Scenes from Gainesville: The Diary of Danny Figueroa
June 2, 2002
Well, today’s the day. Today we’ll be taking on the University of Florida at noon. From what I understand, they beat Bethune Cookman last night 21-10. It was a pretty long game. I hope this means that they’ll be short of pitching and a bit tired.
The morning started with a 9:30 wakeup followed by breakfast at 10 am. It’s our usual schedule. However, once we got back from breakfast it was time to start packing up our bags. We’ll go home straight from the stadium…win or lose.
We’re just now getting ready to get on the bus. I will pick up where I left off once I get one the bus, headed for Miami.
What an unbelievable series. I wish all of our fans could have been there to see this one. From what everyone in the stands were talking about, this was one of the best (if not THE best ) double header ever played by these two teams. Unfortunately, we needed to play both games to decide who advances to the Super Regional.
In the first game, it was neck and neck most of the way. We were the visiting team, and UF was home. In the top of the ninth, we were down by three. With 2 men on base, our outfielder Jim Burt stepped up to the plate. With the ping of the bat, he belted a monster home run, tying the game. You should have seen the chaos in our dugout. Everyone ran out to meet him at the plate. It was now a tie ballgame. But that would last only one inning, as the University of Florida came back to hit a home run of their own in the 10th inning, giving Florida the 11-10 victory.
Game two was played one hour after the conclusion of the first. During the break, we changed into our home uniforms and meet as a team to discuss what we had done wrong and where we could take advantage in this final game.
Again, it was a close game between two very good teams. It seemed like whenever they scored, we scored. Now forgive me as I try to remember how everything happened in the ninth inning of this game. As I think back, it’s all a blur.
Florida had gone up 2 in the top of the ninth, leading 7-5. Their fans were pretty loud at this point. I guess they could smell victory. In the bottom of the ninth, Paco Figueroa, by brother, led off the inning. He hit an infield single to the shortstop. After Brad Safchik flew out, Paco advanced to second base on a wild pitch. . Javy Rodriguez came up with a big hit, advancing Paco to third. Javy’s hit was even bigger, considering he had to leg out a single while dealing with a leg that had been cramping up. So Coach Morris sent in Joey Hooft to pinch run for Javy. Danny Matienzo hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Paco. Up to bat was Kevin Howard, who hit a single to center. This left Joey on third and Kevin on first. By now our entire team was standing on the steps of the dugout. Up to bat was Jim Burt, who’d already tied up a game earlier in the day. With a 2-2 count and 2 outs, Jim ripped a double to centerfield, scoring Joey and Kevin.At that moment, everything went silent. I couldn’t hear the fans. All I could hear were my teammates screaming and hollering. Then I realized why the crowd was so silent. We were in Gainesville Florida, and the Gators were just eliminated from the tournament.
I wasn’t on last year’s National Championship team. But I can begin to understand the emotion that must have been felt winning the title. It was if we had won it all today. For today, we were the champions on the field. Now it’s time to show Columbia, South Carolina what it’s like to face a Hurricane.
This will be my last journal entry. I want to take this time to say Thanks to all the fans for following our journey with me. It’s been fun, and now its time to celebrate.
