The last time West Chester arrived in Cary, only two players on the current roster were even part of the program.
One was a redshirt freshman pitcher named Julian Costa.
The other was Kyle Lazer, whose 2022 postseason ended before the National Finals because of injury.
Four years later, they are back. This time, they are bringing the top seed in the country with them.
That distinction was earned over eight months and 54 games. It was earned through a 44-10 season, a trip to the PSAC Championship Game, a perfect 5-0 run through the NCAA Tournament and a dominant Super Regional sweep at Millersville. Now it has carried the Golden Rams back to the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., where eight teams remain in pursuit of a Division II national championship.
West Chester will open play Friday night against eighth-seeded Indianapolis, but the story this week extends beyond a single matchup.
The field features defending national champion Tampa, perennial power Central Missouri, rising contender Texas-Tyler, national mainstays Catawba and Point Loma, along with Bentley and Indianapolis. Every team remaining has survived conference tournaments, regionals and super regionals to reach Division II baseball's biggest stage.
For West Chester, the path to Cary has been built on a combination of star power and depth.
Costa enters the National Finals in the midst of one of the finest pitching seasons in program history. The redshirt senior left-hander is 12-2 with a 2.63 ERA, four complete games and three shutouts. Already West Chester's career leader in wins and strikeouts, Costa enters the week as the active Division II leader in victories and one of the most accomplished pitchers remaining in the tournament field.
But this run has hardly been a one-man show.
The Golden Rams have scored at least seven runs in every NCAA Tournament game this spring, outscoring opponents 67-22 through five postseason contests. Christian Michak has hit .478 during the tournament. Carter Rust has matched that average while adding two home runs. Caleb Strawhecker has continued the breakout sophomore season that made him one of the Atlantic Region's most dangerous hitters.
The offense has become a defining characteristic of this team.
Since suffering its lone series loss of the season against Shippensburg in April, West Chester has gone 20-2 while outscoring opponents 215-80. Those numbers help explain why the Golden Rams arrive in Cary as the tournament's top seed and one of its hottest teams.
That momentum will be tested immediately by an Indianapolis club that arrives in Cary with a remarkable story of its own.
The Greyhounds lost their opening game of the Midwest Regional before rattling off six consecutive victories to reach the National Finals. Their lineup features one of the most productive offenses in Division II baseball, led by Austin Bode, who enters the week batting .404 with 19 home runs, 78 RBI and 82 runs scored. Eight Indianapolis regulars are hitting above .300.
Should West Chester advance, the challenges will only increase. Central Missouri and Texas-Tyler await on the other side of the bracket pod, while Tampa, Catawba, Point Loma and Bentley occupy the opposite half of the tournament. There are no easy games left in Cary. There rarely are.
But that is precisely why programs like West Chester measure themselves against this stage.
The Golden Rams have been here before. They won national championships in 2012 and 2017. They reached the National Finals again in 2022. And now, on the 20th anniversary of the first West Chester team to advance to the Division II Finals, another club arrives believing it has the pitching, the lineup and the depth to make a similar run.
For Costa and Lazer, two of the last remaining links to West Chester's 2022 National Finals team, the return to Cary has been years in the making.
For the Golden Rams, the opportunity is much more immediate.
Four wins remain between West Chester and another national championship. The chase begins Friday night.
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