Improbable, Wonderdogs, underdogs, Cinderella, unbelievable...all words that were used to describe the run that the Bulldog baseball team made through the College World Series enroute to their very first National Championship, a team that won the nation's hearts.
In 2009, there's only two words that will be important when talking about this team: Leadership and Experience. This team has the veteran leadership to drive them and the experience to know how to handle themselves against tough opponents. They know what it takes to make it back to Omaha, they know how to come together as a team, they know how to win.
The Bulldogs will have some familiar faces coming back for 2009, guys like Alan Ahmady who's already been selected as a pre-season All-American, Tommy Mendonca, Danny Muno the young freshman who started the pivotal double-play in the 9th inning and, of course, the hero of the championship game Steve Detweiler. These four guys will need to be the team leaders as the Bulldogs open their 2009 season, they'll need to teach the incoming freshman what it means to come together as a team and overcome even the greatest odds.
This was a team that wasn't even expected to make it out of the first round of the WAC Tournament, then wasn't expected to last the first weekend of the College World Series. But when it was all said and done, it was Fresno State that hoisted the National Championship trophy and it's Fresno State that will raise the National Championship banner at Beiden Field when they open the 2009 season in February.
The Bulldog will always be known as one of the best stories to ever come out of the College World Series, a team that knocked off a few of the top ranked teams twice, including North Carolina and Georgia, to prove that anything is possible. It doesn't matter if you roar into the postseason or limp into it, as long as you make the right run at the right time, a National Championship is never out of reach.
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