Ole Miss baseball not worried about championship hangover
The term ‘championship hangover’ is a good problem to have for those teams fortunate enough to win a College World Series. This year, Ole Miss is the team with the big red target on its back after its first-ever title.
Today, the Rebels hosted their annual media day in Oxford, exactly three weeks away from Opening Day. They return five offensive starters in 2023: Calvin Harris, Peyton Chatagnier, TJ McCants, Kemp Alderman, and projected top 10 MLB draft pick Jacob Gonzalez.
On the mound, sophomore All-American Hunter Elliot returns as the ace of the staff to go along with some really good bullpen arms, surrounded by a strong mix of young talent and new transfers all in the mix for the rest of the starting gigs.
For the Rebs, the message is loud and clear: last year is last year. Head Coach Mike Bianco said, “I don’t think I was ever worried that the players would be stuck in that mode of all the pats on the back and all of that. Man, we talk about them in one breath of how quickly their life is. They are the reset generation and they move on and how cool would it be to have success this year and win another championship and get back to Omaha.”
Outfielder/ Catcher Kemp Alderman said, “Like Kirby Smart said, he said, when someone comes up to you and says, congratulations on winning a national championship, ask yourself, well, what did I do today to win another national championship?”
Second baseman Peyton Chatagnier said, “I’m not content with just winning last year. I want to win again, so I think it’s awesome and it was really cool last year but now last year is last year.”
Ole Miss leads off the 2023 season at 4 p.m. Friday, February 17th at Swayze Field against Delaware.
