STARKVILLE — Chris Lemonis didn’t keep the baseball long.
When first baseman Luke Hancock presented his head coach with the pearl used to record the final out of the 2021 College World Series, Lemonis accepted it with a big hug.
“Thank you, Luke,” the Mississippi State coach said.
But within five minutes, Lemonis had given the ball to the man he felt truly merited it: athletic director John Cohen, who held Lemonis’ position not long ago.
“Nobody had put in more time, more effort, dreamed about it more than John Cohen, so I felt like he deserved the last ball,” Lemonis said. “He probably has it under his pillow or somewhere.”
On Thursday afternoon, on the turf surrounding the infield where Mississippi State punched its ticket to Omaha less than four months ago, Lemonis made it clear the Bulldogs are still enjoying the high of the school’s first team national title.
Now, a new team stands ready to make its own impression.
“This team right here isn’t the national championship team,” Lemonis said. “That was last year. It’s a really good team. We’ve got a nice trophy. We put it up and recognized that team. This team wants to do their own thing.”
The talent the Bulldogs have certainly could allow it to happen. Landon Sims is back for the 2022 season. So is Logan Tanner. So is Kamren James. A host of other returning players and a talented crop of freshmen and transfers are ready to play a role.
But as Mississippi State has learned over plenty of long, hot summers, winning the College World Series isn’t easy. Just ask some of the Bulldogs legends: Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro couldn’t do it. Neither could Jake Mangum and Elijah MacNamee.
Even first baseman Luke Hancock, part of the 2021 team that at last climbed the mountain, knows how difficult it was — and will be again.
“It’s going to be a long road,” Hancock said Thursday. “It’s going to be hard, of course, just like last year, but that’s our goal every single year, and hopefully we can achieve it.”
Hancock said expectations haven’t changed around the program despite who is missing. College World Series most outstanding player Will Bednar, SEC player of the year Tanner Allen, second-team All-SEC selection Rowdey Jordan and pitchers Christian MacLeod and Houston Harding are among Mississippi State’s biggest departures.
But apart from little-used right-hander Eric Cerantola and a few other players, the Bulldogs kept much of their roster.
“We lost some tremendous players, but we didn’t lose a ton of them,” Lemonis said. “They were just really special ones.”
Special, indeed. Each new MSU legend delivered key moments throughout the postseason to will the Diamond Dawgs to their first championship — even though its impact has yet to truly sink in for some of those who were there.
Senior pitcher Preston Johnson said that’s the case for him, though it’s likely to change when the team receives its championship regalia during halftime of the Oct. 30 football game against Kentucky at Davis Wade Stadium.
“I think in about two weeks when we get that ring, I think it’ll really set in,” Johnson said.
Johnson began practicing this week, one of several pitchers Lemonis allowed to rest after a long and busy 2021 season. With top names like Johnson out during the Bulldogs’ Fall World Series scrimmages, Lemonis said it’s no surprise his hitters are ahead of his pitchers at the moment.
“Not having Landon Sims in the scrimmage or Preston Johnson or Jackson Fristoe probably makes the scrimmages a little more hitter heavy,” Lemonis said.
Lemonis said Johnson (and presumably Fristoe) is part of a six-player mix for the weekend rotation at the moment. That group includes Stone Simmons, Cade Smith and Brandon Smith, Lemonis said, and young players could factor in as well.
“I’m confident I can do it, but also I’m confident that there’s 10 other guys on this team who can do it,” Johnson said of earning a rotation spot. “It’s just honestly who can do the job the best and who can go give the team the best opportunity to win games.”
Left-handers Pico Kohn and Taylor Montiel and right-handers Jack Walker, Jackson Conn, Bradley Wilson and Tyler Haines are all part of the Bulldogs’ freshman class. One-time Oregon State lefty Andrew Walling, most recently at Eastern Oklahoma State College, has a strong arsenal.
Those young pitchers haven’t seen success just yet, but against the lineup the Bulldogs have put together, that’s to be expected.
“It’s just hard when you’re facing this offense every day,” Lemonis said. “It’s a little tough.”
Most of the Bulldogs’ offensive starters are unchanged from 2021. Tanner will catch. Hancock will play first (and see time behind the plate). James will play third. Sophomore Lane Forsythe will handle shortstop. Senior Brad Cumbest will be in left field.
Competition abounds at a few spots. Power-hitting sophomore Kellum Clark figures to step into the hole Allen left in right field, while UAB transfer Jess Davis and Brayland Skinner battle in center. Second base is functionally wide open.
“We’re bouncing around and trying to see some different things,” Lemonis said.
With a little more than four months until first pitch against Long Beach State in Starkville — unofficially set for Feb. 18 at Dudy Noble Field — the Bulldogs have time to try a lot.
James, for example, said he hopes to get more comfortable at third base and more consistent as a hitter. If he can take the next step, he could push an already potent Mississippi State lineup over the top.
It could be as simple as that — or a lot more complicated — to win another College World Series. But either way, James and the Bulldogs feel ready to chase their second straight national title.
“That’s the goal when you come here,” James said. “Just to be back out here, we’re just working hard to try to do it again.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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