TJ Feldman | Sports Writer
Wow, it’s finally May. Spring sports have been upon us for a while, now, and the college athletic season is finally winding down. College baseball is starting what is known as it’s second season for some teams. Baseball clubs, like our very own are getting set to participate in their conference tournaments. Next Thursday, the Buena Vista Baseball team, lead by a strong senior class, and a great coaching staff earned the 2- seed in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament held at Veterans Memorial Park. The stadium is home to the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Class A affiliate of Professional Baseball’s Major League Team, the Minnesota Twins. The Beavers look to earn their third IIAC Tournament Title in six seasons (2010, 2014).
Upon the conclusion of the IIAC tournament, the Beavers hope to earn an NCAA Regional Berth, as they did in 2014. This leads to my first College World Series Prediction; the Buena Vista Beavers will earn a trip to Appleton, Wisconsin for the program’s second College World Series Berth (2011), where they earned a third place finish. Now, I am not qualified to predict the rest of the 8 team field, it’d be foolish not to select this group of Beavers to represent this prestigious institution, and conference in Division III Baseball Heaven.
(The Buena Vista Beaver’s advanced to the Men’s NCAA Division III Baseball World Series in Appleton in 2011. This was the school’s only World Series appearance, as they earned a third place finish.)
Growing up in Iowa, I’ve lived only two hours away from “Greatest Show on Dirt”. The NCAA Men’s College World Series held in Omaha, Nebraska in June, has been an annual trip for me since I was in first grade, and playing on my first Little League Baseball team. The game of Baseball has been said to be the World’s Most Unpredictable Game, which is what makes it such a beautiful sport. With the NCAA Baseball season starting in late January, every team dreams of ending up in Omaha in mid- June at beautiful TD Ameritrade Park.
(Fans look on from General Admission Seating in TD Ameritrade Park- home to the NCAA Men’s Division I College World Series.)
Adam Bernstorf, a senior pitcher for the Beavers, also a Baseball purist, predicts the Louisville Cardinals of the Atlantic Coastal Conference to dogpile, and hoist the National Championship Trophy at the end of this season. A smart pick, Bernie, as the Cardinals are highly ranked, and finished one game short of their fourth trip to Omaha losing in the Super Regionals to the Titans of Cal State Fullerton last June.
Payton Pick, a sophomore Pitcher, and a fool for predictions, claims the Nebraska Huskers will win the Men’s Division I NCAA Tournament just down the road from home, Lincoln, in Omaha this June. Clearly, Pick doesn’t follow baseball very closely. Just kidding, Payton. The Nebraska Cornhuskers last trip to the College World Series came in 2005. Two years ago, the Huskers had a strong showing in the 2014 NCAA Regionals before eventually getting beat out in the season finale to the Cal State Fullerton Titans.
Steve Eddie, Head Coach for the Beavers, and Beaver hurler, Kendall Hazel both predict the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern conference are going to win the program’s third National Title in Omaha this summer in this decade alone. The Gamecocks, led by Coach Ray Tanner won back- to- back titles in 2010 and 2011, before being knocked off their pedestal in 2012, by the Arizona Wildcats. Coach Ray Tanner has since retired as the skipper, and is now the Athletic Director for South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina looks to make it back to Omaha since losing in the Championship Series in 2012 as they are led by Sioux City native, centerfield Dom Thompson Williams.
Beaver Junior southpaw, Jake Lewis, and senior second baseman Neil Marshall both predict that the Aggies of Texas A&M are going to earn the program’s sixth trip to Omaha, and first since 2011. The Aggies have never won a Baseball National Title. Texas A&M is currently ranked second in this week’s NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) poll, and are led by junior Boomer White, as he man’s the hot corner, and is amongst the nation’s top hitters with a current batting average of .437. (Texas A&M is led by junior third baseman, and are a hot pick for this year’s Men’s College World Series as they currently hold the Number 2 ranking.)
As for me, I’d like to be bold and pick my Iowa Hawkeyes to win the National Title, but not even I am that naive. For those who don’t know, though, last season, the Iowa Hawkeyes earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1990, when Beaver Head Coach, Steve Eddie was an infielder for Hawkeye Baseball Team. The Hawkeyes last treked west to Omaha for the College World Series in 1972, almost 46 years ago. That being said, I’m going to go with the Texas Christian Horned Frogs of the Big 12 Athletic Conference. The Frogs are currently ranked 8th in this week’s Division I NCAA NCBWA rankings, and are looking to build on previous back- to back NCAA Tournament berths in Omaha.
The College Baseball season is quickly coming to a close with conference tournaments in the near future, followed by NCAA Regionals, Super Regionals, and a College World Series Berth for the nation’s eight best teams. In baseball, it is said that you have to get hot at the right time, and for college baseball team’s, the right time to get hot is in May and June. The Beavers are amongst Division III’s best in my fair opinion, and will be a great pick for Appleton, Wisconsin. As for the rest of college baseball, it could be any of the 64 teams that make the NCAA Tournament Field. Will we have a Cinderella story, like the 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs who entered the field as a 4 seed? Last year we had a 3 seed in a Regional win it all, in the Virginia Cavaliers. Or will it be somebody like the Texas A&M Aggies, the Louisville Cardinals or even the South Carolina Gamecocks? Who knows? That’s what makes the game of baseball so great!
