WESSON &045; All this underdog stuff never gets old.

In an odd twist of fate for a team that’s become the Cinderella story among the state’s junior college baseball circuit, the Co-Lin Wolves got a reminder on their entire way home that things could be plenty worse.

The entire 10-hour drive home from St. Catharine, Ky., was spent aboard a bus with no air-conditioning. And it wasn’t an overnight trip, either.

&uot;(The AC) never worked the whole ride home,&uot; said third baseman Garrett Jones, a former Cathedral standout. &uot;The windows didn’t roll down. Luckily we had the little sun roof. That helped out a lot. I’m telling you &045; it was bad.&uot;

As bad as it was, the Wolves still had plenty to smile about.

The team with just 16 uniformed players continued to bask in its latest accomplishment &045; a spot in the Division II World Series &045; another mark virtually no one thought the team could reach.

So the Wolves will leave today &045; hopefully on an air-conditioned bus &045; en route for Millington, Tenn., for the World Series where they’ll like be considered again as the 100-to-1 shot.

&uot;We had a 10-and-1/2-drive with no air,&uot; Co-Lin head coach Keith Case said. &uot;That kind of wore the euphoria off. But we had a great reception (at school). There were a couple of hundred people here. The police met us at the interstate with sirens. It was kind of neat.&uot;

That’s been the story of a team that’s made the best of everything this postseason when it didn’t bat an eye in the regional tournament at Pearl River, then-ranked No. 1 in the country. The Wolves followed with the super regional title Saturday and are the Southeast champs among the eight-team field in Millington, Tenn.

The Wolves will face Elgin (Ill.) Community College at 3 p.m. Saturday.

&uot;Everybody is real excited about being here,&uot; Jones said. &uot;We’re just going there with confidence and hoping to do our best. Every team is going to be real good, but I don’t know what to expect &045; I’ve never been to the World Series. Everybody is just real excited and real happy to be here.&uot;

The trip is the first for the Wolves since 2000 when they had Nook Logan, a Natchez native and starting center fielder for the Detroit Tigers, along with Natchez natives Brandon Atkins, Doug Atkins and Hunter Ogden.

This time the Wolves have more than half freshmen on the roster, but it’s hard to imagine anyone getting a case of the nerves now after everything the team has done so far. They’re just ready to keep playing.

&uot;They know we’re the underdogs one more time,&uot; Case said. &uot;We had a 10 o’clock practice this morning, and they were all on the field at 9. It’s tough &045; you’re doing the same things you’ve been doing since September. We’re going one hour and 45 minutes, and we get in and get out. I think they’re really enjoying it now.

&uot;We’re trying to address the nerves and don’t let that take over. We’ve got to play the game like we’ve got nothing to lose. If we get some nervous tension going, that could cause some problems.&uot;

The biggest thing the Wolves may have going in their pitching as they showed at the super regional tournament. They’ll rely again on the arm of Ryan Belanger and Derek Thompson after the two opened the tournament last week with complete-game victories.

But up against Elgin, the Wolves may alter their rotation and go with Belanger &045; a Southern Miss signee &045; to open after Thompson opened last week.

&uot;We’ll need Belanger’s breaking ball in that Game 1,&uot; Case said. &uot;I think .324 is their lowest batting average in Elgin’s starting nine. We’ll have to hit both sides of the plate with the fastball and throw that hard breaking ball for a strike. I feel like Belanger is the guy. Elgin is probably one of the top four teams in the nation. They were there last year and have just about everybody returning.&uot;

Jones and the Wolves at the plate came up with the key hits last weekend, including Jones’ shot up the middle that proved to be the game-winner in the championship game against St. Catharine. But Jones was like others on the team &045; just come up with the right hit at the right time.

&uot;I was struggling a little bit all weekend,&uot; he said. &uot;That last at-bat &045; I was trying to make something happen and trying to put the bat on the ball. I imagine we’re going to see some pretty good pitching.&uot;

Said Case &uot;Sometimes you have a feeling when you’re sitting there in the coach’s box and the guy is getting the barrel on the ball. He hit some back up the middle. Sometimes you hit the ball hard right at folks, and sometimes they find holes.&uot;