Garrett Wood and Calvin Harris embracing their bigger roles
Jun. 17—OMAHA — Garrett Wood has long been prepared for his time to shine, even if he didn't really have an idea of when it was coming.
The Ole Miss senior infielder did not start a single game during the regular season. But following an injury to sophomore centerfielder T.J. McCants that moved senior third baseman Justin Bench to the outfield, Wood's number was called upon.
The former Johnson County (Kansas) Community College player has started the last three games for the Rebels — the finale against Arizona in the Coral Gables regional and both matchups in the Hattiesburg super regional — and has played stellar defense while putting together solid at-bats.
He drove in his first run of the season with a double during a 10-0 win over Southern Miss; two of his four hits this season have come this postseason, and he has also drawn five walks over his three starts.
Ole Miss plays Auburn in its first game of the College World Series on Saturday at 6 p.m.
"Kind of got thrown into the fire, which is what you love when you're not an everyday guy. You're just waiting for your opportunity to get in there and compete," Wood said. "Just doing everything I can to try to help get us here to Omaha and to win a national championship."
Over the last couple of weeks, Wood's teammates and head coach Mike Bianco have been extremely happy for the Oklahoma native. To a man, they have all said there is no one more deserving of the opportunity.
"It means a lot," Wood said. "I come to the field every day to try to be the best guy I can be, be the best teammate, do whatever I can to help this team win. And I think it's paid off."
Another Rebel getting more playing time recently is sophomore Calvin Harris. Harris — normally the No. 2 catcher behind junior Hayden Dunhurst — has seen time at right field throughout the season and has started the last three games this postseason as well. He has five hits over the span.
Harris had a strong start to the season, hitting .542 through his first nine games of 2022 (24 at-bats). But he missed nearly three weeks with an oblique injury and struggled upon returning, dropping his batting average more than 200 points. But he's found his stride of late, having "changed up (his) load a little bit. He spent a few weeks implementing that into actual games.
"I'm just kind of trying to come in and do whatever I can to help the team win, whether that be like situational, move (baserunners) over or just try to get a base hit, getting quality at-bats."
A native of Peosta, Iowa, Harris grew up less than five hours from Omaha, and he actually attended the College World Series when he was 13 or 14, he said. Walking on the hallowed grounds at Charles Schwab Field was pretty special.
"It was really cool," Harris said. "It's definitely a really cool experience for me, something I dreamed of doing."
MICHAEL KATZ is the Ole Miss athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at michael.katz@djournal.com.
