Joe Casey and Ryan Ober admit it will seem a little strange being in the visitors鈥� dugout and clubhouse this weekend at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, when the Victoria HarbourCats play the host Knights in West Coast League baseball action.
Last weekend, they were given a hero鈥檚 welcome and being driven onto the Goss Stadium diamond in limos as a capacity crowd welcomed the 2018 NCAA College World Series champion Oregon State Beavers back home to Corvallis. That was after a parade through the town as supporters lined the streets.
鈥淚t was like a dream. We鈥檙e still feeling on top of the world,鈥� said Ober, an infielder. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been crazy 鈥� a real whirlwind.鈥�
Outfielder Casey won the College World Series with his dad Pat Casey, a legendary Oregon State University head coach, at the helm.
鈥淭hat will be a memory I will carry with me my whole life,鈥� Joe Casey said.
It adds to family lore. Joe鈥檚 older brother Brett, a basketball and baseball player for the Beavers in the Pac-12, played for their dad on Pat Casey鈥檚 2007 Oregon State NCAA championship baseball team.
Joe Casey was a redshirt freshman and Ober a true freshman on the 2018 Beavers NCAA championship squad, so saw only spot duty on an upper-classmen loaded Oregon State roster projected to produce up to six future MLB players.
Three of the Beavers, including former HarbourCats third-baseman Michael Gretler with the Pittsburgh Pirates, signed pro contracts as soon as the College World Series ended last week.
鈥淭hose older guys were awesome and I learned a lot from them because they were such great leaders and took the time to teach the younger players,鈥� Casey said.
Ober agreed: 鈥淚t is ridiculous how good those guys are. I learned so much from them.鈥�
As exciting as it was being in Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series, in which the Beavers beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in the final, Casey and Ober were just as anxious to join the HarbourCats.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get a lot of swings as freshman, so we were anxious to start swinging the bat day-to-day in summer-league [WCL] games,鈥� said Ober, who is from Snohomish, Washington.
Casey and Ober joined the HarbourCats in Bellingham this week, where Victoria swept the Bells.
You can鈥檛 teach championship pedigree, HarbourCats GM Brad Norris-Jones said. You have to live it, which is what Casey and Ober have done.
鈥淭hey are great kids and you could feel our whole team getting a lift when they joined us in Bellingham,鈥� Norris-Jones said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just the way champions carry themselves. They know how to win.鈥�
Both Casey and Ober conferred with Beavers teammate and former HarbourCats infielder Gretler about life in Victoria. The Pirates prospect had nothing but good things to say about his summer-ball experience on the Island in 2015.
鈥淸Gretler] said it was an awesome experience for him in Victoria because lots of fans come out to the games and the training facilities, such as the [PISE] gym, are first-rate,鈥� Casey said.
The HarbourCats (14-13) begin the second half of the WCL season with the three-game series against the Knights, beginning Saturday in Corvallis.
ON THE DIAMOND: The HarbourCats defeated the Highline Bears of Seattle, a summer-ball collegiate team in the semi-pro Pacific International League, 5-4 in an exhibition game Thursday night at Wilson鈥檚 Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.
The HarbourCats and Bears conclude their two-game exhibition set tonight at 6:35 p.m. at Royal Athletic Park.
