Coastal Carolina MLB alum goes wild over championship win

You can bet no one in Major League Baseball was happier to watch the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers win the College World Series than Tampa Bay Rays utility player Taylor Motter.

Motter is the only player on an active major-league roster to have attended Coastal Carolina. Tommy La Stella of the Chicago Cubs also went there, but he’s currently on rehab so he’s not on the active roster, though that didn’t stop him from winning a bet with Cubs ace Jake Arrieta when CCU beat Arrieta’s TCU Horned Frogs with a spot in the championship series on the line.

Coastal Carolina is not a program that’s considered to be among the giants in college baseball, yet here they were in the championship game Thursday opposite perennial power Arizona, holding onto a 4-2 lead heading in the ninth inning.

Arizona made it close, scoring a run in the ninth to make it 4-3, but the Chanticleers kept calm and pulled out the win as Motter watched on the big screen at Tropicana Field during batting practice.. When the final out was recorded, Motter tossed his glove up in the air in celebration and ripped off his Rays pullover to reveal a Coastal Carolina shirt.

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Beaming with pride for his alma mater, Motter took to Twitter to congratulate the team on bringing the first national title in baseball back to Conway, S.C.:

It was a special moment for the one player in the majors who can really understand how big of an accomplishment it is for Coastal Carolina to be crowned Division I champs. Motter told MLB.com that CCU has trouble competing for local recruits with Clemson, South Carolina and North Carolina, so for the Chanticleers to ascend to the top of college baseball is quite stunning.

If Coastal Carolina is here to stay as a contender, it might not be long before Motter gladly makes room for more Chanticleers in the big leagues.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr