It's hard to imagine that anyone had a more special Father's Day than David Roth, who quit his job to see his son pitch in the College World Series.
David Roth is the father of Michael Roth, the ace of the defending champion and fourth-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks. For Father's Day, he wanted nothing more than to see his son, who was slated to start against Texas A&M, pitch a CWS game.
Unfortunately, his job as a car salesman offered no vacation days. So David turned to the only solution he could think of: He quit.
"They were like, 'You know, you don't have any vacation days,'" Michael said Monday. "He said, 'I've got to go out there to Omaha,' so he just quit."
Michael went on to let up four unearned runs in 7 1/3 innings of work against the Aggies, keeping his season ERA under 1.00 for the season. More importantly, his team walked off win a 5-4 victory to advance to the CWS winners bracket, capping off what was sure to be a memorable day for the Roth family.
"Obviously, it was pretty special considering it was Father's Day yesterday," Michael said Monday. "I'm glad that he's here. It's been pretty cool having my family here."
South Carolina continued its success Tuesday with a 7-1 win over top-seeded Virginia. The Gamecocks will play the winner of the California-Virginia elimination game at 7 p.m. Friday.
