Beavers one win from cementing status as true power

	Jorge Reyes allowed eight hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings to win for the second time in the College World Series. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
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OMAHA, Neb. -- If you are one of the faithful, if you've followed this team since opening day in Hawaii, if you saw them bumble and fumble through the month of May, then you know this: really, they shouldn't be here. Pitcher Jorge Reyes should be kicking back at his parents' house in small-town Warden, Wash., watching Laguna Beach (his favorite show) reruns and Grandma's Boy for the 57th time. Catcher Mitch Canham should be in the batting cages at Class-A Eugene in the Northwest League, starting his pro career in the San Diego Padres organization. Head coach Pat Casey should be back in his office in Corvallis, sketching out a blueprint for 2008.

When they stood at 8-13 in the Pac-10 on May 20, these Beavers were dead in the water, but now, a month later, after whitewashing North Carolina 11-4 in Game 1 of the College World Series on a sultry Saturday night here at a rather subdued Rosenblatt Stadium, they are one win away a second straight national championship. One win away from cementing their status as a bona fide college baseball powerhouse. Said UNC coach Mike Fox: "About in every phase of the game, they were better than us."

Relying on a hellacious fastball-slider combination to paint the corners of the plate with Georges Seurat-like precision, Reyes shined in Game 1. He has carried this team throughout the postseason, winning an elimination game in the Charlottesville regional, the opener of the super regionals against Michigan, and the Beavers' opening CWS game against Cal State-Fullerton. A year ago this weekend the baby-faced freshman, playing on a summer league team in Washington state, was sitting in a dugout when he heard that Oregon State had just won its first NCAA baseball championship. After rising as the unlikely ace of the defending champs -- Reyes was a full-time reliever until May -- he's the biggest reason why Oregon State, despite returning just four players from last year's team, can be the NCAA's first repeat champs since LSU went back-to-back in 1996-97.

"He was throwing his fastball for strikes and hitting his spots," said Tar Heels leftfielder Reid Fronk. "He just went at us."

Reyes hails from Warden (pop. 2,500), a predominantly Hispanic town known mostly for its potato growing plants. Jorge Reyes, Sr., hauls potatoes in his truck back and forth between the Northwest and Monterrey, Mexico. "I used to like going with my dad on the harvests," says Reyes. "But my mom used to say, 'This is why you play baseball. So you don't have to do that for the rest of your life.'"

The town of Warden was watching on Saturday night, as Reyes befuddled UNC's mighty lineup. The Tar Heels, of course, aren't done. North Carolina is 4-0 in elimination games, and it has faith in righthander Luke Putkonen, who was dazzling five days ago against Louisville, allowing just three hits in seven innings against the Cardinals. Said Fox, "We'll play better tomorrow night. We have to."