Beavers headed back to Omaha

Oregon State is going back to the College World Series for the third consecutive season!

I admit I'm not a huge baseball fan. When it comes to professional baseball, I pay no attention at all until maybe late September. But watching the Beavers in the post-season these last few years (or listening over the radio or Internet) has been the highlight of each summer. And I am definitely a Beaver baseball fan.

Those of us who have worn the Orange and Black of Beaver Nation know the underdog role well in many sports. But there there have been some bright spots over the years. Men's basketball in the 1980s and football in recent years including some bowl victories. But the men's baseball team, while not drawing as many spectators or as much money to the university as the blue chip sports, has definitely brought home the prestige by achieving excellence last season. The squad's remarkable come-from-behind all-the-way march to a title is the sort of story from which film screenplays are scripted.

But this year's story has its own special ring to it, whether or not in culminates in winning another championship ring. Oregon State lost the bulk of its championship squad after last season. They only only finished sixth in the eight-team Pac-10 baseball standings. But the team, with many different faces than the 2006 championship squad shows they have the same heart, play well in the clutch and don't give up. That's the hallmark of a champion.

And, with the legacy Pat Casey is building at Oregon state, soon people will be saying that heart that perseverance, is the hallmark of a Beaver. Mighty Casey has hit a home run in Corvallis.

Go Beavs! On to Omaha.