Cats Prepared for Potential Dogpile Scenario

Kentucky head baseball coach Nick Mingione has quickly become known for having his team prepared for every situation. Whether it’s a sacrifice bunt, a hit-and-run or a pitching change in the middle of an at-bat, the Wildcats seem to be ready for anything.

That preparation even extends to celebrating, according to senior closer Logan Salow, who noted that the Wildcats spent some time in the fall working on what would happen if they were to win a championship.

“We’ve even prepared for dogpiling,” Salow said. “We’re ready for whatever this tournament brings us. We’ve prepared well all year for this situation. We’ve put ourselves in a position to be really successful this postseason.”

Dogpiling is the practice, primarily in baseball, where teams form a human dogpile in the middle of the field, near the pitcher’s mound, after winning a championship. Salow thinks he and his teammates were able to replicate dogpiles they had seen on video.

“Dogpile practice looks a lot like what you’ve seen so far,” Salow said. “You look up videos of dogpiling, and it’s pretty spot-on. Right there in the middle of the field. It’s pretty easy. It’s pretty easy to dogpile.” 

The coaching staff had the team work on specific situations during the fall, hoping they could visualize winning a title and what it might be like.

“This was during the fall, during fall practice, we would have scenarios, late-game scenarios, and we would have a sheet in the dugout, and everyone knew where they were supposed to be,” Salow said. “It was a one-pitch, like a 3-2, two-out count in the College World Series and we had to celebrate like we won it all, whether you were on the offense or the defense, everybody’s coming out of the dugout and celebrating like we won the whole thing.”

The Wildcats hope to take the first steps of a postseason run this weekend when they host the Lexington Regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Kentucky will face Ohio University on Friday at noon ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Wildcats are the top seed in the regional, which also includes second-seeded Indiana and third-seeded N.C. State.

The Wildcats will play again on Saturday in the double-elimination event, and hope to win the regional on either Sunday or Monday. That would present Kentucky with a chance to execute the dogpiling they have practiced. 

“The sensation of doing it when you actually win something is going to be really special,” Salow said. “It was something (in the fall) to keep it light, but at the same time, it’s going to be something that, when it happens, we are prepared for this.”

With an entire team piled up in the middle of the field, someone had to be the unlucky person on the bottom. But that’s a role that Salow wouldn’t mind having, if Kentucky claims a title.

“Maybe there were a couple of freshman or two on the bottom,” Salow said of fall practice. “As long as I’m on the bottom when we win it all, I’m down for that one.”

Perhaps this is the weekend when Kentucky will get to experience the dogpile they worked on in the fall. If so, it would be even sweeter, coming at Cliff Hagan Stadium, where the Wildcats could enjoy the experience with the Big Blue Nation.