It started with eight straight conference wins, and a dog-pile on Merkel Field

"We surprised the whole league, and the hard work is finally paying off," Pirates senior infielder Luke Scott said back in late April.

Thirty days later, the Whitworth Pirates closed the book on the most successful Division-3 chapter in school history.

"A week from now, we're going to be able to look back at this and realize that we really accomplished a lot," Pirates head coach Dan Ramsay said.
Senior pitcher C.J. Perry adds, "Went to Whitworth, went to the College World Series, beat the #6 team in the country and restored some glory to Whitworth baseball."

The Pirates graduate three starters in the field, and one on the mound - a senior group that turned 10 wins three years ago, into 31 wins in 2012

"They mean so much to what we've been able to do," Ramsay says.

"The seniors laid the foundation for us to just keep on adding to. What they did for our program means a lot of or us," sophomore Justin Liu says.

One can't help but look ahead. Not only do they bring back five of their top six hitters, including All-American Tyler Pfeffer, but three of their four starters who combined for 21 wins.

"As underclassmen, we just keep talking about it. Right after we lost, we said it doesn't matter because we will be here next year and the year after that," Liu recalls

Ramsay adds, "It would be crazy not to be able to look at what we have and what we've been able to do and see how young we are and that we definitely have a solid foundation of young guys that were consistent contributors all year. We learned that we can win on a national level. We belong there, that Whitworth baseball is going to continue to go to Appleton year in and year out"

Consider it the start of a tradition.