The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays are off to the races for the Division III College World Series, coming in hot with a stellar 44-3 record—the sort of numbers that make statisticians swoon and opponents sweat. Set to face Messiah in East Lake, Ohio, their opening game is pegged for this Friday at 1:15 p.m., and while the stakes are high, WMAR2 News reported that the team's approach remains as grounded as ever.
Perhaps fueled by the bittersweet knowledge that their respected coach, Bob Babb, is rounding third on a storied 45-season career, the Blue Jays are not just swinging for the fences, but also hope to capture a historic first World Series title for Hopkins before their coach steps away from the dugout, players echoed the sentiment focusing on their performance over sentimentality, "A lot of our starters were in the World Series and played 2 years ago, so our goal was to try to play well enough to get back to the World Series. I don't think we ever thought we would be 44-3, but the fact that we are got us the number one seed, and we're ready to go," said a team representative, according to WMAR2 News.
In the past, being battle-tested could sound like a cliché. Still, for these Blue Jays, it seems to fit like a glove—Dylan Whitney, the team's shortstop, sees their record as one thing, but their experience with adversity as quite another, "I think we've done a great job at that all year long. You know, the record doesn't really show (it), we've only had three losses. But we have faced a lot of adversity all the way through. So, you know, we're sort of leaning on that," Whitney said in an interview with 11 Sports, as reported by WBALTV.
As the team gears up, Coach Babb's sentiments are equally grounded, redirecting the limelight from his impending retirement to the players themselves: he hasn't won a Series before, sure, but that's not his narrative arc or climactic twist—"These players are going to tell the story of our program," Babb told 11 Sports, according to WBALTV.
