Division III Birmingham-Southern Advances To College Baseball World Series As School Permanently Shuts Down

Birmingham-Southern will permanently close their college on May 31, but their baseball team refuses to die. 

This is the most bizarre college baseball story in quite some time, and a documentary crew is already on hand to capture the next great sports film, which is unfolding in real time.

The private liberal arts college with an enrollment of 1,300 students in Birmingham, Alabama will permanently shut down because of financial difficulties. The 168-year old school fought for nearly two years to restore its endowment. However, legislation for a $30 million loan did not pass the Alabama State House and the school decided to close permanently as a result.

The Panthers advanced to the Division III College World Series with a win over Denison, despite a food poisoning outbreak running rampant through their clubhouse. 

Nine players woke up with food poisoning, with two players hospitalized and several more hooked up to IVs in the dugout during the Panthers’ final game against Denison.

Since learning their school was closing, the Panthers have gone 18-4. They had a 13-10 record before that announcement, losing nine straight games.

Head coach Jan Weisberg told The Athletic’s Kennington Smith III that playing baseball and continuing to scrap throughout the postseason has helped his players deal with the situation surrounding their school closing.

“Just with all the emotions that we’ve been facing, to not have that one on our back of, ‘God, this could be the last game in this dugout,’” Weisberg said. “It was a release, and I think they’ve played with that.”

While 10 players are graduating, Weisberg has pledged to help the rest of his team find new schools to continue playing. Some have already made plans to transfer, while others will retire from baseball or work out plans to find a new school to continue playing.

Wildly enough, their ace is Drake LaRoche. His father, Adam, retired from the Chicago White Sox when they told him that he couldn’t bring Drake into the clubhouse. Drake is authoring his own wild story, which is just a few victories away from a storybook ending.

Without the backing of an existing school, the team has been funding this historic run through a GoFundMe, which has already raised over $85,000.

According to Jason Sciavicco, the creator and director of “Titletown High” on Netflix, there’s a documentary crew on hand for the Panthers’ run to the World Series. 

Game 1 of the D3 World Series will be played on May 31 at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio. It’s the same day that the school will close their doors forever. 

As the school’s athletic department posted on social media, there’s only one thing left to do…