(Photo Credit: Associated Press)
Kevin Courtney is a former standout first baseman for Stony Brook University that was a sophomore during their historic run to the College World Series in 2012 in which they upset perennial powerhouse LSU on ESPN. Prior to that, he was a member of St. John the Baptist under former head coach John Habyan. He went 10-0 on the mound as a sophomore and was 6-1 with a 1.14 ERA and a .515 AVG as a senior in 2010. He went on IG Live to discuss his career, specifically the 2012 season. He now lives out in Los Angeles.
Here are some of the highlights from the hour long conversation.
-The team was disappointed in how their 2011 season considering they had future MLB RHP Nick Tropeano atop their rotation and future pro third baseman Steve Marino, who was one of the best offensive players in SBU history. They ran into a tough Albany team and got eliminated during the America East conference tournament.
-Entering 2012, they knew how talented they were. They had 7 players in the Cape Cod league during the summer of 2011. CF Travis Jankowski, who was selected in the first round of the 2012 draft, won the MVP of the Cape Cod League. He was amazed by Jankowski’s speed, he was able to run down balls in CF that very few players were able to.
–Patrick Cantwell, who is still in the minor leagues, was a red-light behind the dish. He always had to be alert for his back picks to first base. Very few base runners attempted to steal on him.
-After getting off to a 4-0 start, they were swept by East Carolina. Coach Senk stressed to them that they are a better team than that. They caught fire shortly after.
-Playing in the Metrodome in front of 1,000 people was a strange feeling considering the capacity of the stadium. Willie Carmona hit a rocket into the press box in right field that was one of the hardest hit balls he’s ever seen.
–Frankie Vanderka was not a hard thrower, but was very confident and never missed his spots. He was the ideal big-game pitcher.
-Playing at Yale was cool because of the history of the stadium but it was not exactly state-of-the-art.
-They went into the final weekend of the regular season needing to take three of four from Maine in order to clinch home field advantage in the conference tournament. Maine had clearly been the second best team in the conference behind them and they had some hard-throwers that didn’t have command. They wound up sweeping the four-game set, including the series finale with their backups.
-They went into the tournament knowing they were the best team. They had the mental edge over Maine, and they beat them for the fifth consecutive time in the first game of the tournament. After beating Binghamton, they drew Maine again in the Finals and beat them for their sixth consecutive time of the season and 22 of 23 overall.
-The team was excited to go to Miami, because it meant they didn’t have to go to Oklahoma. They knew that as the 16th team in the country, they were the worst of the No. 1 seeds and they could be beat. They also liked being in Miami, in general. They beat them 10-2 in Game 1, in a game that didn’t begin until 10 pm due to rain.
-They knew they had a real challenge in UCF, who was one of the best teams in the country. They lost 9-8 in an intense game. The teams stayed in the same hotel and didn’t like each other.
-Stony Brook bounced back against Missouri State in an elimination game. They trailed late but they knew the season wouldn’t end like that. Missouri had the best ERA in the country but the Sea Wolves put up a 10-spot and won 10-7. They needed to face UCF, and needed to beat them twice in order to advance which they did. Their offense was relentless, scoring 22 runs over the two games and winning both.
-They did not know who they would have to face. It wound up being LSU, so they did not go back to New York.
-LSU has the most historic stadium in college baseball. The first game was sold out with over 13,000 fans in attendance at “The Box”. They are ruthless, looking through the players’ social media profiles in order to gain intel on their family and girlfriends.
-They had to face a freshman named Aaron Nola, who wound up being a top-5 pick in 2014. In one of the best college games you’ll see, LSU hit two game-tying home runs in extra innings with two outs to deliver crushing blows to the Sea Wolves. The second game-tying shot was eventual big leaguer Jacoby Jones. LSU brought in Kevin Gausman, the top collegiate pitcher in the country in relief. The game wound up being suspended so they had to finish it the next day. LSU won in the 11th, so they only had 30 minutes to regroup and face elimination. Courtney said that was an advantage for Stony Brook, since they didn’t have to think about the loss overnight.
-They came out and won 3-1 behind a gem by Tyler Johnson to face a win-or-go-home Game 3. The game was scheduled for 11am, so fans were in tents pregaming all morning. The game wound up being pushed back to 7 pm due to rain. Frankie Vanderka started and was outstanding, throwing a complete game. The offense wasted no time and had a comfortable lead all game, winning 7-2.
-Stony Brook trailed for a total of one inning over the course of the three-game Super Regional.
-Courtney said after the game he went into the outfield and lied in the grass, before going back to the hotel and celebrating.
-They expected to be on Sportscenter but was shocked that it was the opening segment. He said they watched it every hour on the hour, it was that surreal.
-The amount of texts, calls and media was overwhelming over the next week leading up the World Series in Omaha. The atmosphere was different because there were more neutral fans than anything, but it was still over 30,000 spectators.
-They lost to UCLA and Florida State. They weren’t overmatched but just outplayed – losing both games and having their seasons ended. Had they had Nick Tropeano, he feels they would’ve had a shot.
-He went right into summer ball in the Valley League, but was drained physically and wound up going home after a couple weeks.
-In 2013, they had a new group of players and started off 0-9. They finished 25-34, losing to Maine in the America East tournament. They wound up winning the America East again in 2015 with a core of players that primarily debuted in 2013 such as Jack Parenty, Daniel Zamora, Robert Chavarria, Casey Baker, etc.
