'He deserves that': game ball for Omaha-bound Butch Thompson

'He deserves that': game ball for Omaha-bound Butch Thompson'He deserves that': game ball for Omaha-bound Butch Thompson
Cat Wofford/Auburn Athletics

Rankin Woley (4)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Just like he had done two years earlier when he played second base for LSU, Auburn first baseman Rankin Woley caught the last out that sent his team to the College World Series.

Woley raised both arms in celebration, then tucked the baseball in his back pocket before jumping on the dogpile with his teammates between home plate and the pitcher's mound Monday after Auburn's 14-7 win in the deciding game of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.

"I got all three that inning," Woley said. "I got two ground balls and the line drive. It was just so sweet. Everybody wants that last out. You want the ball. 'Come to me, come to me.' And you get it, and you go to Omaha."

Woley had it, but not for long.

Five minutes later, he presented the baseball to Butch Thompson on the field while Auburn's head coach conducted his radio interview on the Auburn Sports Network.

"There's no better person than Coach Thompson," Woley said. "He's not just a great coach, he's an even better person. That's what a lot of people don't see. We see it. He's one of the best, genuine people that I've ever met.

"This is my first year with him and I'm going to come back and I couldn't be more excited. He deserves that more than anybody else on the team."

After exchanging his Auburn baseball cap for one that proclaimed "Omaha Bound," Thompson gathered his team.

"I'm proud of you boys," said the fourth-year head coach. "This is one of the proudest moments of my life, and every one of you [has] a share.

"I'll tell you one thing, when I talk about attack, legacy, vision. Your legacy with our program, for as long as you live, you'll be able to walk back and be a World Series team. Congratulations!"

At Auburn's team hotel before the game, Thompson gave a preview of his pregame message to the Tigers.

"We've been knocking on the door awhile," he said, recalling Auburn's close calls in the 2017 Tallahassee Regional and the 2018 Gainesville Super Regional. "Surely we've loosened the hinges by now."

Auburn's 13-run first inning effectively kicked the door in, clearing the path for the Tigers' return to Omaha after a 22-year hiatus.

"When you're with a group and you play a game and you reach a pinnacle, those guys are connected for life," said Thompson, recalling the 1997 Jefferson State Community College team he coached to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series "These guys, winning a super, it's harder, and there will be a relationship forever. When you punch your ticket to Omaha, you're connected forever.

"They'll be able to come back to Auburn for the rest of their lives, and there's a legacy. There will always be a number, a year associated with this accomplishment."

And thanks to Rankin Woley, Butch Thompson will always have something else to remember the 2019 Auburn Tigers, with each stitch and seam telling the story of a team that refused to relent.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer