After the 2010 season, head coach
Mike Jeffcoat knew he would have a strong core group of players returning for 2011 but needed to replace some key parts. The incoming group included starters Ben Hawkins, Josh Huggins, Taye Larry and Leo Lamarche, among others.
After a strong fall season, the coaching staff saw something special starting to develop.
"Once we saw the team gel in the fall, we felt like we had a shot at going far with the 3-man rotation of Danny Vargas-Vila, Jason Postill and Ben Hawkins," Jeffcoat said. "We knew we had the pieces and obviously we stayed healthy which is what you need to make these runs."
UWF debuted as the No. 21 ranked team and quickly started its ascent up the list. A week four sweep of Delta State put the Argos into the top 10 and another sweep of Florida Southern saw the Blue and Green take over No. 2 from the Mocs. A pair of midweek stumbles at North Georgia knocked UWF out of the top 10.
"After going 13-1 in February, we knew we were going to be good," Jeffcoat added. "We didn't play up to our expectation at North Georgia and they beat us. That was a wake-up call, going 2-3 (that week) and it allowed me to get their attention again and from that point on they played outstanding."
That's when the season turned around.
UWF won a school-record 22 games and didn't lose a series the remainder of the regular-season. The squad won the GSC East Division for the second-consecutive year and the 17 league victories set a school record.
UWF went 2-2 in the GSC Tournament with losses to Harding and Southern Arkansas – two teams headed to the regional – and again, had to refocus and reset the lineup back to what had been working all year.
Jeffcoat was able to get the team focused on winning the region and advancing to the national championship.
"Instead of playing the 'If we do this or if we do that' we started selling it to them that we were good enough to win it and if they don't, everything they had done up to that point would be forgotten," he said. "The regional championship day with Barry showed the metal and valor and the want in that heat with all of the pressure to get the job done. After Barry tied it at 4 in the final game, it was great to see the guys break through with runs in the next three innings to advance to Cary.
"Once we got to the World Series, we told them we were not going to be participants. We were going to win the whole thing."
That's exactly what they did, winning four games, including two by large margins.
The team captured the program's first national title with a 12-2 win over Winona State to cap a 52-9 season. That Argo group established a GSC record for fielding percentage, while senior pitchers Daniel Vargas-Vila and Shane Waller also tied single-season league records in wins and saves, respectively.
Outfielder Greg Pron, shortstop Brandon Brewer, Vargas-Villa and reliever Shane Waller were each named to All-America teams. Vargas-Villa was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the championship and Jeffcoat was named the ABCA and NCBWA National Coach of the Year.
