With football season just around the corner, it's high time we here at Garnet and Back Attack put the finishing touches on our 2011 baseball season coverage. And what a season it was. This year your South Carolina Gamecocks strung together a remarkable series of victories en route to their second consecutive national title (as if you needed to be reminded). Perhaps even more than in 2010, the way in which this year's squad came together belied a true toughness of spirit and bond among the team members.

The Gamecocks may now lay claim to NCAA records for consecutive wins in the post seasons and consecutive wins in the College World Series. Holding these records is an impressive feat unto itself,  but the way in which this team achieved these milestones deserves some fleshing out. After winning a national title in 2010, USC lost its entire weekend rotation of Blake Cooper, Sam Dyson, and Jay Brown. Yet, in 2011 the Gamecocks posted 55 wins behind a rotation with limited starting experience that included a former set-up man in Michael Roth (14-3, 1.06 ERA), a true freshman in Forrest Koumas (6-1, 2.96 ERA), and a sophomore with no prior starting experience in Colby Holmes (7-3, 3.69 ERA). Michael Roth looks like no-brainer all-SEC selection now, but don't forget that there was still doubt at the beginning of the season as to whether he could be a "number one" guy. During the season this team survived many injuries - most notably to starters Tyler Webb and Steven Neff. Let us not forget that Carolina also lost potential starter Nolan Blecher before the season even began to Tommy John's surgery and reliever Ethan Carter to a violation of team rules. Just about the only known pitching quantities coming into this season were relief pitcher John Taylor (8-1, 1.14 ERA) and closer Matt Price (20 SV, 1.83 ERA). Those two performed up to expectations, perhaps even exceeding them. John Taylor logged 50 appearances on his way to a school record. All Price did was tally 20 saves while being the second highest drafted Gamecock in the 2011 MLB draft.

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If it is possible to embody the team spirit more than South Carolina's 2010 National Championship squad, I think this year's squad might have done it. I cannot recall a team I've enjoyed watching more than the 2011 iteration of the Yardcocks. They're not prima donas. They're not stereotypically entitled athletes. They're just a bunch of hard-working, regular guys, that have managed to accomplish much more than the sum of their parts. And I love them for it.

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With excellent speed, a strong arm, and great bat, Drew Meyer (2000-2002) is one of the best high school baseball players in South Carolina history.  Having spurned an offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999 after his senior year at Bishop England High School (Charleston, SC), Meyer joined the South Carolina Gamecocks as one of its most heralded recruits ever.  The summer prior to his arrival in Columbia, Meyer was a member of the South Carolina Diamond Devils AAU squad before joining the US Junior National Team that won a gold medal in Taiwan (Two of his teammates on Team USA were Joe Mauer and Carlos Quentin.  You may have heard of them.) In his first year as a Gamecock, Meyer was named Second Team All-SEC and earned Freshman All-America honors, hitting .320 with 11 HR and 49 RBI.  As a sophomore, he hit .303 with 7 HR, 37 RBI, and had a team high 20 SB, garnering mention by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America as a 2002 Preseason All-American.  In his third and final year, Meyer helped lead South Carolina to the national championship game and its first College World Series under Head Coach Ray Tanner. He hit a career high .359 and stole 39 bases en route to being named an All-American and All-SEC.  Meyer's career batting average as a Gamecock is .320.  Last year, he was named the starting shortstop on The State's 2000-2010 USC Baseball All-Decade Team.

On June 4, 2002, Drew Meyer was selected 10th overall by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft.  Four years later, Meyer made his debut in the big leagues.  He played in five games for the Texas Rangers, starting three at second base, and participating in two others as a right fielder and shortstop.  He batted .214 and scored 1 run.  He lived a dream.  Meyer recently retired from baseball and is currently at the University of South Carolina finishing his degree.

How does it feel to be back in school at the University of South Carolina?  It feels awesome to be back in South Carolina.  I've got a lot of family and friends here, and have a lot of great memories, on and off the field, here in  Columbia.

What degree are you working to earn, and what are your plans once you've finished?  I'm currently getting my degree in Business Management and at this point I'm not sure what I want to get into after I finish up.  Hopefully, I'll be able to figure it out over the next 18 months while I finish up classes.

What was your favorite team moment during your time as a Gamecock?  My favorite team moment was the Sunday Super Regional win over Miami to send us to Omaha.  We were down 4-1 in the 9th and pulled off an amazing comeback. We had worked so hard and come so close the two previous years and I knew that this was my last shot to go to Omaha.

What was your most thrilling personal moment in a Carolina uniform?  My favorite personal moment was my first hit as a Gamecock.  I started out the season without getting a hit in the opening weekend and the pressure just kept building to get the first one out of the way.  We played a tournament in my hometown of Charleston and I hit a big home run for my first hit.  It made it even better to do it in front of so many family and friends at Joe Riley Park.

If you can put it into words, describe your emotions when you made your first appearance as a Major League Baseball player?  I think it was just a sense of accomplishment.  It's a long road to get to that point.  My family flew out to Dallas and Phil Nevin put them in a box suite for the game.  It definitely was a dream come true.

The Gamecocks are now back-to-back National Champions.  As a former player, what do you think it means to Coach Tanner and Carolina Baseball to have achieved such an accomplishment and to have strung together the successful seasons he's had since your tenure?  It means a lot to Coach Tanner and the South Carolina baseball program.  Coach Tanner has put his heart and soul into USC and I'm just glad he's getting the recognition that he deserves.  When he recruited me 13 years ago, he told me he was building a winning program with integrity, and that's exactly what he's done.

Those of you who are in the market for collectibles commemorating South Carolina's back-to-back national championships might find this of interest: Nikco Sports has produced a Rawlings baseball honoring the Gamecocks' championship. Each ball is a limited edition of 2,011, comes with a certificate of authenticity, and comes displayed in an acrylic case. Here's what the ball looks like:

Pretty cool, huh? What's even better is that Nikco Sports is working with Make-a-Wish South Carolina to bring part of the proceeds from the sale of these balls--each of which are priced at $39.95--to children with life-threatening conditions. As many of you are probably aware, Make-a-Wish SC seeks to grant the wishes of these children in order to bring a little happiness to otherwise unfortunate situations. It has a long history of successfully enriching the lives of the children it works with.

Read more after the jump.

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Patrick Davis, author of the song "Just a Big 'Ol Cock," has a new song about Carolina, "Wingo and His Yard Cocks." Give it a listen. (H / T Cocky1366)

"Wingo & His Yard Cocks" - Gamecock Baseball Song (via pdmusic2006)

Last night after South Carolina's nailbiter win over the Florida Gators in Game One of the Championship Series, I predicted that Carolina would again prevail in Game Two to bring home the hardware. Many members of the commentariat agreed. tryptic67 had the following to say in a popular post:

Today we took their best shot from their best pitcher and their best closers. Took their best shot from their best hitters. Survived. Won.

Tomorrow they get Roth.

The implication was clear: this time around, it would be Carolina going into battle with the heavy artillery, and there would be a good chance that the Gamecocks would win big.

Carolina didn't disappoint. Not only did it win, it did so with style. Roth delivered another great game--don't let the backhanded compliments from ESPN's crew of "announcers" detract from his fine performance. Moreover, the Carolina offense woke up with Gators ace Hudson Randall off the mound. The result was a performance that left little doubt as to who was the better team. I say this with all due respect for the Gators, who have a fine baseball team and a program that will be in the thick of things for many years to come. The Gators' search for their first national title won't take much longer. That said, and again don't let the narrative provided by the media make you believe anything otherwise, it can't be emphasized enough that we went 4-1 against the Gators this year, and that includes a series in the unfriendly confines of Gainesville. Florida had a great baseball team this year, but we had the best.

The victory and title put Ray Tanner's program in rarefied company. As you undoubtedly heard many times during the telecast, Carolina now owns the record for most consecutive games won in both the NCAA Tournament as a whole as well as the College World Series itself. The victory also makes us one of what is now only 14 teams with multiple CWS championships, as well as one of four programs to accomplish this feat in the new millennium. We're now up there with the sport's very best.

As GABA founder cocknfire wrote in the comments section of the game thread, now "we might have to learn...how to spell dynasty" here at South Carolina. I'm sure many of you are like me and thought this day might never come. Well, it's here. South Carolina, in one sport at least, is now certifiably elite. Hats off to Tanner and his fantastic baseball team for making it happen.

Go 'Cocks!