The Brotherhood

The fireworks and the sound of elated screams and rushing footsteps filled the Omaha air. It was June 27, 2017, and Florida had just won its first, and only, college baseball world series, toppling LSU.

The screams and the fireworks were uncontrollable, but the footsteps? Those were headed only toward the mound.

The entire Florida team, surrounded by a pile of discarded Gators blue baseball caps, flew out of the dugout, from every corner of TD Ameritrade Park and dogpiled on the mound: players jumping, spinning, falling into a rapidly growing cluster of orange and blue. Each of them and all of them, victorious.

And buried — somewhere in the jumble of the most fulfilled Florida baseball players that have ever been — was Cole Maye.

“The first time walking into that stadium and seeing all those fans there, it was surreal, and you could just feel the gravity of the situation,” he said. “Next thing you know, we're in the championship.

“I'll never forget the moment we ran out on the field.”

Maye remains etched in the most accomplished year of Florida baseball. But while that last name probably rings a bell — whether from the father who played quarterback at the University of North Carolina, either of the brothers who played basketball in Chapel Hill or from the third brother who just so happened to compete in the Super Bowl last year, some guy named Drake — the name Cole might not come to mind.  

He became the orange-and blue-clad, self-proclaimed “black sheep” of a North Carolina Tar Heel family. But the left-handed pitcher’s search for both a national championship and a good education led him to Gainesville at the right time. In only his freshman year he served as a relief pitcher for the national-title squad, seeing action in five games, totaling 3.2 innings pitched — the only time he played in his UF career. But the win and the University remain an integral part of Maye’s life and persona, even if he doesn’t need his pitching skills or athleticism much back home, working in real estate. 

Simply put, Maye’s decision to break the family mold paid off. With Florida, he reached the pinnacle of college baseball and cemented his name in the school’s history books. And while the victory was preceded and followed by trips to the sport’s grandest stage, no other Gators team has finished the job.

“That was just kind of a magical team,” Maye’s mom, Aimée, said. “I know Cole would have loved to have been able to contribute more, but he just couldn't have asked for a better experience just being a part of that group of guys. And it's hard to win. Everything's got to go perfectly”

The ring was less a symbol of its domination of college baseball, and more a representation of where good camaraderie was able to take it. Primary relief pitcher Michael Byrne was at the forefront of the run. Byrne is still Florida’s all-time saves leader and boasts 2018 NCBWA Stopper of the Year and first-team All-America honors, and he remains in Gainesville now as a student assistant coach. As a player from 2016-18, he visited Omaha in all three seasons, but 2017 still stands out. 

“In the three years, it probably wasn't our best, most talented team, but just the brotherhood and the camaraderie was different,” Byrne said. “We enjoyed being around each other, and I feel like you really need that camaraderie in teams at the end of the year because things are going to get tough.”

Possibly the greatest story of friendship from the team came from Byrne and Maye. The two weren’t close at first. For Byrne, Maye had a loud personality for a freshman, which took some getting used to. And for Maye, well, he was still learning who Byrne was. “I was living with Alex Faedo, who was the starting pitcher on Friday night, and then Dalton Guthrie was the starting shortstop, both really highly regarded baseball players,” he said. “I was like, ‘Who's this Michael Byrne guy?’ No clue who it is. But then there he goes during the season, being arguably the MVP of the team.”

After the first couple of weeks, though, the two warmed up to one another, and they’ve been best friends since. 

Maye was the best man in Byrne’s wedding a few years back, and the two remain in close contact. Despite their busy lives, Maye, Byrne and others from the 2017 team will get together and play golf at least once a year. It’s much of the same clowning around that used to take place on the baseball field and in the streets of Gainesville, but the crew spent its fair share on the course together during their college days, and surely they wouldn’t let the tradition die. 

The win and that team chemistry not only created friendships and inspired a new standard for Florida’s baseball program, but it did the same within the Maye family. 

Less than three months prior to the College World Series, Luke had won a national championship of his own as a 5.5 points per game rotation player on North Carolina’s basketball juggernaut. In the 2017 March Madness tournament, he sent the Tar Heels to the Final Four with a mid-range jumper, 0.3 seconds left on the clock against Kentucky. As both brothers celebrated their victories and flashed their rings around the Maye household that summer, they made an impact, buried between snarky comments, on their younger brothers. 

Drake now plays quarterback for the New England Patriots, leading them to the franchise's 12th Super Bowl appearance last February. 

“I’m in middle school, and you see both brothers accomplish such a cool thing at a national level in college baseball and college basketball, it definitely kind of sets the stage and realizing for me that I got something to chase,” he said. “I remember Cole and some of the teammates taking dirt from Omaha, and just seeing anybody in your family win a national championship is pretty cool.”

For Cole, though, one of his and his family’s most unforgettable moments almost never happened. In 2017, Maye was supposed to be a senior in high school. He has the ring solely because he took Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s call to come to UF in January 2017 and join the team a season early.

“If I stayed for my senior year of baseball in high school, then you basically have friends and family watching, and maybe 1,000 people are at the game,” Maye said. “Instead, I'm in Omaha playing in front of 20-25,000 people.”

Aside from the wins and the fans, Maye was happy at UF. His love for the school shined through not just in his decision to leave high school early, but in his choice to stay, despite limited time on the mound. Aimée said O'Sullivan told Maye to transfer to a junior college, pitch for a year or two and develop, then try to transfer back. However, he decided to stay in Gainesville. While Maye loved to pitch and play baseball, he grew to love the University and the brotherhood of the team more. Uncertain he would find the same relationships and connection to a school somewhere else, Maye graduated a Gator.  

Despite the Tar Heel blood, his family, including Aimée, was plenty content with the decision.

“We had a good time going down there because it was different. Luke had gone to Carolina. Beau and Drake were younger — they didn't know anything. And then here Cole goes to the University of Florida, so it was kind of fun that it was kind of not on our radar and kind of a new experience,” she said. “We used to joke when Beau and Drake would come with us. It's just hard to find shade in that stadium, and it's hot in Gainesville, so it was like Where's Waldo. I would sit there at the game, and I'd be looking for Beau and Drake, who would kind of be wandering around trying to look for a shady spot.

“But it was a lot of fun.”

Nowadays, it’s Cole who looks for shade — or a place to stay out of the snow — watching his brother at Gillette Stadium. 

“He comes up to 10 games a year … and was at most of my college games, so all three of my boys really do a good job supporting, and I really appreciate,” Drake said. “Those are my three best friends.”

And when Cole shows up, he does it with a bang.

“He’s definitely the life of the party,” the younger brother mused.

Cole put his baseball days behind him and traded in his bat for a golf club or a seat in the stands. When he’s not working his day job in commercial real estate back in North Carolina, he catches up with family and friends on the golf course.

He still gets to bring out his competitive side when all the brothers are back under the same roof. Luke plays basketball in Japan, and Beau coaches Hough High School men’s basketball just a town over from where they grew up. In the summer, they all reconvene back home. 

“Ever since I was really young, it was full go, and it was no mercy amongst the brothers,” Cole said. “It kind of feels like we're all still under the same roof, especially during the summers when we're all home and we can all get together and hang out. We'll meet up probably two or three times a week, and whether it be playing a sport of some sort or just getting dinner, the dynamic almost feels the exact same as when we were growing up.”

While they may not be keeping tabs like they did when they were younger — keeping brotherly rankings of sports from basketball to cornhole and pickleball — they’ve always remained fueled by beating one another.

And it was exactly that competitive nature that has led each of them to success, and guided Maye to do what very few others can say they’ve done at Florida: win a national championship. 

“There's nothing like winning,” Maye said, “and I think that all my brothers could attest to the same thing.”