COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Fans of South Carolina’s baseball team ignored 95-degree heat Friday to turn out for a parade to celebrate a second consecutive NCAA baseball championship.
The parade on Friday drew an estimated 45,000 people who lined Main Street in Columbia or who waved from balconies along the route as the team returned from Omaha, Neb.
Governor Nikki Haley declared Friday “Gamecock Baseball Back-to-back National Championship Day” and Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin declared it Gamecock Baseball Day.
The governor had a Gamecocks flag flown atop the Statehouse dome the day after South Carolina clinched its second straight national title with a 5-2 win over Florida on Tuesday night. The team already had been honored with a party at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday, but fans wanted more.
Benjamin told the crowd from the Statehouse steps it was all a show of appreciation for the way the Gamecocks “carried themselves on and off the field.”
South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said he appreciated the turnout as temperatures hit the mid-90s and a few fans had to seek medical attention.
“This must be heaven,” Tanner proclaimed as he took the podium.
Gamecocks third baseman Adrian Morales thanked fans for their support after notching an NCAA record 16 straight postseason games and 11 straight College World Series. The senior turned to Benjamin and joked: “On behalf of the players, can we get a key?”
Fan Don Wilson wore a national championship hat and a back-to-back champions T-shirt as he waited for the team’s arrival at the state house steps. He missed the team’s homecoming welcome from Omaha on Wednesday but wasn’t going to miss the parade, even though it delayed his family’s departure for a beach vacation.
“It’s a little bit out of the way but we wanted to show the team how much they meant to this community,” Wilson said. “Let’s hope we are back here again next year celebrating a three-peat.
Benjamin closed the ceremony by leading the crowd in a chant of “Three-peat!”
He told departing fans, “We gonna see you guys here again next year.”
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