“This is incredible,” MUM coach Mark Adams said with excitement. “How about that? I feel like I’m living in a movie. It’s just incredible.”
Adams said the ThunderHawks were on the outside looking in — ranked 13th in the nation — heading into their Sunday doubleheader against defending champion UC Clermont. The USCAA Small College World Series takes the top 10 teams.
The ThunderHawks swept the Cougars — and relied on the fact that a couple teams ahead of them in the polls weren’t eligible for postseason play — which was enough conviction for MUM to earn the 10th and final seed.
The ThunderHawks went 8-0 to start the fall portion of their 2024-25 schedule before entering the spring at 8-2. Miami-Middletown won three of four against rival Miami-Hamilton and closed out its season with the two victories over UC Clermont.
“It all began with Hamilton,” Adams said. “We have been in playoff mode now for the last three weeks. We knew what we had to do.”
Adams said the team came together for a meeting on the Monday before the Miami-Hamilton series, ultimately rallying the troops.
“I put on the board that day, and the theme was, ‘One more day,’” the coach said. “We were playing for one more day. We talked about it being their time — right now. ‘This was your time. Let’s play for one more day.’
“We’ve done that for every practice. All we’ve worried about is just getting to play one more day.”
No. 10 Miami-Middletown will face No. 7 Penn State Schuylkill on Monday, May 12, at 10 a.m. in the first round of the Small College World Series, which takes place on the campus of Penn State DuBois in Pennsylvania.
“They’ve appreciated the opportunity to play one more day,” Adams said. “The hardest thing to teach a young team is how to embrace opportunity and how to appreciate opportunity.
“I’m lucky to be 68 years old because I get to be around these guys every day, and they keep me young. Maybe I keep them a little old, and I think it’s served us well.”
A long way in short time
Adams took a moment to collect his emotions Monday after receiving the news that this ThunderHawks were competing in the Small College World Series.
He glanced over the exact same spot inside Miami-Middletown’s gymnasium where he had told the baseball program two years ago that he was going to be the head coach.
“I was kneeling on that floor damn near to the day,” Adams said. “They wanted me to be the head coach, and they asked me to meet with the team. All the guys were sitting on the floor. I knelt down. I didn’t stand. I told them, ‘Guys, you don’t understand what you’re asking me to do. I will lose you games. I’m a basketball coach.’
“And Jake Lange, he didn’t hesitate. He said, ‘Coach, we’ll lose you games, too,’” Adams added. “What he said that day touched my heart, and I couldn’t let them down. That’s when I decided to be the head baseball coach at Miami University Middletown.
“I told them, ‘What I do know how to do is win championships. And what I do know is how to help you graduate.’ I went through the goals — 100% graduation, USCAA national championship, be a better father, be a better husband, be a better son, be a better friend, be a better teammate. Those are the things we talked about.
“That laid the foundation for where we are today.”
The ThunderHawks didn’t have a team since 2019 until the program revamped last year. Miami-Middletown a year ago was the youngest college baseball team in the nation and finished its first season at .500 or better in 25 years.
Adams recalled not having a field to play on, let alone not having any baseballs, uniforms or equipment.
“You couldn’t be as far from a national championship as we were that morning,” Adams recalled. “Here we are — now two years later — going to play for a national championship.”
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