NCCAA BASEBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP INFO

By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – When a season doesn't go as well as what was hoped for, most baseball teams like to look for that proverbial silver lining in what had been a dark cloud kind of year.

That has been the case – and much, much more – for the Shorter Hawks over the last week as they have kept their season alive and have been blessed with an opportunity to win a championship.

On Wednesday, fresh from winning the National Christian College Athletic Association South Region Championship, the Hawks are back on diamond when they begin play in the NCCAA Baseball National Championship tournament at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.

"I'm glad that they are still playing," Shorter head coach Matt Larry said about his team that despite posting a losing record during the regular season captured the regional title to earn the NCCAA national berth.

"This is a great opportunity to keep playing," he said. "They've had short rest and now what we need to do is play them one at a time."

The Hawks (15-34) enter the tournament as the No. 9 seed in the 10-team field competing for the championship and will play in a five-team pool that includes top-seeded Oklahoma Christian University.

Shorter's first foe on Wednesday at 5 p.m. will be No. 4 Fresno Pacific (33-19) and on Thursday the Hawks take on OCU (37-15) at 1 p.m. and at 4 square off against No. 8 Trinity Christian (26-20.) On Friday Shorter's final pool-play game is at 2 p.m. against No. 5 seed Bluefield (33-17).

The top two teams from each pool advance to the semifinals that will be held Friday night with the winners going up against each other for the championship on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Making up the other five-team pool is No. 2 Trevecca Nazarene (41-12), No. 3 Lee (33-17), No. 6 Toccoa Falls College (33-16) and the team the Hawks defeated in the regional, No. 7 Cedarville (28-25) and No. 10 Lancaster Bible College (17-18).

The Hawks are led at the plate by Zach Santos, who tops the team in hitting with a .324 average, in runs scored (36), hits (57), doubles, total bases, walks and stolen bases. Bryan Mathews has also provided the hot bat hitting .304 and leads the Hawks with 33 RBI and 4 homers.

On the mound, Colton Cross and Travis McPherson have been the mainstays for the pitching staff with Cross holding a 4-5 record in 14 starts and has a 3.36 ERA in 88.1 innings, while McPherson has started 13 games, including a complete-game outing last Saturday when the Hawks downed Toccoa Falls 3-2 to win the NCCAA South crown.

"They responded well. It was something they really needed," Larry said about the team's performance at the regional. "There was a lot of frustration because of the many one- and two-run losses we had.

"But last weekend the pitchers did what they had to do as they've been doing all season, and we were able to get the runs across the plate at the right time.

"This week we know we have to keep doing that, but we have to do it one game at a time."