Club Baseball Team Wins Regional, Finishes 6th Nationally
While the Bearkat intercollegiate baseball team was making waves
in the NCAA tournament this spring, another group of Bearkat
baseball players were doing well in non-scholarship club team
competition.
It was supposed to be a "re-building" year for the Sam Houston
State baseball club after they reached as high as second in national
rankings last year and narrowly missed a trip to the National
Collegiate Baseball Association World Series, but nobody told
the players.
After some early struggles the club put together a six-game
win streak at the end of the season to enter the Gulf Coast League
regional tournament as the final seed. Playing from the bottom
of the bracket, they nevertheless won the regional tournament
and qualified to go to the World Series.
After an early loss in the double elimination regional tournament
it did not look good as the Kats had to beat top-seeded UT Austin
twice to advance. This they did, playing two of their
best games of the season, eliminating the Longhorns and advancing
to the national tournament May 24-30 in Ft. Myers Fla.
Only seven other teams out of the 157-team association qualfied
for the national tournament.
Again the Kats entered the double elimination tournament as
underdogs,getting the seventh seed and meeting second-ranked
Maryland in the first round. The Kats fought hard and led most
of the game but lost 9-2 to a late-inning Maryland rally.
Game 2 pitted the Kats against an angry third-seeded UC Davis
team that had just been upset in the first round. Showing the
grit that got them there the 'Kats took an early lead that they
would never relinquish, winning 9-5 in the tournament's biggest
upset and sending UC Davis home.
As fate would have it Maryland lost a shocker to sixth-seeded
North Carolina, sending them to the losers' bracket to face the
Kats once again. The Kats had redemption on their mind but it
was not to be as Maryland seemed to re-focus after their early
loss and took an early lead that the 'Kats would never overcome,
losing in the end 10-5.
The loss ended the Kats' season, but with a final ranking of
sixth in the nation.
Along with the great season by the team, several players had spectacular
individual performances as well. Dennis Shafer (outfield) and William
Hinkie (pitcher) were first team all-America selections and Eduardo
Emmerich (outfield) was named second team all-America.
—END—
SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
June 13, 2007
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.
|
