College Players Shift Gears Quickly

It was mere hours after Oregon State’s 6-1 loss to Louisiana State that Beavers infielders Nick Madrigal and Cadyn Grenier sat in an Omaha hotel room and decided to flip the switch.

- Shawn McFarland

Oregon State had strung together a ludicrous 54-4 record heading into the College World Series. There was talk of them being one of the best—if not best— college baseball teams ever. But after a two-game stretch against LSU in which Oregon State played arguably its worst baseball all season and was outscored 9-2, the goal of capping off a historic season with a CWS championship was gone.

But for sophomores Madrigal and Grenier, there was no luxury of time to handle the devastating loss. They had to get back to work.

Just 72 hours removed from the end of their college season, Madrigal and Grenier were in uniform and in the dugout at the USA Baseball complex in Cary, N.C., suited up to play for the Collegiate National Team. Their schedule included games against Taiwan, Cuba and Japan.

While one season had ended, another began, and both players knew there was no time to sit on the loss.

“It was definitely a tough way to go out,” Madrigal said. “We put a lot into that season—we had high expectations for it. It’s baseball. Life goes on. You get ready for next year.”