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SOUTHWEST BASEBALL TEAM TO FACE
COLUMBIA STATE IN FIRST ROUND OF TJCCAA/REGION VII TOURNAMENT
The Southwest baseball team will take on Columbia State in the first round
of the Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association/Region
VII Tournament on Monday, May 10 at 4 p.m. The tournament will be held at
historic Engel Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The Saluqis enter the tournament with a 36-19 overall record and earned the
number four seed by finishing with a 17-11 record in the TJCCAA. It is the
fifth straight season Southwest has won at least 30 games and needs just one
more win to tie the school record of 37 victories, set by the 2000 Saluqis’
squad. Columbia State enters the tournament as the fifth seed with a record
of 26-21 overall and 16-12 in the conference.
Other first round games on Monday will feature sixth-seed Hiwassee (30-24
overall, 15-15 in TJCCAA) vs. third-seed Jackson State (34-19, 19-11) at 10
a.m., seventh-seed Dyersburg State (30-18, 12-14) vs. second-seed Motlow
State (34-15, 19-11) at 1 p.m., and eighth-seed Cleveland State (23-24,
12-18) vs. Walters State (44-9, 24-6) at 7 p.m. Walters State was the
regular season conference champion and is the fifth-ranked team in the
National Junior College Athletic Association.
The tournament championship game is scheduled for Friday, May 14 at 3:00
p.m. The winner will advance to the East Central District championship
series against the Georgia champion on May 21-23. The District champion
will play in the NJCAA Division I World Series May 29-June 5 in Grand
Junction, Colorado.
”We’re looking forward to the opportunity to compete for a region
championship,” said Southwest head coach Johnny Ray. “We’re playing as well
as we have all year, and we feel we have a good chance to go deep in the
tournament.” Ray is in his first year as the Saluqis’ head coach after
serving as associate head coach and pitching coach for four seasons. A
former professional pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization, Ray played
for the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1992-93 and is returning to Engel Stadium,
which was the home stadium for the Lookouts at the time he played.
Southwest is led by sophomore catcher Nick Smith, who is the second leading
hitter in the conference with a .444 batting average, and leads the TJCCAA
in hits, doubles, and runs batted in. Smith has already set single season
school records with 69 runs batted in, 28 doubles, 133 total bases, and his
76 hits ties the record. In addition, he has set career records for home
runs (18), runs batted in (121), doubles (43), and total bases (235).
Other top hitters for the Saluqis are freshman leftfielder Brit Vincent
(.398, 11 doubles, 2 home runs, 21 RBI), rightfielder Josh Meeker (.359, 8
doubles, 26 RBI), sophomore shortstop Dustin Shields (.357, 7 doubles, 19
RBI), freshman infielder Wes Melton (.357, 7 doubles, 18 RBI), and freshman
centerfielder Chris Rogers (.353, 24 doubles, 4 home runs, 41 RBI).
Sophomore closer Drew Buford leads the Saluqis’ pitching staff with a 1.76
earned run average and a school-record 10 saves. Buford has also set the
school record for saves in a career with 16. Sophomore Daniel Adams is the
number-one starter with a 5-2 record, 3.89 ERA, and a team-leading 83
strikeouts, which is the third highest single season total in school history
and 13 shy of Charlie Lea’s record of 96 set in 1977. Other starting
pitchers for the Saluqis are sophomores Josh Meeker (8-1 record, 52
strikeouts), Charlie Ligon (4-1 record, 47 strikeouts), Jamie Carrico (3-5
record, 55 strikeouts), and Michael Steele (7-3 record, 32 strikeouts). |
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