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Pam Dalton couldn't help it. She choked up as "Utah" came across the theater-sized screen — even though she knew it was coming.
Her sons sitting a dozen rows ahead of her, twins Dallas and Dalton Carroll, had been waiting so long for this moment, and deferred personal ambitions to experience it together. When MLB scouts told pitcher Dalton that he could leave school early, he passed.
"I've been crying for two days," Pam Dalton said, wiping yet another tear from her nose. "Dalton told scouts, 'I want to stay with my brother one more year, and help them get to a regional.' So he turned down the draft."
It was a gutsy decision, given that Utah had finished last in the league four straight years and was picked by Pac-12 coaches to be last again in preseason polls. But Monday morning saw a realization of long-shot goals for the Carroll brothers — and their Utah teammates.
After winning the Pac-12 on Sunday and clinching an automatic bid, Utah (25-27, 19-11 Pac-12) will be heading to Oxford, Miss., to take on host and national No. 10 Ole Miss (43-17, 18-12 SEC). Their first game in the double-elimination regional takes place Friday at 6 p.m., with a game against either Boston College or Tulane the next day.
For the last 10 weeks, the Utes said they adopted a "playoff baseball" mentality. Starting this weekend, they'll finally get a basis for comparison. It's only Utah's second NCAA bid since 1960, and the first postseason trip since 2009.
"These last four years it's been something the team has worked for, through the thick and thin of the program," Dalton Carroll said. "To see our name up on that board was something special."
The opponent is formidable, particularly on its home field where it has accumulated a 26-6 record. Ole Miss finished in seventh place in the SEC, considered to be the nation's toughest conference, and fields a number of strong hitters, including outfielder J.B. Woodman, a potential early MLB draft pick. Add the Mississippi heat and humidity in June, and the Utes will be treading into a dangerous swamp in more ways than one.
While facing the 10th-ranked team in the country to start the postseason is a tough draw, it could've been tougher. Coach Bill Kinneberg said he hoped Utah would go to an SEC school site "just for the experience." He also thinks sophomore starter Jayson Rose, who led the Pac-12 with 102 strikeouts this year, gives his team a chance in any first-round game.
"I'll take Jayson Rose over anybody right now," he said. "I feel pretty good about that matchup."
The Utes also see one of their advantages is that they've been used to playing with their backs against the wall. After a disastrous nonconference schedule that sunk their RPI, they had to win the Pac-12 to go to the tournament — in the process becoming one of the unlikeliest Cinderella stories of the season.
The pressure to win or go home is inherently familiar to them: They've been playing that way for two months.
"We didn't start off so hot, but the second half is unbelievable," outfielder Josh Rose said. "The team chemistry is off the chart."
History is certainly not on Utah's side, among other factors. Ole Miss is an experienced postseason program, getting in the field 14 of the past 16 seasons. Last time the Rebels hosted a regional in 2014, they finished third in the College World Series. Utah was 2-2 in its last appearance in 2009, falling in the regional final.
But the spirit of the surprise season at least was carrying on through Monday morning, as the Utes celebrated another chance to play. The way things have gone so far, they said, who knows what could happen?
"We're definitely not done," senior second baseman Kody Davis said. "We're already thinking about the next game. Keep this thing rolling."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah at No. 10 Mississippi
P NCAA regional, Friday, 6 p.m. MDT
TV • SEC Network