By Brian Pitts – Bottom of the 11th, tie game, one out, runner at third, Whit Merrifield at the plate.
Whit Merrifield of Advance, the 2007 Davie High alum, was in the box with his South Carolina Gamecocks and the UCLA Bruins tied in game two of the College World Series on June 29 in Omaha, Neb. A UCLA win would mean a decisive third game on June 30. A South Carolina win would mean an elusive national championship.
Merrifield came through in grand, electrifying, breathtaking fashion, lining a hit to right and setting off an on-field carnival as Gamecocks dogpiled each other on the infield. ESPN televised the game, and 24,390 fans were on hand at storied Rosenblatt Stadium.
Merrifield’s game-clinching hit for a 2-1 victory will go down in South Carolina lore as the biggest hit ever because it sealed the first men’s national championship in USC history. As if that’s not enough, the hit will also be the final image of the CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium, which hosted its 61st and final CWS.
“It’s a great feeling,  Merrifield said at the press conference. It was just elation. When I saw it go through, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was jumping up and down and screaming and just waiting for my teammates to come tackle me. Its what you dream of. And to have it happen, its so … subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise, P.O. Box 4639, Salisbury, N.C. 28145.