Ashton Wilson has emerged as one of the most improbable stories at this year's College World Series. (Photo: John Paternoster/UAA Communications)
Wilson's Unlikely CWS Journey Started with a Shocking Phone Call
Saturday, June 15, 2024 | Baseball, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
OMAHA, Neb. — Ashton Wilson was home in Orlando working up a good sweat from a game of pickleball when his cellphone started to make nonstop noises.
Wilson had entered the transfer portal following his freshman season at Charleston Southern and was eager to get back on the baseball field when his injured shoulder was completely healed. To pass the time, he spent much of last summer playing golf and pickleball to stay active.
"I was swinging a little bit but kind of easing my way back into it,'' Wilson said.
Meanwhile, Wilson was committed to resume his playing career at Florida SouthWestern State in Fort Myers when classes started in August. But that plan changed when he discovered why Brian Martinez, his coach at Orlando's TNXL Academy, and his mother, Jamee Wilson, kept calling during that game of pickleball.
They had some news.
"Out of the blue – and when I say out of the blue, I mean really out of the blue – Florida called,'' said Jamee Wilson on Friday morning as she and family prepared to leave for Orlando International Airport for their flight to Omaha.
"I was like, 'What in the world?' I was freaking out,'' said Wilson, whose only connection to the Gators was being invited to a camp after his sophomore season of high school. "When I started playing pickleball again, I was shaking."
Wilson was on the phone with Gators assistant coach Chuck Jeroloman soon afterward and then held a family meeting with his parents to discuss the opportunity in detail.
The final conclusion: "This all doesn't really make sense,'' Jamee Wilson said. "I think you should go for it."
A sophomore outfielder who can also play first, second and third, Wilson signed with the Gators and was headed to UF by late July. Less than a year later, he is among the most unlikely stories at the College World Series.
When the Gators were in Omaha a year ago, playing for the national championship against LSU, the closest Wilson got to Charles Schwab Field was watching YouTube highlights of the CWS.
"I didn't watch every game,'' he said Thursday as he waited with his teammates to participate in ESPN interviews. "I would always peek in and check scores, and if I had time, I'd definitely watch it."
Ashton Wilson takes batting practice at Charles Schwab Field on Thursday. He watched the CWS last year at home in Orlando. (Photo: John Paternoster/UAA Communications)
Wilson is expected to bat third for the Gators on Saturday night when they face Texas A&M in their first game of the CWS. Wilson's emergence as a key contributor during Florida's unexpected return to Omaha – much like the call from Jeroloman last summer – came out of the deep, deep blue.
He had only 12 plate appearances (2-for-8, three walks, one hit by pitch) before Florida's final regular-season series at Georgia. Wilson got into the lineup after season-ending injuries to outfielders Ty Evans and Hayden Yost.
He has produced in a big way on the biggest stage.
Wilson is 12-for-29 (.414) in seven NCAA Tournament games with four doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and seven runs. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the Stillwater (Okla.) Regional, and if not for a sensational catch by Clemson center fielder Cam Cannarella in Game 2 of the Clemson Super Regional, Wilson would have had the walk-off winner against the Tigers in the 10th inning. Instead, teammate Michael Robertson delivered the goods with a walk-off double in the bottom of the 13th.
"It was painful,'' he said of rounding first and seeing Cannarella make a Willie Mays-style catch. "As long as we won, I was going to be completely fine. I'm so happy, but that one hurt. It felt like a little dagger. That was Omaha there."
Wilson's story is more improbable because he did not have the season he wanted at Charleston Southern in 2023. Wilson played 39 games and started 36, including the Buccaneers' season-opening series against the Gators at Condron Ballpark. He hit .252 with three homers and 20 RBI.
That was not good enough. Seeking to challenge himself in a more competitive environment, he planned to spend a season at junior-college power Florida SouthWestern State to improve his stock.
Wilson had done the same thing in high school. After playing at Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, Wilson enrolled in online classes to finish high school and spent hours each day training and playing for TNXL Academy, which produced former Gators pitcher Jack Leftwich and numerous Division I players since opening in 2014. Half the field in this year's College World Series has signed a TNXL player over the past decade.
"We were always aware of Ashton, and then he opened the season against us with Charleston Southern and hit leadoff,'' Jeroloman said. "He ended up having a pretty good year and playing every day. He had some injuries down the stretch. With the roster expansion, we didn't go all the way to 40. We wanted to keep it smaller, and Ashton added versatility for us on the infield and outfield.
"And everybody we talked to, they just talked about how much of a hard worker he was."
Wilson, the youngest of five siblings, has never lacked confidence. Jamee Wilson said that despite little playing time in the regular season, each time she and her husband checked to see how he was doing, he told his parents not to worry.
He planned to be ready when the team needed him.
"He always goes into everything and feels like he is going to do it,'' she said. "He'll get into a pressure situation where I'm full of anxiety, and he's just like, 'What? This is what I want to be in.' "
Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan has witnessed Wilson's focus firsthand.
"I mean, he earned the opportunity," O'Sullivan said. "The thing about Ashton, he stayed engaged. Always gave a great effort in practice. Terrific teammate. He got his opportunity. Unfortunately, Ty broke his wrist, and he got the opportunity, and certainly, he made the most of it."
While no one could have envisioned Wilson's breakout postseason, Jeroloman sensed he would be ready.
Wilson impressed Jeroloman with his approach at the plate during the fall season.
"He was giving us really competitive at-bats,'' Jeroloman said. "He was making it tough on our pitchers. He's gotten confidence from playing every day. He's always been a talented player. You never know how guys are going to react in those situations. You've got to have a slower heart rate and be confident, and Ashton definitely checks both of those boxes."
Wilson's parents have seen it all. They were in Stillwater and Clemson as their youngest kid made a name for himself. They will be in Omaha as his story gets told and retold on TV during Florida's games.
Jamee Wilson, ready for the next leg of the journey, summed it up best.
"It's been a wild ride,'' she said. "We're not surprised, but yet, it's been fun.
