Florida Gators

OMAHA, Neb. — The father who taught the son to keep the bat on his shoulder and use the lower half of his body to hit a baseball watched the ball soar high into the night sky.

That's nothing new.

"I've seen him hit a lot of long ones,'' Michael Langford said of his son, Gators outfielder Wyatt Langford.

Too nervous to sit in his seat behind Florida's dugout, Michael and a group of UF players' dads stood on the concourse eight days ago when Wyatt's 456-foot home run — the longest in CWS history since the event moved to Charles Schwab Field 12 years ago — bounced high above the left-field stands, careened off a wall, and rolled under a table and stadium seat.

A 14-year-old Montana boy named Maddox Perrine raced toward the bouncing ball, crouched underneath the table, and retrieved the souvenir from his first College World Series game. Langford's home run in the bottom of the ninth inning tied the game and kept the Gators' comeback alive on the way to a 6-5 win over Virginia in their opening contest of the CWS. Langford's blast is arguably the most memorable moment for the Gators on their way to the CWS best-of-three championship series against LSU, which starts on Saturday night.

"It's just a matter of doing my part,'' said Langford in his typical understated fashion.

Perrine was in town with his travel team to play in a tournament. He plays the outfield like Langford. He told 406mtsports.com, an online media outlet that covers Montana sports in his hometown of Billings, that he has already turned down several offers for the ball.

He might keep it. He might try to return it to Langford. Perrine might be in the clutch of puberty, but he understands the magnitude of the moment.

"If I ever had one of my home run balls back in my hand, I would probably be really excited to see it," Perrine said. "Especially if it's a record-breaking home run ball."

While Langford introduced himself to a national TV audience in dramatic fashion, those in the know have watched the Trenton Thunder make noise at the plate since he started playing the game.

Scott Hall is the Trenton High baseball coach. He recalled recently watching the right-handed hitting Langford hit a ball deep to right field, across a service road behind the fence, and onto the roof of a building beyond the road.

"Nothing he does surprises me,'' Hall said. "Wyatt is one of a kind."

Teammate Josh Rivera offers a similar view.

"He can do things other people can't,'' Rivera said. "But what makes him special to me is his passion for the game. He plays every game like it's his last."
 

The 21-year-old Langford was born and raised in Trenton, a small Gilchrist County town about 45 minutes west of the UF campus. He starred at Trenton High, where generations of Langfords walked the halls before him.

Michael Langford was a Trenton Tiger long before his son. He played football and competed in track and weightlifting. Wyatt is the oldest of the Langfords' two children. His younger sister graduated from Trenton High earlier this summer.

Michael started coaching Wyatt when his son first started to show an interest in organized sports. He quickly learned that Wyatt was wired differently than most other kids. The first time Maria Langford, his mother, took Wyatt to T-ball practice, the coach had the kids race to the fence and back at the end of training.

Wyatt finished second. Michael could not attend, but when he got home, Maria told him how their boy cried himself to sleep because he didn't win.

"He said he finished second because he didn't have cleats,'' Michael said. "I went to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night to get him some cleats. The next day he beat the other kid.

"Wyatt is a competitor. From day one, if he wasn't first, he was kind of like Ricky Bobby. 'You're either first or you're last.' That's in his DNA."

Langford's internal drive has put him in elite company at the CWS. He is considered a lock to be one of the first five picks in next month's MLB amateur draft and is in the conversation, along with LSU outfielder Dylan Crews and Tigers ace Paul Skenes, as the potential No. 1 overall selection. Catcher Mike Zunino is Florida's highest-drafted player, going No. 3 to the Mariners in 2012.

Langford prefers to let others speculate about the draft and his future, politely downplaying those questions. But Crews is a big fan. They played together on the U.S. Collegiate National Team last summer.

"He's a great kid, great player, too. We have all the respect for him,'' Crews said Friday. "Very special talent. I think he's going to be a big leaguer for a very long time. Some of the best bat-to-ball skills and power I've ever seen. Can really track the ball down in the outfield. I really like his game."

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Langford leads the Gators in batting average (.363), doubles (25), runs (78), walks (54), slugging percentage (.758) and on-base percentage (.493). He has hit 19 homers, driven in 49, and stolen nine bases in 10 attempts.

Langford enters the series against LSU just 2-for-19 since the start of the Gainesville Super Regional, but as his home run against Virginia showed, he is dangerous each time in the batter's box.

"Great player. I don't know how much else to say,'' LSU coach Jay Johnson said. "Somebody's going to pay him a lot of money, as they should. He's a very well-built player."

According to most of the MLB draft buzz in recent weeks, the Detroit Tigers appear to be the most likely destination for Langford.

Veteran MLB writer Lynn Henning of the Detroit News has kept close tabs on Langford during the season. Henning considers Langford a logical choice for the Tigers and a player Detroit fans should be excited about.

"The Tigers are hungry for offense, preferably a college bat, and have been the industry favorite to draft Langford,'' Henning said. "His bat meets with their reconstruction as they look to make Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Parker Meadows, Colt Keith and others the framework for a long-overdue playoff team in Detroit.

"The Tigers also like Langford's defense and range when Comerica Park has such expanse and outfield acreage. Langford's potential as a probable two-way All-Star-grade player makes him the best bet to be grabbed by Detroit at three-overall."

Langford has played left field most of his time at Florida, but with center fielder Michael Robertson struggling at the plate late in the season, Langford has played center for most of the postseason. He is a five-tool player that MLB scouts began to flock toward after Langford's breakout sophomore season in 2022.

As a freshman, Langford only got four at-bats and spent much of the season as the bullpen catcher, a lack of use that UF head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has suggested was probably a miscalculation of a first-year player.

Meanwhile, Michael Langford never doubted his son's potential, not after watching him play on the Canes Baseball travel team the summer between his junior and senior years of high school. Langford was teammates with current Gators third baseman Colby Halter, Virginia's Jake Gelof and Kyle Teel, and Stanford outfielder Eddie Park. "I watched him hit better than all those guys," Michael said. "These are guys that are supposedly the top guys. That's what really opened my eyes."

He saw Langford do the same during his first fall at Florida and with the U.S. Collegiate Team last summer. Michael Langford said that during the national team's camp in North Carolina, scouts started to turn up the attention.

Langford's plate discipline, quick bat, natural power, massive forearms and use of his tree-trunk legs on his swing make him a difficult out.

"You guys know how I feel,'' O'Sullivan said. "He's one of the best players we have ever had."

Langford may have been glued to the bench at the start of his Florida career, but no one doubts him now. He is finishing in the CWS as one of the top players in the country and will receive a call next month from an MLB team offering millions of dollars as a signing bonus.

The father who taught the son how to hit takes it all in. But before he goes, he wants to clarify one part of the Wyatt Langford story, a correction prompted by a question from a caller.

"My son didn't blossom into a great player. He's always been a great player. He was just stuck in a corner his freshman year,'' Michael Langford said. "That's what bothers me about the narrative about him changing his body and all that. He lost a little bit of baby fat, but he was never slow, never this pudgy kid that he is portrayed in the media, and it drives me crazy.

"He's never been in a place and played and not been the cream of the crop. You put Wyatt in a situation, and he always rises to the challenge. He always competes at the level you put him at."

The Trenton Thunder's steady roar has proven that.