LA JOLLA – Lets not get carried away, but it's time to talk Cary. Chico State is one wondrous weekend of baseball away from claiming the West Region title and a trip to the Division II College World Series at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
 
The Wildcats captured the #2 seed in the NCAA Championship Tournament West Regional with a 39-13 record. They'll face 5^th-seeded Dixie State (35-15) Thursday at 3 p.m. in the opening round of the six-team, double-elimination tournament at Triton Ballpark on the campus of UC San Diego.
 
Every Chico State NCAA Championship Tournament game will be broadcast locally on KPAY-1290 AM and online via ChicoWildcats.com where links to live stats and video will be found as well.
 
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE GAME
 
CLICK HERE FOR TOURNAMENT HOMEPAGE WITH LINKS TO STATS AND VIDEO
 
California Baptist and Cal Poly Pomona open the action at 11 a.m. and UC San Diego and Sonoma State wrap up the first day with a 7 p.m. tilt.
 
The 9^th-ranked Wildcats are in search of their ninth West Region title in 18 seasons. They last won it in 2012 and twice had a chance to claim another crown last season before losing back-to-back games against Grand Canyon.
 
With few players from that team returning, this season was branded by many as a rebuilding year. The student-athletes were having none of it. They sent tweets with the #Cary hashtag all fall and winter and talked openly about their goal to get back to Cary this season.
 
It didn't take long for the team to make believers out of its faithful fans. The Wildcats started 26-5 and cruised into the postseason for the 18^th time in the last 19 years.
 
Now a new quest begins. Don't blame the Wildcats if they get Cary'd away.