In the magical run to a national championship, Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin said he was often asked when he first realized the 2019 edition of the Vandy Boys could be something special. His answer reveals all you need to know about the program he has built over 17 years in Nashville. It had nothing to do with his pitchers’ fastballs and changeups, nothing to do with the launch angles and exit velocities of his hitters. When he realized this team could be something special, Corbin said, he was nowhere near Hawkins Field. He was in Boston, celebrating Christmas with his family, when he received a report on his team’s academic progress in the fall semester. Across the board, the grades were excellent; 16 players had earned grade-point averages above 3.0. No crisis, no drama. He thought about how that maturity and consistency had been there all fall, a collection of supremely talented but unselfish young men from 19 states “modeling the behaviors you would want represented in your own family” on and off the field. He celebrated Christmas knowing this team had a chance to do great things. And then they went out and did it. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how a team could accomplish more. They won the SEC regular season and tournament championships. They won NCAA Regional and Super Regional tournaments at Hawkins Field. They won the College World Series in Omaha. And they did it in dominating fashion, setting an SEC record with 59 wins and setting program records in home runs, RBIs and strikeouts. Corbin was named SEC and National Coach of the Year. Right fielder JJ Bleday was named SEC Player of the Year after leading the country with 27 home runs, while Austin Martin (third base), Philip Clarke (catcher) and Tyler Brown (pitcher) were named first-team All-SEC. Kumar Rocker threw a no-hitter in the Super Regional against Duke and was named national Freshman of the Year by Baseball America. Thirteen Commodores were selected in the Major League Baseball draft, tying an SEC record, and when Bleday was taken with the fourth overall pick by the Miami Marlins, he became the ninth Vanderbilt player to be drafted in the top 10 in the Corbin era. Thirteen players earned academic All-SEC recognition. Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt. See all Vanderbilt social media at http://social.vanderbilt.edu.