Defending champs stand in Red Raiders’ way

OMAHA, Neb. — The Augie Garrido seal of approval was forever a cherished commodity, and his prognostications carried all the clout of a baseball-loving Confucius.

So when Garrido rubberstamped Texas Tech’s hiring of former Red Raiders shortstop Tim Tadlock as head coach in June 2012, it might as well have been received as a divine blessing.

“That is a smart move by Texas Tech,” Garrido proclaimed. “I think in a very short period of time he will bring back the glory days at Texas Tech. He is certainly one of the best recruiters in the country. He is a tireless worker and is very committed to the game of baseball and re- spects the game of baseball to the level that will allow that program to be a championship program in a short period of time. That hire is a very smart move by Texas Tech, a very smart move.”

Garrido was right on the money.

Texas Tech (44-18) is back in the College World Series for the third time in five years. The program was 0 for 65 before Tadlock’s appointment.

The next step forward is improving on a 1-4 record at Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park. Standing in the way of an opening win is defending champion Florida (47-19), as imposing an obstacle as one could imagine in this setting.

The Gators have failed to finish a season in Omaha just twice this decade — in 2013 and 2014 — and are coming off their first College World Series title. Kansas City Royals 18th overall pick and college baseball player of the year Brady Singer (12-1, 2.30) will take the mound for Sunday’s 6 p.m. game. He was 2-0 with a 2.57 earned run average and 21 strikeouts in 14 innings during last year’s CWS.

“As far as our team goes, it’s going to be a handful,” Tadlock said of facing Singer. “You know he’s going to attack the strike zone with the fastball, and you know he’s got that breaking ball and you know he’s going to hold runners.

“The one thing I did see the other day is he did miss a bunt. And maybe we should bunt every time. Bunt it right back to him. Our guys would look at me like I was crazy. If I said, ‘Hey, guys, just bunt it right back to the mound, he missed one the other day,’ they’d go, ‘Coach, we don’t bunt much.’”

And why should they? Tadlock’s wisecracking aside, the Red Raiders aren’t built for small ball. They’re a collection of mashers who have hit more combined home runs (82) than all but seven teams this season. Zach Reams leads the team with 17 homers, one of five Red Raiders with at least 12. Freshman sensation Gabe Holt has “only” six homers, but he’s collected 90 hits in in 62 games and leads TTU with 29 stolen bases in 30 attempts.

And sophomore Josh Jung, a MacArthur graduate, might be the best of them all. He’s upped his batting average to .390 after hitting .438 in six postseason games.

Senior pitcher Dylan Dusek (3-0, 2.03) will try to keep Florida’s equally potent offense in check. Staring down the Gators shouldn’t send any shivers down his spine, since he already won the biggest battle of his life against cancer as a 6 year old. A baseball game doesn’t seem scary compared to a disease that once tried to destroy him.

“The guys had the fortitude and the resiliency to get here,” Tadlock said, “and anything can happen once you get here.”

Garrido envisioned a bright future, a championship-level program, and this is as good a chance as any for Tadlock’s team to become just that. Maybe, after all these years, it’s finally Texas Tech’s time.