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A magical season for the national runners-up
It seemed like Emporia State’s baseball team had the magic that would carry it to the national title.
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The team after winning the NCAA South Central Regional. Photo by Dave Kopp. |
Playing UC-San Diego for the right to advance to the
championship game, there was a spectacular diving
catch from Conner Crumbliss in the fifth inning that
kept two base runners from finding home plate. Then in
the bottom of the ninth, the game tied 3-3, ESU had two
outs and a runner on base, when Kellen Lane hit his first
career home run to send ESU toward a title shot.
But it was not to be. The team fell 2-1 to Lynn (Fla.) in the NCAA D-II championship game in Cary, N.C., on May 30, stranding seven runners on base and only notching one extra-base hit against a superb Lynn pitching effort. Ben Graham, Jacob White and Kellen Lane earned all-tournament honors for the Hornets, who were making their first appearance in the NCAA D-II championship game after first reaching the D-II championship tourney in 2006. ESU ended the season 49-14, their fifth-straight season with 40-plus wins.
Interestingly, it was the second year in a row Emporia State lost a national championship game by one run – last year the Hornet softball team fell 1-0 to Humboldt State in the national title game. The future looks bright, though, with the baseball team returning plenty of starters.
And they’ll continue playing next year on a refurbished field, thanks to three ESU donors, one of whom is anonymous. The Trusler Foundation provided new artificial turf for baseball’s Glennen Field, and the Bill and Aloha Preston family provided state-of-the-art electronic scoreboards for the baseball field and Turnbull softball field.
“Bill and I enjoyed many pleasant afternoons
watching Hornet softball and baseball games and this
will add to the enjoyment and quality of these events in
the future,” said Aloha Preston.
“We are very grateful that people continue to support our athletic programs with these very generous gifts,” said ESU Director of Athletics Kent Weiser. “Not only will these improvements maintain the Trusler Sports Complex as one of the top baseball/softball complexes in the nation, ESU will be able to save money in reduced maintenance costs.”
“We’ll be able to schedule a lot more home games,
since we won’t be as tied down by the weather and the
need to give the field a rest,” said ESU baseball coach
Bob Fornelli.
The artificial turf means that baseball players are spending more time in class and less time raking and lining the infield before games; the program will save thousands of dollars in maintenance costs. Meanwhile, the new wireless scoreboards will add to the experience for all fans.
Last Updated July 29, 2009