Mercer County will be well represented at the College Baseball World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Kevin Schnall and Coastal Carolina made sure of that.
Schnall’s Chanticleers advanced to the CWS for the second time in program history after completing a sweep of their Super Regional series against Auburn on Saturday evening.
The only other time Coastal went to Omaha was when it won it all in 2016.
Schnall was an assistant to the legendary Gary Gilmore then, but something, or someones, were missing.
“It was nine years ago we went to Omaha and in the fall our son had a stroke. He ended up having five more strokes,” an emotional Schnall said in the postgame press conference following his team’s 4-1 win over Auburn at Plainsman Park in Alabama. “When we went to Omaha, he was in the third grade. We decided as a family that our kids were going to stay back. He’s doing great now, he’s a freshman in high school, and we’ve been talking for years that if we ever go back, he’s coming, they’re coming.”
The Chanticleers (53-11) will have as good a chance as anyone to lift the national championship. They have won 23 straight games and rank second nationally with a 3.25 team ERA.
Coastal has won in multiple way in the NCAA Tournament. It out-slugged East Carolina, 18-7, on its home field to reach the regional final and then won a 1-0 game over ECU to advance to the Supers in front of a rocking crowd at Springs Brooks Stadium.
In the Supers, it won a 7-6 extra-inning thriller in Game 1 over Auburn on a homer by star catcher Caden Bodine — a Haddon Heights product — in a contest that didn’t end until 2 a.m. following a long rain delay. In Game 2, five pitchers combined to hold the host Tigers to a single run.
“We’ve won 23 straight, so that’s nine straight weekends in a row that we’ve swept,” Schnall said. “This is no Cinderella. I want to make sure that’s known. Coastal Carolina, the past century, only eight teams have been to the regionals more times than us. During that time period, we’ve got the sixth best winning percentage, the ninth most wins, this is not a Cinderella story. We’re one of the premier, most successful college baseball programs in the entire country.”
Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall watches play during an NCAA baseball game against Ohio State in Jacksonville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
Schnall is part of that history as one of the all-time great players.
After the Hamilton Township native had a standout career at Notre Dame High — he was famously behind the plate when the Irish no-hit Steinert in the 1995 Mercer County Tournament championship game at Trenton Thunder Ballpark — he went on to win Big South Player of the Year in 1999 for the Chanticleers. He batted .405 with seven homers, 48 RBIs and set a program record for on-base percentage at .515.
Following two minor league seasons in the Cincinnati Reds organization, Schanll turned to coaching. He was an assistant under Gilmore from 2001-12 then spent the next three seasons at Central Florida. In 2016, he returned to Coastal just in time for that national championship run and was named head coach this season after Gilmore retired following 29 years at the helm.
His coaching staff, which he was quick to credit for the team’s success, includes Hightstown native Matt Schilling. Schilling played baseball and soccer at Mercer County College where he was a two-time NJCAA All-Region performer and captain of the 1991 national championship soccer team as a goalkeeper.
“I got into this profession because of my father’s influence,” Schnall said. “He passed away before I became a head coach. It just felt like he was looking down today and this weekend, the last two weeks. I know he’s proud.”