Two years ago, Carson Fulmer was pitching All Saints Academy to the 2012 baseball state tournament.
Wednesday night, 766 days later, the Lakeland native helped Vanderbilt capture their first College World Series championship in school history.
Fulmer, 20, started the series-clincing elimination game for the Commodores against Virginia, tossing 5.1 innings of one-run ball, striking out five, before being relieved. He didn't get the win, but his 103-pitch effort helped set the stage for Vandy's record-setting win.
"I love my teammates and love what we do," Fulmer told USA Today after the win.
But Fulmer, the 2012 2A Player of the Year, wasn't the only young pitcher called upon to help lead his team.
Jesuit alum John Kilichowski, a freshman, set the standard Monday night, pitching a perfect sixth and seventh innings in a 9-8 win over Virginia, his first appearance since May 17 due to back issues.
"I pitch in scrimmages all the time," Kilichowski said to Fox News. "So I haven't pitched in a game, but that's as much of a game as there is. It's just you guys aren't there for it. We treat it like a game. We have hitters. They're calling balls and strikes. We have a guy back there calling them, and it's as serious as any game, and I take them like that."
Fulmer and Kilichowski were just two of the young players on Vandy's roster that played beyond their years.
"I looked back last year, my first day here, and I knew that I got into something very, very special," Fulmer told the Idaho Statesman. "I look at all my teammates as my brothers. I look at coach, our pitching coach, I look at them as father figures. Words can't describe this experience. It's something that we've always dreamed of doing as a team, and we finally accomplished it."