CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 7, 2004
BASEBALL
The 23rd no-hitter in MIAA baseball history allowed the Britons of Albion to sweep a doubleheader from Calvin and capture its first MIAA title since 1996 Friday afternoon at Calvin Field.
Albion's David Seales no-hit the Knights in the nightcap of Friday's conference doubleheader as the Britons gained a 10-0 victory in a scheduled seven-inning game. With the win, Albion (25-15, 14-4 MIAA) wrapped up the outright MIAA title, finishing one game ahead of second place Adrian (13-5 MIAA) while also gaining the league's automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament. Albion will be making its first appearance in the NCAA III Tournament since 1982. Calvin was able to place eight runners on base on the strength of a fielder's choice, four walks and three Albion errors but could not muster a hit against Seales.
Albion put the game out of reach early, scoring nine runs in the first three innings as the Britons would finish the game with 13 hits against five Calvin pitchers. Calvin (15-25 overall, 6-12 MIAA) committed four errors in the game two loss, allowing the Britons to score four unearned runs.
Sophomore Jory Trim (Grand Rapids Creston HS) took the loss to fall to 1-7 on the year. Trim allowed six runs in two innings of work but only three of the runs were earned.
Defense also played a factor in Friday's opener as Calvin suffered a 4-1 defeat. All four of Albion's runs were unearned as the Knights committed three errors. Meanwhile, the Albion defense came up with a number of sparkling plays including a pair of circus grabs on deep fly balls hits by juniors Andy Bunting (Glen Lake HS) and Josh Vriesman (Denver, CO) in the sixth inning when the Knights were making a bid to get back into the game. Calvin would score one run in the sixth on an RBI triple by senior Darrell Heuker (Unity Christian HS) but would still trail 4-1 at the conclusion of the frame. In the bottom of the seventh, Calvin loaded the bases with one out but the Knight threat was retired on a strikeout and a game-ending pop-up.
Albion scored its first run on a two-out single in the top of the fifth and added three more runs in the top of the sixth. Sophomore Andy Draayer (Denver, CO) took the loss for the Knights to fall to 2-5 on the year while Steve Gordon picked up the win for the Britons. Both teams finished with eight hits apiece. Sophomore Mike Aggen (Evergreen Park, IL) picked up two hits for the Knights while sophomore Kyle Hollemans (East Kentwood HS) collected his team-leading ninth double of the year for the Knights in defeat.
With the pair of defeats, Calvin is assured of a sixth place league finish. Hope and Olivet have a season-ending doubleheader tomorrow to close out the MIAA season.
MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 5-7-04 GAMES
Albion 14-4
Adrian 13-5
Hope 9-7
Olivet 8-8
Alma 9-9
Calvin 6-12
Kalamazoo 2-16
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
ANN ARBOR * The first day of competition at the Len Paddock Invitational hosted by the University of Michigan brought a handful of sterling performances by members of the Calvin men's and women's track and field teams on Friday.
Leading the way once again was senior Katie Corner of Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School. Competing in a field of NCAA Division I competitors, Corner unleashed a career-best throw of 167-1 to win the discus competition. The winning mark was not only an NCAA III Automatic qualifying performance for Corner, it was also a new school record that eclipsed Corner's own previous school mark by more than eight feet. In addition, Corner's throw in the top performance in NCAA III women's track and field this spring by more than seven feet.
Another sizzling performance was turned in by junior Laura Hamilton (Downers Grove, IL/Timothy Christian HS) in the 400 meter hurdles as she took third with a season-best and NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 1:02.00. Her time was just one-tenth of a second off an NCAA III automatic qualifying time.
In the women's shot put, junior Lisa Nanninga (Grand Rapids Christian HS) took seventh place with an NCAA III provisional qualifying mark of 44-1 ½ while Corner took ninth (42-2 ¾).
Calvin also took the top two spots in the women's 3,000 meter run as senior Sarah Hastings (Traverse City Central HS) took first (10:12.95) and senior Jodi VerMeulen (Holland Christian HS) second (10:20.67).
In the men's competition, Calvin took the top five spots in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with junior Andy Yazzie (Rehoboth, NM) taking first (9:16.39), senior Kyle Carrick (Tokyo, Japan) taking second (9:22.72), junior Harrison Jorritsma (Beamsville, ON) third (9:32.94), junior Aaron Iverson (Radnor, OH) fourth (9:35.36) and senior Joel Reasoner (Cambridge, MN) fifth (9:36.47). The times by Yazzie and Carrick were NCAA III provisional qualifying times.
In the men's 1,500 meters, junior Jeff Engbers (Whitsinville, MA) was 19th with a time of 3:57.84. In the javelin, Calvin freshman Eric DeVries (Unity Christian HS) took third with a season-best mark of 158-3.
A number of Calvin athletes are scheduled to compete for the Knights on the second day of competition tomorrow afternoon at the two-day invitational.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri May 7 21:49:39 2004
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