Ole Miss pitcher John Gaddis thought his college career might have ended with an ejection. Now, he's a national champion

Jul. 1—OXFORD — John Gaddis thought there was a decent chance his final moment of college baseball would be an ejection. And, given his reasoning for coming to Ole Miss in the first place, that would have been a shame.

The lefty pitcher transferred from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before the season, knowing the Rebels had a shot to do something special. Pitching in the Southland Conference didn't yield a ton of spectators; after his first start at Swayze Field in February, Gaddis joked he was used to maybe a few hundred in the crowd, not 10,000 or more.

But with an additional year of eligibility remaining following a stellar 2021 season with the Islanders, Gaddis entered the transfer portal with a clear goal: making it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. He had watched regionals and the tournament, and he wanted to be a part of that.

Adding intrigue to Gaddis's story is the fact he wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. His father is a contractor, and while he studied mechanical engineering initially in undergrad, it was too boring for his taste, Gaddis said. Surgery, however, was different.

A biology class got Gaddis interested in medicine. He shadowed orthopedic surgeons one summer and was in.

"It was essentially a human workshop," Gaddis said. "All the tools that I used growing up in my dad's construction company like saws, hammers, drills. But you're helping out a human instead of building something."

Gaddis was accepted into medical school at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley last year. But he really wanted that final baseball experience. Gaddis said he emailed the dean and asked for deferment; it was granted.

On May 19 in the top of the ninth inning against Texas A&M, Gaddis was ejected for throwing behind a batter after tempers flared between the teams. He was given a four-game suspension, meaning that, unless the Rebels made the tournament — which was looking increasingly tenuous — his college career would end on that note. And yes, Gaddis admits he kept track of the tournament bubble on D1Baseball and Baseball America like everyone else.

"A month ago, I was like, 'Oh my God, the last pitch I ever threw, I got suspended," Gaddis said. "I'm going to end my career as a suspended player."

Now, as Gaddis begins medical school classes at UTRGV on Tuesday, just a little over a week after being the winning pitcher in the finale of the College World Series, he is still in shock at how everything worked out.

From being a weekend starter to a bullpen arm to having a midseason appendectomy to winning a national championship, it has been quite the ride.

"You dream about that kind of stuff," Gaddis said. "When you're in the portal and you're making all these plans, you're hoping that kind of stuff happens. ... But you never really truly think that could happen to you until it does."

Like the entire squad, Gaddis had his share of ups and downs in 2022. He was one of the team's weekend starters when the season began but flipped between the bullpen and the rotation as junior Dylan DeLucia and freshman Hunter Elliott emerged as the team's top-two starters.

Gaddis made 17 appearances in 2022, less than half coming as starts. He carved out his role in the bullpen as a reliable arm capable of going several innings. A bout of appendicitis then caused him to miss two weeks.

It wasn't exactly what Gaddis envisioned when he signed with Ole Miss, but this was bigger than him. It was team success over everything.

"Once you take the self-success portion out, and you just want the team to succeed, it's a lot easier to just be ready and do your part," he said.

The Aggies incident nearly changed everything.

Following a home run from Texas A&M star Dylan Rock that led to a bit of jawing, Gaddis threw behind the next batter and was immediately ejected. Coach Mike Bianco was also ejected and missed the following game.

For Gaddis, it was a potentially tough pill to swallow. After losing to Vanderbilt in the first round of the SEC Tournament, a postseason berth was looking unlikely. This was how his college career ended?

"That was a thought through my head. That was a question," Gaddis said. "We were talking about that at practice in the week from when we lost to Vandy to when we got selected ... Guys are giving me crap for it, messing with me, how my last pitch ever, I got suspended for."

As fate would have it, the Rebels were selected as one of the last teams in the tournament field. A 5-0 start to the postseason led the Rebels to their first College World Series appearance since 2014.

Gaddis pitched two innings in relief against Arizona in the clinching game of the Coral Gables Regional. But his next two postseason appearances turned him into an Ole Miss legend.

With a 2-0 start in the College World Series, Ole Miss found itself a win away from its first berth in the championship series. The opponent for the next game — or two — depending how things went would be the winner of Auburn and Arkansas, both of whom the Rebels had already beaten in Omaha. The team watched Arkansas win and, at around 9:30 p.m. that night, Gaddis received a phone call while he lay in his hotel bed.

It was Bianco. Gaddis was getting the start against the Razorbacks, his first start in more than two months.

It would have been easy for Gaddis to overthink the moment at hand. But that's not really his style. Baseball is still baseball, even if there's 25,000 or so fans watching your every move.

"I'll envision myself making pitches on the mound in Omaha, kind of that, versus 'Oh my gosh, what happens if I have a bad outing?'" Gaddis said.

While the Rebels fell to Arkansas to force an elimination game, Gaddis shined, going five innings with just two earned runs against a usually potent offense. DeLucia closed out the next game, propelling Ole Miss to the final.

Sophomore Jack Dougherty got a somewhat surprise start in the opener against Oklahoma and dazzled in a 10-3 win. Elliott started Game Two and was excellent, but the game was far closer than the first matchup with the Sooners.

The Rebels trailed 2-1 in the seventh, and the bases were loaded with two outs. It was time for Gaddis to bail Ole Miss out. He did, striking out John Spikerman to end the inning. He pitched the eighth as well, surrendering a lone walk. In the bottom of the inning, Ole Miss rallied to score three runs and take the lead — putting Gaddis in line for the win.

Senior closer Brandon Johnson struck out the side in the ninth, and the Rebels were national champions.

"But he's just a tough kid, just a great kid. How about that? Kid was going to go to medical school a year ago and said, 'Hey, I had a pretty good year, I want to try to go to Omaha,' and he picks Ole Miss and he gets to win in the national championship game," Bianco said. "That's another really cool story."

Not bad for someone who almost had his career end so unceremoniously.

"I was on the top of the steps, and I'm pretty sure I was the first person to the dogpile. I don't think I've ever sprinted that fast. And then I tried to position myself to where I wouldn't be at the very bottom of the dogpile," Gaddis said. "Then I saw (Ben Van) Cleve and I went, 'Oh heck no, I'm not getting under that guy.' So I was off to the side."

Gaddis spent his Thursday driving nearly 15 hours back home to the Corpus Christi area, where he will stay for a few days before moving to Edinburg and starting medical school.

He admits it's odd that he doesn't have baseball practice any more, but he's come to terms with the reality that he likely won't have a professional baseball career. Baseball was a long chapter in his life, and now it is over. He's leaving on his terms.

But what an ending he got.

"It feels like those two things don't go together (me and national champion) ... Those are sweet and sour. Those don't mix," Gaddis said. "But it takes a second to realize that, holy crap, I just won a national championship. Because you grow up watching that ... You see those teams that win it all, and you're like, 'Wow, that's pretty sick.' ... When you actually do it, you're like, 'Wow. Alight.' It's hard to put into words."

MICHAEL KATZ is the Ole Miss athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at michael.katz@djournal.com.