The Kansas City Royals had some special guests in attendance on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Before the game, the University of Oklahoma baseball team arrived to take in batting practice and meet the Royals players. The Sooners were on their way to Omaha, Nebraska to play in the 2026 Men’s College World Series (CWS).
And it was Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. who personally extended the invitation.
“I reached out to the guys Saturday, or maybe Sunday …” Witt said. “They were able to come out and then they went a couple of days ago to Omaha. So it was kind of a cool little pit-stop. Good to see all the guys, some of the coaches and everyone.”
Witt had initially committed to Oklahoma in high school. But then the Royals selected him second overall in the 2019 MLB Draft, so he chose to start his pro career.
Witt has maintained a close relationship with Sooners head coach Skip Johnson. Witt has known the coach since his adolescent years. And Witt’s father, Bobby Sr., played at OU before enjoying a long career in the majors.
“He’s amazing for just what he does with that whole team, the pitching staff and everyone,” Witt said of Johnson. “Just from the relationship that we built, from even before I committed to Oklahoma, just knowing him from the University of Texas. My dad had a relationship with him and the relationships with my brother-in-law (James Russell).
“It’s really cool just to see him. You knew he was going to be able to do that (take OU to a CWS). It was just a matter of when it’s going to happen and now it’s happening.”
Johnson has coached the Sooners since 2017. They finished 38-22 this season and will begin their CWS pursuit on Saturday against the Alabama Crimson Tide at 2 p.m. Central Time.
Witt enjoyed his time meeting the Sooners. The OU players also enjoyed the experience, with some saying it left them feeling inspired to continue their baseball journey.
“Bobby was really nice, and which is really cool because he’s a big-time big player,” Oklahoma senior outfielder Trey Gambill said in a media availability in Omaha on Friday. “He’s making a lot of money, and he doesn’t have to go out of his way to do that for us.
“Obviously he’s connected to the program, even though he didn’t come here, he got drafted out of high school. It was really cool to go catch a game, see what it’s like at that level and in person was really nice.”
The Sooners clinched their CWS appearance by defeating the Kansas Jayhawks twice in the Lawrence Super Regional. Johnson has led the Sooners to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances; they last reached the CWS finals in 2022.
Witt wasn’t able to see Oklahoma play in Lawrence. So he decided to play host to the team Tuesday.
He believes OU can win it all.
“I think they’re hot,” Witt said. “I think they’re one of the hottest teams out there right now, and it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be fun to watch and I’m rooting for them, for sure.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
