OMAHA, Neb. 鈥 The enduring image of the 2016 Arizona baseball season won鈥檛 be the puffy, red eyes of dazed catcher Cesar Salazar.
It won鈥檛 be the Wildcats hanging over the dugout railing, lingering there as if they didn鈥檛 want their season to end 鈥 or couldn鈥檛 believe it was over.
It won鈥檛 be UA coach Jay Johnson incredulously putting up the stop sign with the tying run a mere 90 feet from the plate.
No, the lasting visual of 2016 will be pitcher Bobby Dalbec squeezing the shoulder and rubbing the back of crestfallen friend and teammate Cody Ramer in the midst of the calamitous inning that dashed Arizona鈥檚 College World Series dream.
Camaraderie and heartbreak, encapsulated by a simple, human gesture.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just a team. We鈥檙e a brotherhood. We鈥檙e a family,鈥 senior pitcher Nathan Bannister said after Arizona lost 4-3 to Coastal Carolina in the third and deciding game of the CWS championship series Thursday.
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鈥淭his one stings, but we always have each other鈥檚 back.鈥
The Wildcats鈥 character shined through again during and after their most devastating loss of the season.
A team picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 had the tying run on third base in the final inning of the final game of the college baseball season and just couldn鈥檛 bring him home. The Wildcats had fought back from a 4-0 deficit and never believed they would lose until they ran out of outs.
The players consoled one another in the dugout. They fought back tears in the clubhouse. They answered every question asked of them and didn鈥檛 point any fingers.
鈥淧roud doesn鈥檛 begin to express my feelings for those guys in that locker room,鈥 said Johnson, the first-year coach who led Arizona to its first postseason berth since 2012. 鈥淚t鈥檚 special. I don鈥檛 want to let them go.
鈥淚 wanted that so badly for them. It鈥檚 not going away for a while. We鈥檒l regroup, because we have each other. (But) this is going to stick, and it鈥檚 nothing personally. It鈥檚 for those guys. They鈥檙e a national championship-caliber team.鈥
Arizona had to settle for the runner-up trophy, which its seven seniors proudly but reluctantly accepted on a makeshift stage at TD Ameritrade Park. The UA lost by one run to Coastal Carolina in each of the last two games after winning the championship series opener 3-0. The difference between them over three games: one run.
鈥淲e left it all out on the field,鈥 sophomore pitcher Cameron Ming said. 鈥淏aseball happens. Coast Carolina鈥檚 a good team. They capitalized on some mistakes that we made. They came out on top. I鈥檓 not upset at how we played. I don鈥檛 think anybody should (be).鈥
Coastal Carolina won its first College World Series championship. Arizona was seeking its fifth. The Wildcats had won six consecutive games this postseason when facing elimination, twice fighting through losers brackets to get to this point.
鈥淚t鈥檚 legendary,鈥 Dalbec said. 鈥淣obody picked us to do anything. Especially in Coach Johnson鈥檚 first year, it鈥檚 incredible for him to be able to lead us to that. And the senior leadership was unlike any other.鈥
About the only thing more unexpected than Arizona鈥檚 postseason run was the sequence of events that led to its conclusion.
Ramer, a senior second baseman who had made only two errors in the past two-plus months, committed two on one fateful play in the sixth inning.
Dalbec and Coastal Carolina鈥檚 Andrew Beckwith had dueled to a 0-0 draw through five innings. Dalbec walked David Parrett to lead off the top of the sixth. After a sacrifice bunt, Michael Paez also walked. Dalbec struck out Connor Owings, but the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.
Zach Remillard hit a grounder up the middle. Ramer couldn鈥檛 handle it near the second base bag, allowing Parrett to score. Ramer then tried to get Paez at third and threw the ball away. Two errors. Two runs.
鈥淗e鈥檚 probably our best defender,鈥 Bannister said. 鈥淚t just happened. That鈥檚 just baseball.鈥
Despite Dalbec鈥檚 pitch count nearing 100, two left-handed hitters coming up and Ming, a lefty, ready in the bullpen, Johnson left Dalbec in the game. He hung an 0-2 breaking ball to G.K. Young, who launched a two-run homer to right to make it 4-0.
After a single by Tyler Chadwick, Johnson came to the mound to take out Dalbec. As he waited for Ming to arrive, Dalbec comforted Ramer. ESPN鈥檚 cameras captured the moment, and it was shared countless times through social media.
鈥淚 know how it feels,鈥 Dalbec said. 鈥淚 was just trying to pick him up and not make him feel like he鈥檚 the only person out there.鈥
Ramer鈥檚 teammates did their part. Arizona halved its deficit in the bottom half of the inning on Jared Oliva鈥檚 two-out, two-RBI single.
With the score still 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, Louis Boyd drew a one-out walk. Ramer followed with a single, his third hit of the game, putting runners on first and third.
After Zach Gibbons鈥 sacrifice fly scored Boyd to make it 4-3, Ryan Aguilar sliced a double into the left field corner. Johnson, who also coaches third base, desperately wanted to send Ramer. But CCU鈥檚 Anthony Marks played the ball perfectly and threw a strike to Paez, the cutoff man. Ramer would have been out by 鈥渁 hundred feet,鈥 Johnson said.
鈥淭rust me,鈥 he added, 鈥渘obody wants to send a runner with two outs more than I do. I can鈥檛 believe the guy made the play. It was the play of the year in college baseball.鈥
Arizona still had runners on second and third with sophomore catcher Ryan Haug facing reliever Alex Cunningham. Haug had entered the game in the seventh inning after Salazar got hurt.
Haug worked the count to 3-2, but Cunningham struck him out with a high fastball. The Chanticleers raced out of their dugout. The Wildcats dejectedly gathered in theirs. They came that close.
鈥淭he season was a good accomplishment,鈥 Boyd said. 鈥淏ut no one came here to lose. We came here to win. Everyone wishes we had another chance.鈥
