committed two errors in Sunday’s loss to OKC, their fifth game in the past 12 with multiple errors. Their 65 errors is a PCL high.

2. The Oklahoma City team is 24-10 in Isotopes Park since Sept. 15, 2022.

3. Thompson leads the PCL in being hit by pitches with 12. Obviously this could be on the “Looking good” list, but for the sake of Thompson and his bruised backside, we’re marking this a not so great thing, even if he was just taking one, or 12, for the team.

Fast food

Chile Pepper Race standings for Isotopes Park (35 races):

12 wins — Salsa Jar

11 wins — Taco

8 wins — Green Chile

4 wins — Red Chile

Next homestand

July 1-6 vs. the El Paso Chihuahuas.