It took an additional 18 hours of waiting thanks to a thunderstorm in Tuscaloosa on Sunday evening, but when you've already waited 27 years, a few extra hours isn't all that big of a deal.
Alabama finished off a 7-2 win over St. John's on Monday morning to clinch the program's first College World Series berth since 1999. The final two innings were anticlimactic, with St. John's never really threatening and neither team adding anything to the scoreboard. A Crimson Tide win to clinch a spot in Omaha felt inevitable. A weird feeling for a program that has wandered the wilderness for over two decades.
For Rob Vaughn, it's proof of concept in Tuscaloosa, reinforcing his decision to stick around and sign a contract extension last summer despite interest from other programs. It also gets a significant postseason monkey off his back - and the back of this entire program.
But Tide superstar Justin Lebron made it clear in his ESPN interview in the immediate aftermath of Alabama's clinching win that he and his teammates are far from satisfied with just getting to Omaha.
Justin Lebron states that Alabama's job is not finished as it heads to Omaha
"Coming here for my last year, really the goal was to get to Omaha and go ahead and win the dang thing," Lebron said. "The fact that we are going there is a step closer, I mean, job's not done, but shoutout to the fans, families, everyone who came here and put it all together."
That's the Mamba Mentality emanating from the Tide's superstar shortstop. Kobe Bryant once used the "job's not finished" line when a reporter questioned why he wasn't smiling in the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers taking a 2-0 lead in the 2009 NBA Finals over the Orlando Magic.
You could forgive Lebron and his teammates for not being as laser-focused on what's ahead as Bryant was 16 years ago. This is a milestone for the Alabama baseball program, and one that requires you to stop and smell the roses.
Alabama put together a strong regular season, closing with a pivotal series win over Ole Miss that put the Crimson Tide in a position to host both a Regional and Super Regional. They put themselves in the best possible position to end the miserable streak without a College World Series, and they took full advantage of that position with five consecutive wins to get to Omaha.
That deserves celebration. But it's a testament to Lebron's maturity, and a testament to the program that Vaughn has built in Tuscaloosa, that simply getting to Omaha isn't enough for this club. They have higher goals for themselves.
They fully believe they are capable of beating the seven other teams that make the College World Series. They fully believe they can be the last team standing when the dust settles. After watching them persevere all season long through plenty of adversity, it's hard not to believe them.
Alabama isn't just going to Omaha. They are going with a legitimate chance at bringing back the program's first national title.
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