SOONER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – The Rogers State Hillcats defeated the OBU Bison by a score of 12-7 in this championship game matchup.
DAKOTA ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – The Jamestown College Jimmies upset the top-seeded Mayville State Comets 5-4 in the title game’s battle of cool-named teams.
KANSAS COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – The Continue reading
Filed under College Baseball
Catch all the drama! All the intrigue! And all the passion of the Cumberland Bulldogs’ victory in the 2010 NAIA World Series!
Woody Paige IS Woody Hunt in the story that held a nation spellbound for 8 days (or one metric week)! This is what the critics have to say:
“I laughed til I cried!” Pauline Kael
“Quite possibly the love story of the year! Be sure to see it with that special someone!” Roger Ebert
“The special effects will blow you away!” Michael Medved
“This DVD set embodies everything baseball is about! Would I lie to you?” Roger Clemens
DVD extras include an interview segment with Ron Pavan himself titled: Seriously, this Balladeer guy doesn’t really believe he’s funny, does he?
Cumberland University fans and alumni may purchase DVD’s of this year’s NAIA World Series at http://www.naiaworldseries.com/ DVD’s of each of the team’s 5 games in the Series are available for $20 each.
Or, to buy DVD’s of Ken Burns‘ 27 hour documentary on the event click here: http://www.cumberland.edu/athletics
Filed under College Baseball
Jacob Crase signs his letter of intent to play for USAO surrounded by his family and USAO coaches at the USAO Fieldhouse in Chickasha.
Dateline Chickaska, OK The sports media was out in full force to cover the baseball world’s latest big event. While many other reporters were covering some little-known slugger named Rodriguez getting his 60th or 70th homerun or something like that those of us with a real nose for news were in Chickasha to get the lowdown on a real sports story.
“Joltin'” Jacob Crase, an 18 year old pitcher for Moore High School signed his letter of intent this week to play for the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers. In high school Crase pitched an ERA of 3.22. The six-foot five freshman will serve as both a pitcher and first baseman for the Drovers baseball team. I muscled my way to the front of the enormous crowd of reporters and asked why he couldn’t also play pitcher and first baseman for the Drovers basketball team but Crase just said “Next question, please.”
Smelling a cover-up I hammered the young man with another hard-hitting question:
“What made you decide to sign with USAO?”
Crase replied that it was because of the baseball program and the school’s good selection of classes. Sensing that I now had him on the run I pressed my advantage with another probing query:
“What will you be majoring in? And do you really expect America’s disillusioned baseball fans to believe your answer?”
Jacob anwered the first question by saying he planned to major in business administration. He ignored the second question, leading me to believe I was getting into a very sensitive area. Like the journalistic equivalent of a shark I moved in for the kill with an explosive tidbit my research had provided me with:
“Is there any truth to the rumor that you are the son of Eddie and Diana Crase of Moore?”
Jacob cleared his throat, stared defiantly back at me and gave his answer:
“Yes”, he said.
Next thing I knew every other reporter there was racing out of the room to phone their papers about this bombshell I had just dropped in their laps. As for me, I had what we in the business call a money quote (“Yes”) and was content with another job well done.
To read the full story on this whole “Jacob Crase is Eddie and Diana’s son” expose click here: http://www.usao.edu/usao-sports/
Filed under College Baseball
Woody Hunt, coach of the Cumberland University Bulldogs baseball team (the reigning NAIA national champs by the way), has been named the Rawlings-NAIA Coach of the Year. This is the second time Coach Hunt has won the award. (I know, you’re dying for a Woody Woodpecker reference but I’ve got way too much class for that.)
Hunt is one of only six coaches in history to register 1,000 career victories in the NAIA and owns a career record of 1,284-523-3. The Bulldogs have appeared in 11 NAIA World Series, including five in the last seven seasons, claiming national championships in 2004 and 2010 as well as runner-up finishes in 1995 and 2006.
“This is a very prestigious honor, but it’s really a team accomplishment,” said Hunt. “Everything we get as coaches reflects on our team. We were such a singular unit as a team this season and I’m more proud of our team than any individual accomplishments.”
When I called Coach Hunt to congratulate him I asked him the one question all the rest of the gutless sports media was too timid to ask: How did he feel now about his role in the Watergate break-in? Coach Hunt patiently explained that I was confusing him with E. Howard Hunt, but I can’t find any evidence that E. Howard Hunt ever coached a collegiate baseball team, NAIA or otherwise.
The award will be presented at the 2011 Rawlings-NAIA Awards Luncheon in Nashville, Tenn., on January 7th.
To read the late Mike Kuchwara’s rave review of my One-Man Show in which I played Woody Hunt, Woody Hayes and Woody Paige, click here: http://www.cumberland.edu/athletics
So I lied. Big deal.
Filed under College Baseball
Balladeer's Blog 