Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee Vols baseball national championship radio call sends chills with an ode to the great John Ward

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Craig Smith | Last updated Jun 25, 2024 2:27 AM ET

The Tennessee Vols are the national champions of the college baseball world. And boy did it look good to see the Vols get the final out to secure a 6-5 win over Texas A&M in Game Three of the College World Series championship series.

With Tennessee leading 6-5 in the top of the ninth inning with no one on base and two outs and a 1-2 count, right hander Aaron Combs let a breaking ball loose. If he could get it past the bat of Texas A&M's Ted Burton, the Vols would be national champions for the first time in school history. The curveball darted away out of the strike zone. So did Burton's bat. Swing. Miss. Championship.

The sight of the swing and miss and ensuing celebration will be one that Vol fans will never forget. But the sound of it on the Vol Radio Network likely won't be forgotten either by those who were tuned in. Vol Baseball play-by-play announcer John Wilkerson had a hair-raising call of the final strikeout.

John Wilkerson CRUSHED the final call!

Chills. pic.twitter.com/xvZ3AtOhSh
— Vols Big Orange Podcast (@BigOrangePod) June 25, 2024

"For the sixtieth and final time this season, Tennessee says hello win column, and hello national championship," Wilkerson said. "Everybody in Vol nation can stand and say with me, while they are wearing black, the national champion is clad in big orange!"

Wilkerson is, of course, paying homage to the greatest broadcaster in the history of Tennessee athletics: John Ward. The Vols' legendary play-by-play announcer is as much a staple of Tennessee athletics as anything else in Tennessee history. When the Vols' defeated Florida State 23-16 for the 1998 national championship in the Fiesta Bowl, Ward's call as soon as the game ended was that the national champions were clad in big orange.

It was an absolutely beautiful call and perfect homage during an unforgettable moment in the history of Tennessee athletics. Peyton Manning was in attendance, as were Josh Heupel, Danny White, Rick Barnes, and many other important members of the Tennessee universe.

And thanks to Wilkerson, Ward had a small part of another great moment in Tennessee athletics as well.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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