OMAHA, Neb. — Eight teams descended on Omaha for the 2026 College World Series. On Thursday, following a short workout at Charles Schwab Field, the players met with the media in an informal setting.I grabbed a few from each team to ask a series of questions, including their toughest opponent, their favorite venue, and what happened in their first career at-bat.My two favorite responses: West Virginia’s Gavin Kelly on the best pitcher he faced this year and Georgia’s Tre Phelps on why he could never pitch.Let’s get going.Who is the best hitter you faced this season?Noah Allen, RHP, Ole Miss: Kolby Branch from UGA.Reese Bassinger, RHP, West Virginia: Landon Hairston (Arizona State).Thomas Burns, RHP, Texas: A lot of good hitters. Maybe Henry Ford on Tennessee.Max Grubbs, RHP, Texas: Chris Rembert, Auburn.Owen Hancock, RHP, Ole Miss: Ace Reese (Mississippi State).Luke Harrison, LHP, Texas: I had some tough ABs. Gavin Grahovac from Texas A&M definitely gave me some tough ones.Matthew Matthijs, RHP, North Carolina: AJ Gracia or Eric Becker from Virginia.Ben McDougal, LHP, West Virginia: Tyler Bell, Kentucky.Cord Rager, LHP, Oklahoma: I could not get out Eric Guevara, the third baseman from Auburn. That guy is incredible.Matt Scott, RHP, Georgia: Caden Sorrell (Texas A&M).Camron Seagraves, RHP, North Carolina: Vahn Lackey, Georgia Tech.Nate Smithburg, LHP, Oklahoma: I don’t want to give anybody much credit. But (Brendan) Lawson from Florida, he was a good AB. (Caden) McDonald from Florida was a good AB. (TJ) Pompey from Arkansas, he was a tough one. He got a knock on me.Brock Tapper, LHP, Troy: Daniel Jackson (Georgia).Myles Upchurch, RHP, Alabama: A lot of good ones. That Texas lineup is tough. Aiden Robbins is pretty much on time for everything.Joey Volchko, RHP, Georgia: (Mason) McCraine from Auburn was a good at-bat. He was all over the fastball. Damian Ruiz from Arkansas was really tough. I’d probably put that as my No. 1.Who is the best pitcher you faced this season?Blake Cavill, 1B, Troy: The Miami guy from the other day. Rob Evans. That sinker was one of a kind.Will Furniss, 1B, Ole Miss: Probably Aidan King (Florida).Armani Guzman, UT, West Virginia: (Jaxon) Jelkin from Kentucky.Perry Hargett, UT, North Carolina: I faced Joey Volchko (now at Georgia) last year at Stanford. He threw three different pitches in my at-bat, and I thought they were all fastballs. That’s how bad I saw him.Brennan Holt, 2B, Alabama: Probably Dylan Volantis from Texas.Brennan Hudson, 1B, Georgia: Cade Townsend from Ole Miss.Kenny Ishikawa, OF/RHP, Georgia: Mississippi State’s Friday night guy, (Tomas) Valincius.Jimmy Janicki, C, Troy: Duke Stone, from Mississippi State.Camden Johnson, 3B, Oklahoma: I don’t like to give too many flowers, but I’ll go with a dark horse, the Santa Clara Friday guy. I don’t remember his name (Max Bayles). That kid could throw. We had to bring our A-game that day.Gavin Kelly, C/2B, West Virginia: Nobody.Brodie Kresser, UT, West Virginia: Dominic Voegele, Kansas.Chase Kroberger, OF, Alabama: Dylan Volantis.Owen Paino, SS, Ole Miss: Hunter Dietz from Arkansas.Tre Phelps, 3B, Georgia: Cade Townsend.Aiden Robbins, OF, Texas: Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas.Brock Wills, OF, West Virginia: Ben Blair (Liberty).Macon Winslow, C, North Carolina: Mason Edwards at USC.Who was the best team that you played that didn’t make it to the CWS?Arizona State, which played three of the eight teams in the field in 2026, tied with Mississippi State and Auburn for the lead with six votes.Four of the five North Carolina players surveyed said Georgia Tech, not a surprise since the Yellow Jackets were the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.Arkansas received four votes from players from three different SEC teams.Two of the Troy players picked Mercer, which beat the Trojans in a series to open the season and missed the NCAA Tournament despite winning 44 games. Texas A&M was the only other team to receive multiple votes.Teams that received one vote: Appalachian State, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma State and Virginia.Appalachian State, which went 30-24, was a surprise, but the Mountaineers impressed Troy first baseman Blake Cavill. “App State raked,” he said.