Bill Little Commentary: The tie that binds

Our friend Mr. Webster gives us a lot of choices to define the word "bond."

It is anything that holds things together; It is a moral obligation; It is a vow or a promise; it is a wall, laid, brick by brick, with each strengthening the other; It is a security guarantee; a guarantee to make good on a commitment.

Augie Garrido would tell you it is the 2014 Texas Longhorn baseball team.

A journey which has taken unexpected twists and turns on the road to Omaha extended its odyssey with back to back victories over an excellent Houston team at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in the NCAA Super Regional, taking the Longhorns back to the NCAA College World Series for their record-extending 35^th time.

And while much of the credit certainly goes to Garrido—the winningest coach in the history of the college game—and his staff, he is quick to redirect the responsibility for the season's success to the players. And it is there that he sees the power of the word "bond."

"The biggest challenge has already been accomplished by this team," he said. "Not the winning, but the bonding that has taken place. That's not going to break. That's not going to go away. We have seen that from their response over three or four of the toughest weeks we have had. That bond has solidified in the minds of the players that they needed to take ownership of the team. The words that people use a lot about this generation of players are "not responsible and not accountable." These players are responsible, and they are accountable for motivating and inspiring each other.

"They took the coaches out of that job, and that is when it really works."

Great coaches are measured, as you have heard before, not by what they know, but by what their players have learned. That is why, over and over again, you will hear former Longhorn players talking about buying into Garrido's "program and its process."

The season had begun over a Valentine's Day weekend under the stately spires of the historic Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, Calif., where the grand old structure opened its wide hallways to a team of a handful of veterans who were joined by a bunch of fresh-faced newcomers. Four games against the University of California had started this band of brothers on what would turn out to be a series of long journeys.

You learn a lot about each other when you live with each other, and this Texas team spent more miles traveling than any team in school history. With the bulk of the miles logged on the trip to Berkeley and Big 12 road trips to Morgantown, West Virginia and Manhattan, Kansas, the 2014 squad has officially gone 10,244 miles (according to Mapquest) together. And it would have been more had they not included the Big 12 Tourney in Oklahoma City on the road home from Kansas State.

It is ironic, then, that arguably their most important trip—to the NCAA Super Regional Tournament—required only a drive across town to UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The schedule had matched Texas against some of the nation's best baseball teams. When critics pointed to a rough home record, it should be noted that among those losses were games to TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Rice—all of whom were, at a minimum, NCAA Regional participants. The Big 12 itself was rated as the second best league in the country, and the fact that four Big 12 teams hosted NCAA Super Regionals bore that out.

Much credit has been given to the seniors, and to the leadership of Mark Payton and Nathan Thornhill. In his closing interview following the 2013 season after beating TCU in the 'Horns final game of the year, Thornhill talked about the future for a 2014 Texas team, but he did it in the abstract. It seemed then that he wouldn't be a part, choosing instead to head to professional baseball.

But in the midst of a long, hot summer, Payton and Thornhill weighed the value of another year at UT against a lifetime that would begin in minor league baseball. Both chose to return, and the nucleus was beginning to form. A recruiting class that included junior college transfer Lukas Schiraldi and freshmen such as Morgan Cooper, Zane Gurwitz, Tres Berrera and Kacy Clemens, among others, were rookies on that trip to Berkeley, but would each become important as the season progressed. As the team built itself with a healthy dose of history and tradition, it dedicated its season to the memory of former Longhorn great James Street, who died unexpectedly in September. For three of the newcomers—Schiraldi, Clemens and Gurwitz—the roots of UT's long athletic legacy ran deep. Each was the son, or grandson, of a former Longhorn great.

The middle infield of C. J. Hinojosa and Brooks Marlow was steady throughout. A blossoming junior in Colin Shaw and the extraordinarily talented Ben Johnson joined Payton as part of perhaps the fastest outfield in school history. The final piece offensively came from senior designated hitter Madison Carter, who patiently waited his turn before coming up with a clutch hit in an extra inning win in Lubbock and went on to lead the team in batting.

The pitching staff rode the arms of Parker French, Dillon Peters, Thornhill and Schiraldi as starters, and got regular help from Cooper, John Curtiss, Travis Duke, Chad Hollingsworth, and Ty Culbreth.

Most of all, it was a team—as Garrido described it—of exceptional accountability. When Peters went down with an arm injury, Hollingsworth stepped into the breach and pitched the 'Horns to victory in the NCAA Regionals in Houston. Up and down the lineup, over and over again, somebody different seemed to come through with a key hit or a great defensive play just at the right time.

There is no way to measure the value of Payton, who has played the game because he loves it, sharing it with teammates who have entwined themselves in each other's souls. For 101 straight games through the Super Regional, Payton had reached base either by a hit, a walk, or by being hit by a pitch. It is a Big 12 record, and may even be the best ever in the NCAA—at least until somebody comes up with something better.

But this Texas team has been more than just what it has done at the plate, on the mound, or in the field. It has been the result of that bond which has transcended those on the playing field to those on the bench. And it has been a model of excellence in the classroom and in the community as well.

Mack Brown challenged his 2005 Longhorn football team just before its first practice for the National Championship game in the Rose Bowl to "find something you can do to help this team win." That is exactly what Garrido told his baseball team, and the guys on the bench, some of whom have not even gotten into a game, have taken that to heart. In the good times and the hard times, they have been there for one another.

Both of the victories in the Super Regional, which were cheered on a home crowd decidedly burnt orange of 7,500 or so, turned out to be a showcase of the growth of the team from a tentative beginning in Berkeley to a seasoned team that looks like a national contender as it heads to Omaha.

Just when some fans and the media were questioning their ability to finish, Texas is playing its best baseball. Oh, they have lost some games and some teammates to injury along the way, but the drive, and the burning desire to succeed, is both rare and real.

In a press conference during the Super Regional, a reporter asked one of the players if they had "envisioned" this finish during their grueling fall workouts where, to a person, they were asked to commit to a common cause of returning Texas to the national college baseball landscape.

Webster tells us that "envision" is a transitive verb best defined as "imagine as a future possibility."

On the other hand, the Oxford dictionary defines another word which is "something good which you hope you will have or achieve in the future."

And that, it says, is the subtle difference between "envision"…and "dream." And a dream is a state of hope, bound together by camaraderie and commitment, on the road to Omaha.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics