EASTLAKE, Ohio — And the baseball team played on.
Birmingham-Southern bounced back before losing its Division III World Series opener 7-5 on Friday, the same day the private liberal arts school's doors officially closed after more than 160 years.
The Panthers fell behind 7-0 in the fifth inning against Salve Regina, but fought back in style befitting this odds-defying season.
They scored four runs in the seventh to get within two and threatened in the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn't get the decisive hit.
“Proud of our guys,” manager Jay Weisberg said. “The message in the locker room was: I'm not upset. We had a little bit of a rough start, but the way we played the last five innings is who we are, let's move on.”
The loss in the double-elimination tournament means Birmingham-Southern must win on Saturday to maintain its inspiring season. The Panthers (32-15) will face the loser of Friday's game between Wisconsin-Whitewater and Randolph-Macon.
There's no room for error, and that's fine with Weisberg, who didn't need to remind his team that they've been in tougher situations.
“At the beginning of the season, if someone tells you, 'I'm going to put you in a scenario where you're going to be in the College World Series competing for a national championship, but you're going to go 0-1,'” he said, ” “I think we would all accept that.”
The game was played against the backdrop of Birmingham-Southern's closure, a closure necessary because the school was denied a $30 million loan that would have kept it in operation.
While the closure has been painful for many, the Panthers' run has brought welcome joy to the school's tight-knit community.
There wasn't a cloud in the sky as Birmingham-Southern took the field to cheers from hundreds of fans who made the trip from Alabama to support a team that has come together over the past two months and is still eight with a chance to a national championship.
The team also brought a 200-pound metal panther nicknamed “Rowdy” that usually resides on a brick wall near campus, but “supposedly it just fell off its mount,” Weisberg said, during the Panthers' trip to the Series. 2019 World Cup.
The mascot didn't help as Salve Regina built a 7-0 lead thanks to a three-run homer by Brady Smolinski and a two-run shot by Tyler Cannoe before closer Kyle Carozza struck out everyone in the ninth.
Before the first pitch, parents, alumni and a group of brothers from the Sigma Chi fraternity, whose chapter house at Birmingham-Southern was closed this week, mingled in the parking lot outside Classic Park, home of the Lake Single County Captains -TO.
There seemed to be some extra hugs and toasts at this tailgate with school now in the past tense.
“Most of the people here are alumni of other schools, but we have fallen in love with this school,” said Mary Steadman, who had two sons who played for the Panthers. “We've seen our kids thrive. I've had two thrive. I have one who had no trouble getting a job and it was because of his Birmingham-Southern contacts.
“I love the university I graduated from, but I love Birmingham-Southern. I feel like I missed something.”
The Panthers' story of loss, determination and togetherness has not only united the school's students, staff and faculty during a difficult time, but has also become something of a national sensation among fans across the country.
“Nobody wanted us to win,” Salve Regina coach Eric Cirella said.
On Thursday, Topps announced it is producing a limited-run trading card featuring the improbable Birmingham-Southern race. The card will feature the Panthers celebrating their Super Regional and World Series victory, a game they played while plagued by a team-wide stomach virus.
At one point during that 7-6 win at Denison, Weisberg, who has built one of the best D-III programs in the country during 17 years at the school, beamed with pride as he watched players receive IVs just to get through the game. .
In March, when the school announced it would close its doors for good on May 31, Weisberg stood in front of his team and broke the news to his players. Many of them burst into tears.
As his team took batting practice Thursday, Weisberg recalled the message clearly coming true.
“There will always be pain in your lives,” he told them. “There will always be uncertainty. There will always be hard work to do. It all came back to COVID and these guys were all in high school or college and they thought this was going to be the most traumatic thing that's ever happened to them.” them.
“But I said, hey man, look three years later and you'll be fine. You all will be fine. You don't see it now. I think that's why we're here.”
Birmingham-Southern is now 19-5 since the school announced its permanent closure, and Weisberg said his team has become the closest he has coached.
Before taking a charter flight to Cleveland on Tuesday, the Panthers gathered for their final practice on the school's campus, where dumpsters are filled with discarded furniture and memorabilia.
Driving the familiar route from his home to school, fifth-grade outfielder Ian Hancock was impressed by the finality of it all.
“The fact that it was practice, and honestly the last thing we did on that field, was bittersweet,” said the slugger from Roswell, Georgia. “We have all this excitement about the World Series, but the fact that it was the end of a chapter there for the program was sad.”
Hancock received the honor of being the last to take batting practice.
On his final swing, he hit a home run, sparking an impromptu celebration as the Panthers screamed and danced on a field they will never play on again.
At this moment, Weisberg smiled. Later, this affected him hard.
“I got a little emotional,” he said. “This race has been so much fun, all the positives have taken away the feeling of, oh, this is it. I thank these guys for that.”
