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Championships in athletics are supposed to focus around the very best of spirited competition and hard work.

Win or lose, both teams in any championship athletic event are offered the same reality: they get to compete for the biggest prize 鈥� on the biggest stage 鈥� with their family of coaches and teammates who have been with them since the start of battle.

College

Coastal Carolina's historic run to Omaha comes to an end with LSU title

• By Alan Blondin blondinfreelance@gmail.com

On Sunday, June 22, the Coastal Carolina baseball team was stripped of that special opportunity.

In the bottom of the first inning of a win-or-go-home College World Series game, the Chanticleers were dealt an unreasonable hand by an umpire who seemed to have a clear agenda: insert himself into the spotlight and strip away any type of sacred neutrality that umpires and officials in athletics should possess.

The NCAA wrote in a statement that CCU head coach Kevin Schnall was ejected in the bottom of the first inning for 鈥渃ontinued arguing about balls and strikes after being warned initially by the umpire crew.鈥�

We find it suspicious, in the first inning of a championship game, that an umpire would hastily make a consequential decision to eject the leader of a team.

Especially in championship games, umpires must be level-headed and willing to have a feel for the moment.

On Sunday, one umpire failed in that mission.

As Schnall was ejected for arguing balls and strikes 鈥� while seemingly asking for clarification of what he was initially being warned for 鈥� the storyline of the College World Series became not about Coastal Carolina鈥檚 abilities on the field. Nor did it become about the dominance that LSU had in Game 1 or throughout the championship event.

Instead, it became about one umpire鈥檚 inability to listen to a frustrated coach and provide an extended leash on the biggest stage of the sport. And when you poll public opinion, you won鈥檛 find many folks who disagree with the fact that the ejecting home plate umpire鈥檚 decision to throw out Schnall and assistant coach Matt Schilling was reckless.

We aren鈥檛 here to say whether the umpire鈥檚 decision would have led to a win for CCU. The bottom line is championships should be about spirited competition, celebrating greatness, and allowing high-level coaches and athletes to compete when tensions are the highest.

LSU won, and they won fair and square. But the Chanticleers were denied the opportunity to be led by their two leading coaches in the biggest moment of the year. And that denial came via an irresponsible and quick-triggered decision.

The Coastal Carolina baseball team deserves to be celebrated for its resiliency. In a record-breaking season, the Chanticleers proved that the little program from Conway, South Carolina, is a force to be reckoned with. That鈥檚 what they should and will be remembered for, especially in Horry County.

We congratulate the Chanticleers, and we also urge the powers that be to consider the types of personalities they have calling games.

Omaha should feature the best of the best 鈥� and that includes those calling the balls and strikes.