OMAHA, Neb. -- The Road to Omaha sculpture at the base of the steps near the home-plate entrance to TD Ameritrade Park forever means something new to college baseball after Wednesday night.
The statue moved from Rosenblatt Stadium five years ago with the College World Series. Nearly every team to play here poses for a photo alongside it.
Thousands of fans among the record 353,000-plus to attend this year's 12-day event passed by it daily, staring at the iconic monument as if in search of a message to unlock the secret to the College World Series' mystique.
The sculpture is the likeness of Brian O'Connor as a pitcher at Creighton, his alma mater and the CWS host institution. O'Connor played on the Bluejays' 1991 CWS team. On Wednesday night, he won a national title as the coach at Virginia in his fourth trip back with the Cavaliers.
From here out, that statue will represent the hometown kid who reached the pinnacle. Stamped with Virginia's 4-2 win over Vanderbilt in the clinching Game 3 of the CWS finals, it delivers the message for which many who journey to Omaha remain in search: Nothing in this game is ever too far from reach.
"It's amazing," O'Connor said in the aftermath of Virginia's dogpile on the infield grass Wednesday, "what a group of guys that stay together and play for each other and don't give up can accomplish."
On this night -- and throughout this magical month for Virginia -- the Cavaliers were meant to win.
How else is there to explain the Cavaliers' unlikely postseason run after being bounced from the ACC tournament four weeks ago with three straight losses?
They had to fight in April and May just to qualify for the 64-team NCAA tournament, but head home Thursday to Charlottesville as the first team to win a national title with fewer than 45 wins since 1968 and the first team from the ACC to win the crown since Wake Forest in 1955.
O'Connor, 44, represents that fighting spirit. He knew in college that he wanted to coach, because of his coach, Jim Hendry, who went on to work as general manager of the Chicago Cubs and is now a special assistant for the New York Yankees.
But O'Connor never dreamed of Wednesday night.
"Never thought of winning a national championship," he said. "Just thought of trying to put together the best program and give guys like these guys a great experience."
He took over a failing program at Virginia in 2004 and built it to CWS-caliber in 2009. O'Connor returned in 2011 and placed third before losing to Vanderbilt in the finals last year. This year, after a loss Monday, Virginia was a heavy underdog with its pitching staff jumbled against the neatly organized Commodores.
Enter Ken Kanger, the Omaha police lieutenant who directs the department's gang unit.
Kanger served in the Cavs' dugout last year for six games and returned to his post this year with a heavy heart. On May 20, officer Kerrie Orozco, who reported to Kanger, was shot and killed in the line of duty. Orozco died one day before her scheduled maternity leave. Before her death, she coached youth baseball in the community, using gear donated last year by Virginia.
Word of Omaha's loss got back to the Cavaliers, who honored Orozco by placing T-shirts to memorialize her in their dugout. At the request of the Virginia staff, its equipment provider, Rawlings, engraved four bats last week to match the message on the T-shirts.
The Cavs gave the bats as gifts to Kanger and the Omaha Police Department.
On Tuesday, Kanger returned the favor. Before Game 2 of the finals, a 3-0 victory fueled by an unlikely pitching performance from freshman Adam Haseley and the clutch hitting of senior Thomas Woodruff, the lieutenant delivered challenge coins to the Virginia coaches.
They are a symbol of good fortune passed between officers, Kanger said Wednesday amid the celebration.
Virginia coaches carried the coins Tuesday and Wednesday in their pockets.
"It's a great story," said Kanger, wearing a commemorative Virginia championship cap. "Feels like it couldn't end any other way than this."
Meant to be? Maybe so.
And for more than just O'Connor. Take junior Nathan Kirby, the Cavs' ace starter in 2014 who earned All-American honors and helped carry Virginia to the championship series before Vanderbilt blitzed him for eight runs in 2⅓ innings to win the opening game.
Kirby started well in 2015 but suffered a strained lat muscle on April 17 in a start against Miami. The rehab was slow. Drafted No. 40 overall last month by the Brewers, he knew his college career might be over.
"If we got to [the CWS], I was going to pitch," Kirby said. "If we didn't, it is what it is."
The hard-throwing left-hander returned Friday against Florida. He encountered trouble in the third inning and took the loss in a 10-5 defeat. But Virginia, backed to the wall, beat the Gators on Saturday.
In the eighth inning Wednesday, Kirby re-emerged for his first appearance out of the bullpen since the season finale in 2013, an NCAA-regional loss to Mississippi State. He struck out five in two innings, getting pinch-hitter Kyle Smith on a called third strike for the first save of his career and the biggest out in Virginia history.
"There's not a better way to end it," said Brandon Waddell, who won Wednesday for his seven strong innings. "He's the guy that needed to go out there. He's the guy that needed to close, and he did an amazing job."
Kirby said the final strikeout unfolded in slow motion. He threw his glove high and embraced catcher Matt Thaiss as the Cavaliers streamed from their first-base dugout.
"It's special," Kirby said. "You see all these parents out here waiting for us. They've been here for 15 days. That's the most gratifying feeling -- to feel like that we've won it for them and for all the players that have done it before us."
They won it for themselves, too, and for their coach and for all the people who come to see his statue.