Lukas Blankenstein/ Asst. Sports Editor

The score is 4-2. Game seven of the National League Championship Series. Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Closer Paul Sewald has worked himself into a 1-2 count against pinch hitter Jake Cave. One strike away from the Diamondbacks’ first World Series in 22 years. Sewald waits a moment, then delivers the pitch, an 87 mile- per-hour sweeper down the middle of the plate. Cave makes contact, but is not able to get enough power behind it. The ball falls into the waiting glove of right fielder Corbin Caroll, securing the Diamondbacks as the National League Champions, and guaranteeing them a spot in the baseball playoff finals.

In getting the save for the Diamondbacks, Sewald has also secured himself a spot in USD sports history, becoming the third Torero to make the World Series, after catcher John Wathan in 1985 and third baseman Kris Bryant in 2016. At age 33, this was only Sewald’s second time in the playoffs, having also made the playoffs last season as a member of the Seattle Mariners. Sewald was traded to the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline.

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Sewald attended Bishop Gorman High School. During his senior year of high school in 2008, he put up a 1.57 Earned Run Average (ERA), meaning for every nine innings pitched, Sewald only gave up 1.57 runs. He also had a 7-0 record to earn first-team All-State honors. Despite this, Sewald went undrafted out of high school, opening him up to attend USD. Former USD baseball coach Rich Hill, who was the coach during Sewald’s time at USD, agreed to an interview with The USD Vista.

Hill talked about the recruiting process for Sewald, who was approached by University of Southern California, University of California, Irvine and Santa Clara University.

“The Catholic school, the commitment to education and the success of the baseball program all in one was very appealing to Paul,” Hill stated.

At USD Sewald struggled as a first-year, finishing with a 9.14 ERA. Hill commented jokingly on how he attempted to fix Sewald’s struggles.

“In my brilliance, we tried to drop him down and make him a submariner [a form of pitching where the pitcher throws underhanded instead of overhand like most pitchers]. I thought that he would be really effective. I don’t think he liked it too much,” Hill remarked.

The submarine style didn’t end up sticking, but neither did his struggles. Sewald soared in his junior and senior years, putting up a 3.63 ERA as a junior and a 3.09 ERA as a senior for the Toreros, with a 8-4 record in 15 games.

His improved numbers were enough for the New York Mets to take a chance on him in the 10th round in the 2012 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Hill spoke on what it was like to coach Sewald in college. “[Sewald was] always high motor, got along great with his teammates. Always the life of the pitching staff. Great personality. Real loud in the dugout, just a great college player, a great guy to have in the dugout.”

Being drafted in the 10th round, Sewald faced poor odds of making it to the MLB. Of the 30 players drafted in the 10th round in the 2012 MLB draft, only five made the big leagues. Of those five, Sewald is the only one to play more than 100 games, and the only one to record a positive career Wins Above Replacement (WAR), a common stat for measuring the value of an MLB player. Despite the long odds, Sewald persevered, making his first career MLB game in 2017 for the New York Mets.

Sewald would play parts of four seasons in New York before signing for the Seattle Mariners in 2021. In Seattle, Sewald put up a 3.06 ERA and threw a career best of 104 strikeouts. Sewald was a major part of the Diamondbacks’ run to the World Series. As the closer, he was expected to come in when the team had the lead, in the last inning and close the game out. In the Diamondbacks’ first three series, he did just that, allowing zero Earned Runs in eight innings pitched with 11 strikeouts. USD’s baseball coach Brock Ungricht spoke on the importance of Sewald’s run to the World Series.

“It’s a great representation of our program,” Ungrict stated. “To be able to pitch at the pinnacle, in the World Series is something that we are all proud of and thankful for.”

Ungricht spoke on how the team reacted to seeing a former Torero on the biggest stage in baseball.

“Our guys were following Paul very closely,” Ungricht remarked. “He is very supportive of our program so our boys were pretty pumped to follow him.”

Sewald has also remained connected to the Torero baseball program. Last year, Sewald threw the honorary opening pitch for USD’s first game of the season. Ungricht is already prepared for Sewald’s return to San Diego.

“Paul said he’s going to come back out and be around the team, once he gets settled this offseason,” Ungricht said. “We look forward to definitely celebrating when he’s able to decompress from all of this and come back to San Diego.”

Sewald’s season would come to an end, as he and the Diamondbacks would lose in the World Series to the Texas Rangers. According to a report by the Arizona Republic, Sewald stayed in the dugout to watch the Rangers entire celebration. Sewald is expected to remain the Diamondbacks closer next year, as he has one more year left on his contract. Sewald continued to represent the Toreros this season and beyond.