BASEBALL: Mitch Canham Speaks with Media Before CWS

Friday marks Oregon State head coach Mitch Canham's first College World Series since taking the reins nearly six years to the day: June 13th, 2019.

It is not his first trip to Omaha, however. Canham, an Oregon State alum, was a starting catcher on the Beavers' back-to-back national championship teams in 2006 and 2007.

With his team suddenly walking on new ground, the Beavers' skipper offered his insights to local reporters earlier this week. Below, you can read highlights of that press conference.

On the significance of Oregon State's 1st CWS since the 2018 national championship

"Well, when the game ends, I've visualized turning over to [Pitching Coach Rich Dorman] and giving him that big hug, just kind of soaking it in after the game completed. You know obviously from the beginning of the year, from taking this job [in the summer of 2019], it was never about getting to Omaha, it's about winning it, on top of developing great young men, and really there's a million other things this job entails that we have in our sights."

On Canham's first trip to Omaha as a player, and what his team can learn from that

"Uh, I shared a little bit about that experience just in [2005] going to Omaha, it was also something we talked about in 2004, shoot, when I got here in the fall of 2003, during our team meeting I remember standing up and saying 'Let's go win the whole thing!'. If that's not our goal, what are we doing? We just started talking more about it and how we we were going to make it happen, and getting that opportunity to go to Omaha in 2005 was a huge breakthrough moment. Like the belief: if you really believe, and talk about it, and act on it, and have everyone rowing at the same time in the same direction, those things [competing for a national championship] are definitely achievable".

On where his team has improved over the course of the season

"Learning how to control the running game even better. Louisville runs! They have 150+ bags, those guys are gonna get on the bags and they're going to run, so knowing how to control that, knowing how to keep them off the bags is an even better way to control the running game. There were games that maybe defensively we didn't get the job done. All it did was motivate us even more to focus on our defensive work."

On the presence of Zak Taylor, the Director of Beaver Baseball Development

"(Smiling) [Zak] was a great addition to the staff, and then some! His youth, and being able to connect with guys, and recently going through that trip to Omaha (Taylor was a member of the Beavers' 2018 national championship team), the energy that he has is unmatched! And he comes in the office every day and he's running around giving everybody dabs and getting excited for it, like one of the first things he says, he gets in hours before the game 'Why haven't we scored yet?'. He's constantly bringing good energy, and how he takes care of the guys with our mental skills work, whether it's visualizations, meditations, or the phenomenal pumpup speeches that he gives , he's motivating for the players and keeps them in a good headspspace, but also for the coaching staff, so his experience there I think guys lean on a lot."