Jordan Brewer Living His Dream At The College World Series
Junior outfielder Jordan Brewer couldn’t have had a better debut season at Michigan.
After transferring from Lincoln Trail Community College, Brewer exploded onto the scene at Michigan, winning Big Ten Player of the Year. Heading into the College World Series, Brewer is hitting .338 to go along with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs.
He’s been a key offensive and defensive piece of Michigan’s first run to the College World Series since 1984. This moment is something Brewer has been working for his entire life.
“At 15 years old, I didn’t think I would be playing in the College World Series if you asked me then,” Brewer said. “It’s unreal.”
When he was 15, Brewer played in a baseball tournament during the College World Series. While in Omaha, his youth team watched LSU play in the World Series.
Now, Brewer will be playing in Omaha.
“I was sitting in the stands and I was like, ‘This is insane,’” Brewer said. “All my teammates from that team have texted and said, ‘Dude, you’re going to be out there playing.’ They’re all coming too, so it’s going to be even more special.”
Michigan has advanced this far in the NCAA Tournament because of the confidence and the looseness that the Wolverines play with. U-M head coach Erik Bakich said that this team plays better when they are playing free and easy.
“We’re always out here smiling, goofing off, having fun,” Brewer said. “It’s a kid’s game. We have fun. You’re supposed to have fun. We’re always goofing around. When you see videos, we’re always smiling, we’re always messing with each other.”
This attitude has helped Michigan win, even when the Wolverines were down to their last strike in the Big Ten Tournament and in elimination games in the NCAA Tournament.
Brewer said they are able to have success in those moments because they visualized them in the past.
“It’s just the love of the game we have,” he added. “In intense situations, you dream of them when you’re little. Bottom of the ninth, two outs. What are you going to do? You’ve been in that situation before when you were little. It’s just a repeat.”
The College World Series is a new situation for the Wolverines, but their first opponent is not. Michigan is facing Texas Tech in its opening game of the College World Series.
Earlier this season, Michigan was swept by the Red Raiders, but since then, Michigan has played significantly better.
“It’s shown how much we have [grown],” Brewer said. “They’re a good ball club, but we had plenty of errors … It’s going to be crazy this experience, but I feel like we’re beyond ready. We haven’t played this well before. It’s going to be exciting.”
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook